Human Rights | WPN World People News

Iranian authorities announced on August 2, 2016, that they had executed 20 members of a group Iran considers a terrorist organization, Human Rights Watch said on Aug 08. Authorities have yet to formally confirm the identities of those executed and so it is not yet possible to verify independently how many were killed and who they were.

The Singapore parliament should recommend a review of the proposed new Administration of Justice (Protection) Act to better protect freedom of expression, as required by international law and the Singapore Constitution, Human Rights Watch said on Aug 08. The draft legislation, which was tabled in July and will have its second reading in parliament on August 15, 2016, broadly defines the conduct that can be penalized as contempt of court.

Soldiers from the Burundian armed forces in the Musaga neighbourhood of the capital Bujumbura.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of consumer groups, content creators, and publishers asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on August 5 to require online retailers to label the ebooks, songs, games, and apps that come with digital locks restricting how consumers can use them.

A mother holds her severely malnourished 22-month-old baby in the Al Sabah children.

The United States should help Jordan transfer an estimated 70,000 Syrians stuck in appalling conditions at its northeastern border to a safe location, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to President Barack Obama that was released today. The United States should also step up its efforts to resettle Syrians who are living in Jordan and other neighboring countries.

Tajik authorities should immediately release Abubakr Azizkhodzhaev, a well-known businessman and government critic who was sentenced on July 7, 2016, to two-and-a-half years in prison. The sentence followed a trial on politically motivated charges and ill-treatment in custody, Human Rights Watch said on Aug 4.

About 1,200 men, women, and children who sought refuge in Australia and were forcibly transferred to the remote Pacific island nation of Nauru suffer severe abuse, inhumane treatment, and neglect, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said on Aug 3. The Australian government’s failure to address serious abuses appears to be a deliberate policy to deter further asylum seekers from arriving in the country by boat.

The trials of Beijing Fengrui Law Firm director Zhou Shifeng and activists Hu Shigen, Zhai Yanmin, and Gou Hongguo, which are being held this week at Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court, are a miscarriage of justice, Human Rights Watch said on Aug 3. Chinese authorities should immediately drop all charges against the lawyers, legal assistants, and rights activists detained in connection with the sweep of July 9, 2015. The trials, held between August 2 and 5, have not been open and public as claimed by Chinese authorities.

Yazidi refugees, including several children, go about their lives in Nawrouz refugee camp, approximately 40 kilometres from the Syrian border with Iraq.