Human Rights | WPN World People News

The decision by France’s parliament on July 21, 2016, to expand and prolong the country’s state of emergency for six months undermines human rights and the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said on July 22. The government should strengthen safeguards to ensure that the emergency powers are applied only to the extent strictly required.

The World Bank Group and Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) announced a new open call for awards recognizing promising innovations aimed at preventing gender-based violence on July 22. Applications to the Development Marketplace for Innovation in Prevention of Gender-Based Violence must be received online by October 1, 2016.

Bara’a, 10, originally from Ghouta, Syria, leaves for school from her informal refugee camp in Mount Lebanon.

Kenyan security forces have forcibly disappeared at least 34 people in the past two years during abusive counterterrorism operations in Nairobi and in northeastern Kenya, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Jul 19. Kenyan authorities should end the abuses in counterterrorism operations and promptly investigate the enforced disappearances and deaths of detainees in the northeast.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein addresses the 31st regular session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The response of the Turkish government to an attempted coup will be a critical test of its commitment to defend democratic principles and human rights, including media freedom and respect for the rule of law.

Nelson Mandela, then Deputy President of the African National Congress of South Africa, raises his fist in the air while addressing the Special Committee Against Apartheid in the General Assembly Hall.

Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system remains the most significant impediment to women’s rights in the country despite limited reforms over the last decade, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Jul 16. Adult women must obtain permission from a male guardian to travel abroad, marry, or be released from prison, and may be required to provide guardian consent to work or get health care. These restrictions last from birth until death, as women are, in the view of the Saudi state, permanent legal minors.

Bangladeshi authorities should guarantee all due process rights of two detainees who had been held hostage by armed gunmen during the July 1 siege on the Holey Artisan Bakery Café in Dhaka, Human Rights Watch said on JUl 15. The two men, Hasanat Karim and Tahmid Khan, were initially held for questioning by authorities but have neither been charged nor released.

A protestor holding a poster held in memory of Kule Munyambara Obed, who was allegedly shot by the Ugandan military in Kasese district on April 3, 2016.