Human Rights | WPN World People News

Torture remains a serious problem in Brazil despite recent measures to curb the practice, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the Brazilian Congress. Congress should approve a bill that would safeguard against ill-treatment of detainees by requiring officials to physically present them before a judge for a “custody hearing” within 24 hours of arrest.

A young girl sleeps surrounded by relatives in their new home, a primary school in Alqosh, Duhok, after fleeing their home in Mosul.

Beneficiaries waiting in line to collect their ration at a food-distribution taking place at the UNMISS-compound in Malakal, Upper Nile State, South Sudan (May 25, 2014).

The remains of demolished and damaged homes in Beach Camp close to Gaza City.

Marietta Karamanli (France, SOC), general rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, said today that she stood aghast at news of what appears to have been yet another botched execution in the United States.

As attorneys who represent individuals on the No-Fly List, we are dismayed to read the details of how the government places people on the List based on criteria that are hopelessly vague and require no showing of a threat to aviation security. It appears that the introductory disclaimer in the guidelines that “watchlisting is not an exact science” is a gross understatement.

The past few days witnessed a sharp escalation in clashes between Palestinian civilians and Israeli forces across the West Bank in the context of protests against the ongoing Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip. Since 23 July, Israeli forces killed ten Palestinians and injured approximately 600; an additional Palestinian was reportedly killed and three injured by an Israeli settler.

Latin America nations pledge more for protection of the displaced and stateless.

Top Obama administration officials say the United States is considering a pilot program which would involve screening some youths in Honduras to see if they qualify for refugee status in the United States. Officials say the youngsters could be interviewed before they make the dangerous journey to the U.S. border, as tens of thousands of children from Central America have done already this year.