Human Rights | WPN World People News

The Thai military junta should immediately revoke rights-abusing martial law powers, end censorship, and stop persecuting dissidents and critics, Human Rights Watch said. The junta should urgently restore democratic, civilian rule.

The US Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have targeted American Muslims in abusive counterterrorism “sting operations” based on religious and ethnic identity, Human Rights Watch and Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute said in a report released. Many of the more than 500 terrorism-related cases prosecuted in US federal courts since September 11, 2001, have alienated the very communities that can help prevent terrorist crimes.

Mediators and participants at the Brazzaville forum to discuss the Central African Republic crisis should reject any calls for an amnesty for serious human rights crimes, Human Rights Watch said.

Khazir camp for Internally Displaced Persons, Iraq.

A Palestinian girl stands on the ruins of her home after it was destroyed in an airstrike in a refugee camp in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip (12 July 2014).

The Ethiopian government should immediately drop politically motivated charges brought against 10 bloggers and journalists on July 17, 2014, under the country’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law.

Central African Republic children in Chad.

Governments around the world should heed the findings of the UN’s human rights commissioner on mass surveillance, Human Rights Watch said. Governments should rein in mass surveillance and respect the privacy of all Internet users, no matter where they are located.

Cambodian authorities should drop trumped-up charges against six leading opposition politicians and immediately and unconditionally release them, Human Rights Watch said. On July 16, 2014, a Phnom Penh court charged elected members of parliament of the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) with insurrection, intentional violence, and obstructing government officials.