Human Rights | WPN World People News

The Iraqi government is exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in Anbar Province by hindering residents from leaving areas where fighting is taking place and impeding aid from getting in. The government should immediately facilitate safe passage for residents who want to flee the fighting and halt restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid.

UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay (center) and UN Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng in South Sudan.

Burma’s government should immediately end arbitrary arrests of journalists and ensure that media laws promote a free press, Human Rights Watch said on May 3, 2014, World Press Freedom Day.

The Florida legislature has approved a bill allowing for judicial review of very long sentences for youth offenders, recognizing the injustice of such sentences for children, Human Rights Watch said. House Bill 7035 on Juvenile Sentencing passed on May 2, 2014, by a vote of 115 to 0. The measure now goes to Governor Rick Scott for his signature.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/02/us-florida-offers-jailed-youth-chance

Algerian authorities should immediately release two men arrested on April 16, 2014, for peacefully protesting and drop charges against them. The men were arrested at the Central University in Algiers during a protest organized by the Barakat (Enough) movement, which advocates term limits and opposes a fourth term for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The president won reelection on April 17.

The Nepali government’s denial of mistreatment of Tibetans in Nepal is not supported by facts, Human Rights Watch said in a letter. Nepal issued an April 3, 2014 statement denouncing Human Rights Watch’s April 1, 2014 report, but fails to establish any errors or engage with the substance of the abuses set out in the report.

Bulgaria has embarked on a “Containment Plan” to reduce the number of asylum seekers in the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report released. The plan has been carried out in part by summarily pushing back Syrians, Afghans, and others as they irregularly cross the border from Turkey.

The Ethiopian authorities should immediately release six bloggers and three journalists arrested on April 25 and 26, 2014, unless credible charges are promptly brought.