Human Rights | WPN World People News

Civilians fleeing the fighting and seeking refuge, wait outside a compound of the UN Mission in Bor (December 2013).

Some 20,000 people have left CAR for Chad and many more are expected to follow.

Displaced civilians of Bangui take shelter in the shell of an aircraft at the city's airport.

A report made public on January 10, 2014, by a World Bank Group ombudsman reinforces the need for proper oversight of its investments around the world, Human Rights Watch said. The review concerned an investment in a company that was at the center of a spate of violence and killings in Honduras.

EI has strongly condemned the continued disproportionate violence perpetrated by Cambodian authorities against striking garment workers. Five workers have been killed, dozens injured and at least 39 arrested. The strike has been halted but demands for an increased minimum wage are maintained.

The Ivorian government took an important step in supporting accountability for the country’s postelection atrocities by renewing the mandate of the special unit investigating those crimes, Human Rights Watch said. The government now needs to ensure adequate staffing, security, and independence for the body to carry out robust investigations.

The first independent assessment of major internet companies shows that companies can and do incorporate voluntary standards on privacy and freedom of expression into their operations.

In Israel, several thousand African migrants demonstrated Wednesday for a fourth day against a new law that allows authorities to detain indefinitely those without valid visas. The migrants say they are political refugees -- but the government insists they are economic migrants.

Iraqi government forces appear to have used indiscriminate mortar fire in civilian neighborhoods in Anbar province, and al-Qaeda fighters and armed men from local groups have deployed in and attacked from populated areas. Apparently unlawful methods of fighting by all sides have caused civilian casualties and severe property damage. A government blockade of Fallujah and Ramadi has resulted in limited access to food, water, and fuel for the population.

The Cambodian authorities should protect the rights of 23 people arrested after a violent crackdown by security forces on striking garment workers in Phnom Penh on January 2- 3, 2014, Human Rights Watch said. Authorities detained the group incommunicado and without medical care at the remote CC3 prison at Trapeang Phlong in Kampong Cham province near the border with Vietnam.