Human Rights | WPN World People News

Austria's national Parliament in Vienna.

Burma’s President Thein Sein should honor his pledge to release all political prisoners by the end of 2013, Human Rights Watch said. The releases should include the more than 200 people charged this year with political offenses.

The Bangladeshi authorities should urgently set up an effective mechanism to protect witnesses in cases before the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), Human Rights Watch said.

Russia's former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, recently pardoned by Russia's president, gave his first news conference Sunday after spending more than 10 years in prison on charges of embezzlement and tax fraud. Khodorkovsky appeared composed and thoughtful while he answered questions at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.

Visiting Tacloban, Philippines, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon surveys damage left by Typhoon Haiyan.

Dozens of government airstrikes that have killed hundreds of civilians, including children, in Aleppo governorate in the last month were unlawful. After months of stalemate between government and opposition forces in Aleppo, Human Rights Watch documented an intensification of government attacks starting on November 23. December 15 to 18 saw the most intense aerial attacks in Aleppo to date.

Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, should veto the Anti-Homosexuality Bill passed by parliament on December 20, 2013, four Ugandan and international human rights organizations said. The bill would increase penalties for some forms of consensual same-sex conduct between adults, curtail constitutionally protected rights to privacy, family life, and equality, and violate the rights to freedom of association and expression, the groups said.

The Honduran government is putting human rights activists at risk by failing to repudiate dangerous remarks by a senior military officer, Human Rights Watch said. An army colonel recently claimed that Annie Bird, co-director of the US-based nongovernmental organization Rights Action, was working to destabilize the Bajo Aguán region, where land disputes have led to violence.

A Thai navy lawsuit against journalists reporting on official involvement in trafficking will curtail reporting on rights violations in Thailand, Human Rights Watch said.

Migrant workers in India cook a meal.