Human Rights

Gaza: Abuse, Harassment of Activists

‘Tamarod’ Supporters Forced to Cancel November 11 Protest

Hamas authorities in Gaza have been harassing Palestinians suspected of supporting the “Tamarod Gaza” activist group. The authorities should stop the harassment, allow the group to hold demonstrations, and investigate the alleged torture of Tamarod’s supporters. Tamarod (‘Rebel’) has criticized what it calls poor governance by Hamas and abuses by security services, and has called on Hamas to relinquish power and hold elections.

Yemen: Reject Restrictions on Political Rights

Eliminate Discriminatory, Disproportionate, Arbitrary Requirements for Office

Representatives to Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference should reject a proposal that would unnecessarily restrict the political rights of potential candidates for election to top offices. The conference’s Good Governance Working Group has proposed 15 eligibility requirements to run for office in Yemen’s next national elections, expected in early 2014.

UNAIDS urges end to gender-based violence in effort to reduce risk of HIV infection

535196-michelsidibe_1_0_0.jpg
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé.

Kyrgyzstan: Reports of Torture, Extortion by Police

Two Hospitalized After Alleged Beatings

Kyrgyzauthorities should immediately, thoroughly, and impartially investigate allegations that police illegally detained and ill-treated three people in connection with an armed robbery. Two of the men were hospitalized following alleged treatment amounting to torture. The authorities should also investigate allegations that the police sought to extort money from relatives of two of the men in exchange for their release.

Angola: Officials Implicated in Killing Protest Organizers

Fully Investigate Murders; Allow Peaceful Demonstrations

Angolan authorities should prosecute all state security officials responsible for the killing of two protest organizers who have been missing since May 2012, Human Rights Watch said. A confidential Interior Ministry report leaked to the Angolan media on November 9, 2013, which Human Rights Watch believes is authentic, described the role of police and the domestic intelligence service, SINSE, in the abduction, torture, and killing of António Alves Kamulingue and Isaías Cassule.

Russia: Stop Harassing Environmental Activists

3 Detained as Sochi Games Near

rudom_1_0_0.jpg
Detention of Andrey Rudomakha on October 31, 2014

UN: Reject Mass Surveillance

General Assembly Should Pass Strong Resolution on the Right to Privacy in the Digital Age

The United Nations General Assembly should approve a new resolution and make clear that indiscriminate surveillance is never consistent with the right to privacy, five human rights organizations said in a November 20, 2013 letter to members of the United Nations General Assembly.

First-ever Environment and Gender Index ranks 72 countries

IUCN20131119_0.jpg
Woman with baby carrying water back from the well to her village, near Catine, Mozambique

On Universal Children’s Day, put hidden violence and abuse in the spotlight, says UNICEF

As the world marks Universal Children’s Day - the anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - UNICEF is urging a much stronger light be shone on the millions of children in every country and at every level of society who are victims of violence and abuse that continue to go unnoticed and under-reported.

Zimbabwe: Water and Sanitation Crisis

Government Mismanagement, Corruption Risks Lives of Millions

The water and sanitation crisis in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, places millions of residents at risk of waterborne disease, Human Rights Watch said in a report released. Five years after cholera killed over 4,000 people and sickened 100,000 more, the conditions that allowed the epidemic to flourish persist in Harare’s high-density suburbs.