Human Rights | WPN World People News

The police violence against peaceful protesters in Tunis on July 27, 2013,underscores the need for Tunisia’s government to issue clear orders to protect and allow peaceful protests,as well as new guidelines on when and how teargas may be used.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo said it is highly alarmed over allegations of killings, forced recruitment and illegal detention of civilians by the March 23 Movement (M23) and urged humanitarian access to areas controlled by the rebel group.

More than 1,200 asylum-seekers have sailed into Australian territory since the government announced a hardline policy to stop the steady flow of boats. Last week, Canberra said people arriving unauthorized on boats would have no chance of being resettled in Australia, and would instead be sent to Papua New Guinea. The U.N. Refugee Agency says it's uneasy with the plan, while protests against the policy are taking place in Australia.

The United States should mark July 26, 2013, the 23rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), by strengthening legal protections for people with disabilities at home and abroad, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to US senators. The US should ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities– the Disability Rights Treaty – without further delay.

Pope Francis urged bishops to get out of their churches and bring the message of Catholicism to the world's poorest areas.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, during the 15th Central Asia Media Conference in Bishkek, 27 June 2013.

A majority of people in most countries where female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is concentrated oppose the harmful practice, according to a new UNICEF report issued. Despite that opposition, more than 125 million girls and women alive have been subjected to FGM/C and 30 million girls are still at risk of being cut in the next decade.

Hundreds people lost their lives when an eight-story building outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, collapsed on 24 April, 2013, trapping thousands of mostly garment workers inside.

Following a legal review of the latest draft Law on Media and Audiovisual Media Services, the OSCE media freedom Representative Dunja Mijatović welcomed the efforts by the authorities in Skopje to harmonize the law with international standards, including OSCE commitments to media freedom and expressed concern about some remaining problematic provisions.

The prison sentence meted out to journalist Ahmet Altan for insulting Prime Minister Erdoğan in one of his articles will further restrict free speech in Turkey, Dunja Mijatović, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media said.