Human Rights

Schuyler County Man Convicted on Child Exploitation Charges

U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Daryl E. Vonneida, 62, of Dix, New York, was convicted by a federal jury of 14 charges, including production of child pornography, transporting minors in interstate commerce for illegal sexual activity, and possession of child pornography. The defendant, who was previously convicted of sexual abuse in the First Degree in Schuyler County Court, faces a mandatory term of life in prison on four of the charges relating to the production of child pornography and transporting minors in interstate commerce.

Canada: Abusive Policing, Neglect Along ‘Highway of Tears’

Set Up National Inquiry Into Murders, Disappearances of Indigenous Women, Girls

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Highway 16, sometimes referred to as “the Highway of Tears” in recognition of the women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered in its vicinity, in northern British Columbia. July 2012.

UN assessment mission finds widespread looting in Central African Republic

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The UNHCR warehouse in Bambari in the Central African Republic which contained relief supplies for refugees and IDPs was looted by armed men.

India: Reject New Sexual Violence Ordinance

Enact Law Against Gender-Based Violence that Respects Rights

Legislators in India should substantially amend or replace the new criminal law on violence against women in the forthcoming budget session of the parliament, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. On February 3, 2013, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee signed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2013, amending criminal laws, over protests from human rights and women’s rights groups across the country.

Syria: Authorize Cross-Border Humanitarian Aid

Russia, Others Should Support Efforts to Ensure Assistance Reaches All

Syria should urgently agree that humanitarian aid may be brought into the country across all of its borders, including from Turkey. Syria’s allies, including Russia, should press Syria to consent to such transfers, Human Rights Watch said. Donors should not wait for Syria’s go-ahead, but instead should immediately expand support to non-governmental organizations already able to deliver aid from Turkey into opposition-held areas of Syria.

Attacks on health workers ‘unacceptable,’ UN chief declares after Nigeria killings


Health workers vaccinating children against polio in Nigeria.

Kuwait: Rights Setbacks Amid Political Crisis

Human rights conditions deteriorated in Kuwait in 2012 during an ongoing political crisis, Human Rights Watch said today at a news conference for its World Report 2013. The security forces used what appeared to be excessive force to disperse stateless bidun residents and anti-government demonstrators on multiple occasions, and authorities briefly banned protests in October.

Number of Palestinian refugee deaths in Syria increasing, UN agency warns

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A Palestinian child.

India: urgent action on violence against women

Following brutal gang-rape and murder of a female medical student in New Delhi last December, the EI South Asian Women’s Network (SWN) has issued a statement on violence against women in India.

The SWN strongly condemned this heinous act,demanded that anti-rape laws in India be improved, and called for stricter punishment for rapists. The network also stated that crimes of sexual violence against women cannot be viewed separately from the larger issue of India’s falling gender ratio in terms of the number of women per 1000 men.

UN humanitarian fund gives over $5 million to assist flood-stricken Mozambique

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A family living in the open at Chihaquelane camp away three days after being flooded out of their home in Chokwe.