Human Rights | WPN World People News

An Equatorial Guinea court’s conviction of 112 defendants on May 31, 2019, in a trial rife with due process violations, including confessions extracted through torture, represents a gross miscarriage of justice, Human Rights Watch said in releasing a video about the trial on Aug 2, 2019.

The sweeping advances for Saudi women announced by Saudi Arabia will start to dismantle the country’s discriminatory male guardianship system, Human Rights Watch said on Aug 02, 2019. The changes were announced while many of the women activists who championed these reforms remain on trial or in detention in retaliation for their rights advocacy.

Sri Lankan authorities have failed to bring to justice those responsible for the execution-style killing of 17 aid workers 13 years ago, Human Right Watch said on Aug 01, 2019. On August 4, 2006, alleged Sri Lankan security forces murdered local staff members from the Paris-based Action Contre La Faim (Action Against Hunger, ACF) at their compound in the town of Muttur, in eastern Trincomalee district.

Refugee women show their support for UNHCR's anti-trafficking campaign at Wad Sharife camp in east Sudan.

A Nigerian court ruled on July 26, 2019 that activities of the Shia Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) amount to “acts of terrorism and illegality” and ordered the government to ban the religious group, Human Rights Watch said on July 30. Nigeria’s presidency then announced the ban on July 28.

The United Nations secretary-general omitted countries responsible for grave violations against children in armed conflict in his new “list of shame,” Human Rights Watch said on July 30, 2019. The list also gave certain countries an undeserved more favorable designation despite their failed promises to improve their record.

The Government of Nepal has failed to fulfill its commitment to provide justice for the victims of the country’s decade-long armed conflict, Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Human Rights Watch, and TRIAL International said on July 29, 2019.

The Philippines proposed law on “false content” is sweepingly broad and threatens to stifle discussion on websites worldwide, Human Rights Watch said on July 25, 2019. The government should withdraw the Anti-False Content bill, popularly described as a bill on “fake news,” introduced in the Senate on July 1, 2019.

Turkish authorities are detaining and coercing Syrians into signing forms saying they want to return to Syria and then forcibly returning them there, Human Rights Watch said on July 26, 2019. On July 24, 2019, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu denied that Turkey had “deported” Syrians but said that Syrians “who voluntarily want to go back to Syria” can benefit from procedures allowing them to return to “safe areas.”

Cameroonian security forces have killed at least four civilians and raped one woman since mid-June 2019 during security operations in the North-West region. Those killed include an elderly man with a physical disability and a young man with a mental disability.