Thailand: Investigate Army Abduction of Student Activist
The Thai government should urgently investigate the abduction and alleged beating and mistreatment of prominent student activist Sirawith Seritiwat by army soldiers, Human Rights Watch said on January 22. The arrest, which Prime Minister Gen. Prayut...
Impunity for Sexual Violence in Burma’s Kachin Conflict
A year ago this week, two young ethnic Kachin school teachers, Hkawn Nan Tsin, 21, and Maran Lu Ra, 20, were raped and murdered at a teacher’s dormitory in the town of Kaung Kha in Burma’s Shan State. The main suspects in this horrific crime are...
South Sudan: slaughter of civilians, gang rapes among ‘shocking’ crimes committed by all sides, says UN
Child soldiers released in South Sudan.
Afghanistan: Attack on Journalists Threatens Media Freedom
Anti-government insurgency groups should immediately stop intentionally targeting civilians, Human Rights Watch said on January 21. The January 20 suicide attack on a minibus in Kabul transporting journalists affiliated with Tolo TV, Afghanistan’s 24-...
Human rights: EU seamen detained in India, Ethiopia and North Korea nuclear test
Parliament calls on India to release the 14 Estonian and 6 Briton seamen detained in the south of the country, strongly condemns the nuclear test conducted on 6 January by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and deplores the recent use of...
Somalia Should Make Concrete Pledges at Rights Council
Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim, a passionate Somali journalist, was sentenced in February 2013 to one year in prison. His crime? Interviewing a woman alleging rape by government security forces. The woman was also convicted of “tarnishing” state...
Bulgaria: Pushbacks, Abuse at Borders
Bulgarian law enforcement officials summarily return asylum seekers and migrants to Turkey, often after stealing their belongings and subjecting them to violence.
Vietnam: Hold Elections for Country’s Leaders
Vietnam’s Communist Party should use its twelfth National Congress to announce that free and fair elections will be held to elect the country’s leaders, Human Rights Watch said on January 19. Vietnam’s donors, who regularly call for free and fair...
India: Fortify Bill Protecting Transgender People
The Indian government should strengthen its groundbreaking bill providing legal protections for the country’s transgender population, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday in a letter to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The Rights of...
Indonesia: Ahmadiyah Community Threatened
The Indonesian government should immediately intervene to protect members of the Ahmadiyah religious community from intimidation and threats of expulsion by local authorities on Bangka Island, Human Rights Watch said on January 16.
