Human Rights | WPN World People News

Authorities in Kenya have committed a range of abuses against journalists reporting on sensitive issues, threatening freedom of expression ahead of elections slated for August 8, 2017, Human Rights Watch and ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa said in a report released on May 30. Journalists and bloggers reporting on corruption, disputed land acquisition, counterterrorism operations, and the 2007-2008 post-electoral violence, among other sensitive issues, have faced intimidation, beatings, and job loss.

The Algerian authorities should drop all charges against a leading activist and his 40 co-defendants that are based on their peaceful activism for the rights of the Amazigh, or Berber, minority, Human Rights Watch, EuroMed Rights, Amnesty International, and Front Line Defenders said on May 29. Kamaleddine Fekhar and most of his co-accused have been detained since July 2015.

European Union leaders should publicly and privately press China’s government to end its crackdown on human rights and immediately release all detained activists, Human Rights Watch said in a joint letter with a dozen other nongovernmental organizations on May 29. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini will attend the EU-China Summit in Brussels with senior Chinese officials on June 1-2, 2017.

President Emmanuel Macron’s meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia on May 29, 2017, will be an important first test of the French president’s commitment to reflecting human rights in France’s foreign policy, Human Rights Watch said.

Laws and policies that discriminate against women interfere with Iranian women’s right to work, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on May 25. Women confront an array of restrictions, such as on their ability to travel, prohibitions on entering certain jobs, and an absence of basic legal protections.

The Burmese army announced on May 23, 2017, that its investigation into alleged military abuses in Rakhine State uncovered no wrongdoing except in two minor incidents, Human Rights Watch said on May 24. The army’s failure to find its troops responsible for any serious abuses against ethnic Rohingya since October 2016 in northern Rakhine State demonstrates the urgent need for Burma’s government to allow unfettered access to the United Nations international fact-finding mission.

Anti-riot police have harassed, beaten, and ordered some 200 families off a farm linked to President Robert Mugabe’s family, Human Rights Watch said on May 22. The police affirmed in a court filing that the Arnolds Farm in Mazowe, Mashonaland Central province, Zimbabwe, which the families have occupied since 2000, is owned by the president’s family. Human Rights Watch could not independently verify the farm ownership.

A family from Afghanistan pushes their older mother in a wheelchair near Roszke, Hungary after crossing the border with Serbia. September 13, 2015.

Forces aligned with the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) attacked a military base and allegedly executed at least 30 captured soldiers, Human Rights Watch said on May 21. A hospital official and an eyewitness told Human Rights Watch that soldiers from the 13th Battalion aligned with the GNA Defense Ministry attacked the base in Brak El-Shati, in southern Libya, on May 18, 2017, and executed troops from the 12th Battalion of the Libyan National Army (LNA).

Thailand’s junta has failed to fulfill pledges to respect human rights and restore democratic rule three years after the military coup, Human Rights Watch said on May 21. The ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), led by Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, has instead prolonged its crackdown on basic rights and freedoms, and devised a quasi-democratic system that the military can manipulate and control.