Human Rights | WPN World People News

The Gambian government’s repression of the political opposition in the months prior to the December 1, 2016 presidential election threatens the fairness of the election, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Nov 02.

The Egyptian authorities should stop imposing travel bans to prevent human rights defenders from leaving the country and speaking out about Egypt’s appalling human rights record, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said after another prominent human rights lawyer was banned from traveling. The bans are part of a larger campaign to suppress independent, critical voices inside the country.

Gulf governments have attempted to silence peaceful critics in response to a wave of online activism in recent years, Human Rights Watch said in an interactive website that began operating on Nov 01. The governments have responded to online criticism with surveillance, arrests, and other arbitrary punishments.

A man inspects his burned hut in L’Évêché displacement camp, Central African Republic, on October 12. Seleka forces burned at least 435 huts in the camp.

Government officials and other authorities in Nigeria have raped and sexually exploited women and girls displaced by the conflict with Boko Haram. The government is not doing enough to protect displaced women and girls and ensure that they have access to basic rights and services or to sanction the abusers, who include camp leaders, vigilante groups, policemen, and soldiers.

An Ethiopian government directive under a state of emergency contains overly broad and vague provisions that risk triggering a human rights crisis, Human Rights Watch said in a legal analysis on Oct 31. The government should promptly repeal or revise all elements of the directive that are contrary to international law.

UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro.

A cut on the shoulder of a man who was allegedly detained and beaten by Lebanese army personnel following clashes in the southern Lebanese city of Saida in June 2013.

Outside of the converted containers where unaccompanied children were being sheltered as demolitions began, hundreds more had not yet been registered by midweek.