Human Rights | WPN World People News

Francisca will not let anything stop her from defending her rights.

39-year-old Francisca Ramirez remembers her mother's fear, the worry-lines etched into her face, her heavy shoulders. But the most vivid memories from her childhood are of the constant threats of being forcibly evicted, having to leave their home in La Fonseca, a rural town in Nicaragua. Her family had been living on their land for several decades, but they lacked official papers.

PACE’s Social Affairs Committee has called for the signing of a new trade agreement between the EU and Canada to be postponed – on the grounds that it would “unacceptably restrict the powers of national parliaments to adopt legislation on matters within their remit”.

According to the report by Stella Kyriakides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), unanimously adopted by the Social Affairs Committee on 11 October in Strasbourg, even in the early 21st century, not all children in Europe enjoy equal access to healthcare services, which clearly diminishes their chances of leading happy and autonomous lives and equal opportunities.

Five in six children under two years old are not fed enough nutritious food for their age, depriving them of the energy and nutrients they need at the most critical time in their physical and cognitive development, according to a new UNICEF report.

With cholera spreading fast in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, and with a new outbreak in war-ravaged Yemen, UNICEF urges children, families and communities to make washing hands with soap a habit to help prevent the spread of diseases.

France should reconsider allowing Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state-owned arms trading company, to participate in Euronaval, a major international arms show being held outside of Paris from October 17 to 21, 2016, human rights groups EuroMed Rights and Human Rights Watch said on October 15. The arms show is sponsored by the French Defense Ministry.

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) should cease awarding Iran the right to host FIVB international tournaments until the country ensures that female spectators can freely attend volleyball matches in the country, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Ary Graça, the sports federation’s leader. Graça was re-elected as the FIVB’s president at the sports federation’s 35th World Congress this week in Buenos Aires.

Pakistan’s government should immediately drop the travel ban on a leading journalist and respect a free and open working environment for the media, Human Rights Watch said on Oct 13.

Bangladeshi authorities should immediately release three children of opposition leaders convicted of war crimes who were forcibly disappeared and have been illegally detained since August 2016, Human Rights Watch said on Oct 12. Bangladesh’s donors and counterterror partners should speak out against frequent abuses committed by the Bangladesh government against political opponents and critics in the name of fighting terrorism.

Two land rights activists will go on trial in Kazakhstan on October 12, 2016, on unfounded criminal charges stemming from a peaceful protest, Human Rights Watch said on Oct 10.