Human Rights | WPN World People News

A low turnout in a Slovakia referendum on February 7, 2015, scuttled a measure that would have set the scene for legalized discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) couples, Human Rights Watch said on February 8. The decision of the majority of voters not to participate in the referendum on this regressive measure offers some comfort to minorities in Slovakia.

Thailand's newly appointed Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha arrives at the 2nd Infantry Battalion in Chonburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok on August 21, 2014.

Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos (right) and UNESCO Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation Forest Whitaker addressing the press in Juba, South Sudan.

A Burmese government committee reconstituted to deal with “prisoners of conscience affairs” should resolve remaining prisoner of conscience cases, be inclusive, independent, transparent, and designed to tackle growing numbers of politically motivated arrests, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said on February 6 in a joint open letter to the committee's new chair.

In Ebola-affected Guinea, children, supervised by an adult, play outdoors in a large circle in the village of Meliandou in Guéckédou Prefecture, Nzérékoré Region.

With no end in sight to politically motivated violence and other abuses in Bangladesh, state authorities need to ensure their response respects the rights of all and avoids arbitrary use of force, arrests, and disappearances, Human Rights Watch said on February 6.

Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and Ambassador Miroslava Beham, the OSCE Senior Adviser on Gender Issues, called on countries in the OSCE region to do everything in their power to protect women and girls in their countries from female genital mutilation on February 6.

Police officers trying to maintain calm during demonstrations in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) violates the human rights and undermines the health and well-being of some 3 million girls each year. More than 130 million girls and women in the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the practice is concentrated today have undergone some form of FGM – and the impact on their lives is enormous.

With no end in sight to politically motivated violence and other abuses in Bangladesh, state authorities need to ensure their response respects the rights of all and avoids arbitrary use of force, arrests, and disappearances, Human Rights Watch said on 6 February.