Human Rights | WPN World People News

A new expert report has found “massive and systemic” human rights violations in Belarus before and in the aftermath of the August 9, 2020 presidential election, Human Rights Watch said on November 06, 2020. The report documents election fraud, violations of freedoms of expression and assembly, excessive police violence and systematic torture, widespread arrests of peaceful protesters, and numerous politically motivated prosecutions.

Governments around the world should urgently step up efforts to ensure students’ safety at school and in online spaces, Human Rights Watch said on the first International Day against Violence and Bullying at School Including Cyberbullying on Nov. 05, 2020. Many governments have not yet banned corporal punishment, and many lag behind on protecting students from school-related sexual violence, bullying, and online violence.

The Nairobi edition of the Human Rights Watch film festival celebrates its 9th season this year with its first digital expansion to audiences in seven countries in eastern Africa, showing free films November 9-13, 2020. The films and panel discussions will be accessible online to audiences in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia.

Egyptian authorities executed 15 men convicted for alleged involvement in three cases of political violence as well as 2 women and 25 men convicted in criminal cases between October 3 and 13, 2020, Human Rights Watch said on October 22, 2020. The authorities should immediately halt executions, and re-try those sentenced to death in grossly unfair trials.

Cambodia’s increasingly dictatorial, one-party rule is underpinned by generals in the security forces who are responsible for serious and systematic human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said on October 22 as it issued the Khmer-language version of its 284-page report, “Cambodia’s Dirty Dozen: A Long History of Rights Abuses by Hun Sen’s Generals.” Human Rights Watch also released a video showing some of the unexplained wealth of these generals and their family members.

Street scene in India, August 2020.

The Thai government’s shutdown of the outspoken Voice TV channel misuses Thailand’s emergency decree to censor the media, Human Rights Watch said on October 21, 2020.

City and state officials in the United States should review their laws, policies, and practices ahead of the November 3, 2020 general elections to ensure that they protect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, five international human rights organizations said on October 20, in letters to over 3,500 mayors and city council members throughout the country, as well as to all governors.

Kenyan market vendors practice social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The North Korean pretrial detention and investigation system is arbitrary and lacks any semblance of due process, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on October 19, 2020. Former detainees described systematic torture, dangerous and unhygienic conditions, and unpaid forced labor.