Human Rights | WPN World People News

UN-GLOBE marches in the 2019 World Pride parade in celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people everywhere.

In Lagos, Nigeria, residents navigate the polluted waters of Makoko, a fishing community mostly made up of structures on stilts above Lagos Lagoon, as smog spreads throughout the canals.

The Trump administration has drastically expanded its “Remain in Mexico” program while undercutting the rights of asylum seekers at the United States southern border, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 25, 2019. Under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) – known as the “Remain in Mexico” program – asylum seekers in the US are returned to cities in Mexico where there is a shortage of shelter and high crime rates while awaiting asylum hearings in US immigration court.

Rwanda’s international partners and the UN secretary-general should demand transparent and credible investigations into recent deaths and disappearances of opposition members when they meet with President Paul Kagame, Human Rights Watch said. Kagame is scheduled to speak at the 74th United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2019.

A sign language interpreter during the opening of the Ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Bangkok’s Criminal Court acquitted six prominent pro-democracy activists in an important verdict for protecting free expression in Thailand, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 23, 2019. The court ruled that a 2018 rally demanding a free and fair election was a peaceful exercise of fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Thai constitution.

World leaders gathering for the United Nations General Assembly should reject the abusive policies of autocratic populists and promote greater respect for human rights worldwide, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 23, 2019.

The Indonesian government is failing to protect the rights of Indigenous peoples who have lost their traditional forests and livelihoods to oil palm plantations in West Kalimantan and Jambi provinces, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Sep 22, 2019. Loss of forest occurs on a massive scale and not only harms local indigenous peoples but is also associated with global climate change.

Egyptian authorities should protect the right to peaceful protest in upholding Egypt’s obligations under international human rights law, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 21, 2019. Authorities should immediately release all those arrested for solely exercising their rights.
Media reports and videos posted on social media on the evening of September 20, 2019 show thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in several cities across the country. Security forces, including the military and the police, have apparently chased and rounded up protesters and surrounded Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, according to media reports.

A wide range of human rights activists have been targeted in Colombia, especially those living in rural areas.Human and environmental rights campaigners are one focus of a new UNEP/OHCHR agreement signed 16 August, 2019.