Human Rights | WPN World People News

Cambodian authorities should quash the politically motivated conviction of prominent land rights activist Tep Vanny and unconditionally release her, Human Rights Watch said on Aug 13, 2018. Tep Vanny was arrested on August 15, 2016, and convicted on baseless charges to silence her peaceful activism on behalf of the Boeung Kak Lake community in Phnom Penh.

Georgia’s drug laws and their aggressive enforcement is causing severe and unjustifiable harm, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Aug 13, 2018. Drug prosecutions for consumption and possession often lead to long prison sentences and prohibitive fines against people who have not harmed others, but who acquired small amounts of drugs for personal, recreational use.

Egyptian authorities have failed to investigate or prosecute a single member of the security forces five years after their systematic and widespread killing of largely peaceful protesters in Rab’a Square in Cairo, Human Rights Watch said. Hundreds of protesters have been convicted under unfair charges in mass trials stemming from the protests.

The decision by Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to select Ma’ruf Amin as his vice-presidential running mate in the 2019 presidential election, raises questions about Jokowi’s commitment to improve human rights protection for all Indonesians, Human Rights Watch said on Aug 10, 2018.

Protesters in Managua take part in a march to demand an end to violence in Nicaragua. The banner reads "This struggle is non-violent" in Spanish.

South Sudanese leaders should not undermine their efforts to bring an end to the country’s devastating conflict with an amnesty for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said. The parties to the conflict signed a peace agreement on August 5, 2018, in Khartoum, agreeing to new power sharing arrangements and a timetable for further talks. On August 8, President Salva Kiir offered a “general amnesty” to heads of armed groups involved in the nation's five-year civil war as part of the agreement to end the fighting.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) has found the Turkmen government responsible for the torture and death of a human rights activist, the Prove They are Alive Campaign! said on Aug 09, 2018. The activist, Olgusapar Muradova, died in state custody in 2006, after her arrest and trial on politically motivated charges. Human Rights Watch is a member of the campaign.

Santa Francisca Manzano is an indigenous woman from the high Andean pastures of Peru.

Papua New Guinean authorities should promptly conduct a thorough and credible investigation into the beating of a boy by police in Kimbe, West New Britain, that was captured on video and shared on social media, Human Rights Watch said on Aug 09, 2018. The investigation should be capable not just of identifying the police responsible, but of prosecuting and punishing them.

The South Sudanese National Security Service (NSS) should immediately and unconditionally release peace activist and academic Peter Biar Ajak or take him to court and charge him with a recognizable crime. The authorities should also end the arbitrary detention of many others held by the security service, in violation of their rights.