Human Rights | WPN World People News

More stringent penalties for female genital mutilation approved by Egypt’s parliament on August 31, 2016, are a step toward eliminating the practice, but further legal and other reforms are needed, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 09. Egyptian authorities should make sure that laws and policies against female genital mutilation are enforced, including holding accountable medical facility directors who allow the practice to take place.

Greek police routinely lock up unaccompanied children in small, overcrowded, and unhygienic cells for weeks and months, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released on Sep 08.

The Nepal government is not taking sufficient steps to end child marriage, causing deep harm to both girls and boys across the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Sep 08. In July 2014, Nepal’s government pledged to end child marriage by 2020. By 2016, this goal had shifted to 2030. But the government has yet to take the concrete steps needed to achieve either goal.

Brazilian authorities should conduct thorough and impartial investigations into the police use of force and detentions of protesters during recent anti-government demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 7.

New satellite imagery dated August 31, 2016, shows the dire situation for tens of thousands of Syrians stranded at the Jordanian border. The imagery shows Syrians waiting in large numbers around at least seven water distribution sites.

Alleged separatist insurgents detonated a bomb in southern Thailand outside a school that killed a man and his daughter, Human Rights Watch said on Sep 07. The deliberate attack on the school, a civilian structure, amounts to a war crime and denies children their right to education.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.

Bahrain should immediately stop the prosecution of prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, who faces up to 15 years in prison solely for charges that violate his right to free expression. Rajab’s trial resumes on September 5, 2016, on charges that include criticism of Bahrain’s participation in Saudi Arabia-led military operations in Yemen. Authorities have rejected repeated requests to release him on bail.