Human Rights | WPN World People News

Houthi authorities in Yemen have arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared dozens of people in the capital, Sanaa. The Houthi authorities should safeguard the rights of everyone in detention, immediately release all those held arbitrarily, and grant family members, lawyers, and independent monitors immediate access to detention sites to reduce the risk of abuse.

Armenian authorities should release a political activist who was arrested during a public gathering on January 1, 2016, and placed in pretrial detention, pending an impartial investigation into the charges against him, Human Rights Watch said on January 8. The authorities should also review police conduct at the gathering and possible police interference with the rights to freedom of thought, expression, and assembly.

Over the past eight weeks, Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia, has been hit by a wave of mass protests over the expansion of the municipal boundary of the capital, Addis Ababa. The generally peaceful protests were sparked by fears the expansion will displace ethnic Oromo farmers from their land, the latest in a long list of Oromo grievances against the government.

Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces airdropped cluster bombs on residential neighborhoods in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, early on January 6, 2016. It is not yet clear whether the attacks caused civilian casualties, but the inherently indiscriminate nature of cluster munitions makes such attacks serious violations of the laws of war. The deliberate or reckless use of cluster munitions in populated areas amounts to a war crime.

Relatives of the 2010 violence victims stage a protest against the dismissal of malfeasance charges against former senior officials for their role in the violent crackdown.

The Chinese authorities should release the 38 lawyers and activists associated with the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm who have been arbitrarily detained since July 2015, Human Rights Watch said on January 6, 2016. Many are held under the criminal procedure known as “designated residential surveillance,” which authorizes incommunicado, and often solitary, confinement for up to six months in secret locations. The six-month deadline falls on January 9, 2016.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

U.S. President Barack Obama stands with Vice President Joe Biden (R) and family members of shooting victims while delivering a statement on steps the administration is taking to reduce gun violence in the East Room of the White House in Washington January 5, 2016.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/01/05/dispatches-congress-should-act-gun-v...

Peacekeepers serving with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) on patrol in Bambari.

The Afghan government should include female negotiators in the upcoming multistate meeting on the Afghan peace process, Human Rights Watch said on Janurary 4.