Human Rights | WPN World People News

The Tunisian government’s new draft counterterrorism law would permit extended incommunicado detention, weaken due process guarantees for people charged with terrorism offenses, and allow the death penalty, Human Rights Watch said on 8 April in a report outlining the concerns sent to Tunisian legislators.

The UN family in Rwanda commemorates the 21st anniversary of the genocide.

Houthi forces apparently used unnecessary lethal force against demonstrators in Taizz and al-Turbba on March 24, 2015. Houthi authorities should immediately investigate the incidents, in which at least 7 people were killed and more than 83 others were injured. Houthi commanders should make sure their forces comply with international law enforcement standards when dealing with demonstrations.

Draft legislation authorizing sweeping powers of digital surveillance is inconsistent with France’s international human rights commitments, Human Rights Watch said on April 7. The bill, which has already won approval of the National Assembly’s Law Commission, would create a highly damaging model for other countries and should be reconsidered and revised, not rushed through the parliament.

Rights abuses may taint the first European Games unless the European Olympic Committees and key National Olympic Committees urge the Azerbaijani government to release unjustly imprisoned journalists and activists, the Sport and Rights Alliance said on April 7.

The Bangladesh Supreme Court’s rejection on April 6, 2015, of the death penalty review petition for Muhammed Kamaruzzaman permits his imminent execution despite a seriously flawed trial, Human Rights Watch said on 6 April. Kamaruzzaman, a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islaami party, was convicted of war crimes committed during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence. The authorities should immediately stay Kamaruzzaman’s death sentence pending an independent review of his case.

The Malaysian government should withdraw the proposed counterterrorism law now with parliament and ensure future drafts protect fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said on 5 April. The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 would reintroduce indefinite detention without trial or judicial review, and violate due process rights in the name of preventing terrorism. Parliament is expected to vote on the bill before the session ends on April 9, 2015.

At the end of a four-day visit to Rome and Sicily, Anne Brasseur, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has praised Italy for its role as a committed European state and partner.

In a case seeking to hold U.S. officials accountable for the torture and other serious mistreatment of three French citizens formerly detained at Guantánamo, the Chambre de l’instruction de la Cour d’appel de Paris ordered a lower court to summon former Guantánamo Commander Geoffrey D. Miller to explain his role in the abuse on April 2. Miller went on to work at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, having previously expressed wanting to “Gitmo-ize” the prison.

The raging conflict in Yemen is putting children under fire across the country, as attacks on civilian infrastructure are leaving the most vulnerable exposed to the worst forms of violence.