Human Rights | WPN World People News

A coalition of activists and leaders from immigrant communities has issued a letter to President Barack Obama, Speaker John Boehner, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell asking for action on immigration reform.

The United Nations Security Council should act on a historic General Assembly resolution by referring the situation in North Korea to the International Criminal Court, Human Rights Watch said. On November 18, 2014, the General Assembly endorsed a recent UN Commission of Inquiry report detailing crimes against humanity in North Korea and recommended that the Security Council discuss the report and consider an ICC referral.

Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo summarily killed at least 51 youth and forcibly disappeared 33 others during an anti-crime campaign that began a year ago, Human Rights Watch said in a report released. “Operation Likofi,” which lasted from November 2013 to February 2014, targeted alleged gang members in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.

Two young Eritreans wait to board a commercial ferry at Samos Island, Greece. Growing numbers of Eritreans are seeking asylum in Europe.

The ratification of the Lanzarote Convention by the Republic of Cyprus is a continuation of our country’s commitment, at national and international level, for the defense of children's rights,” said PACE General Rapporteur on Children, Stella Kyriakides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), who welcomed yesterday’s unanimous vote by the Cypriot House of Representatives.

A US statement on compliance with the Convention against Torture on November 12, 2014, improves on previous US positions on the treaty’s application but falls short of international obligations, Human Rights Watch said today. The US is appearing for its regular review before the United Nations Committee Against Torture on November 12-13 in Geneva.

A Syrian refugee boy stands in the snow in the Faida informal tented settlement in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, in December 2013.

The Botswana High Court, in a groundbreaking decision, ruled on November 14, 2014, that members of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights group could formally register their organization, Human Rights Watch said.

The Convention on Conventional Weapons expert meeting on lethal autonomous weapons at the United Nations in Geneva, May 14, 2014.