Human Rights | WPN World People News

Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zainab Bangura briefs the press.

Map of Kenya showing Bungoma and Busia counties.

The Thai authorities should immediately investigate the murder of a prominent poet and “Red Shirt” political activist widely known for his opposition to Thailand’s law banning criticism of the monarchy, Human Rights Watch said.

Survivors of the Rana Plaza building collapse one year ago in Bangladesh are still suffering from their injuries and loss of income, Human Rights Watch said. International companies that sourced garments from five factories operating in the Rana Plaza building are not contributing enough to the financial trust fund set up to support survivors and the families of those who died.

A ground-breaking European treaty on violence against women moved one step closer to entering into legal force, with Andorra becoming the 10th country to ratify it. With this milestone met, the treaty will become binding on August 1, 2014. Countries ratifying the treaty are obligated to protect and support victims of violence.

Sudanese men at the funeral of Salah Sanhouri, 26, who was killed during protests by security forces on September 27, 2013, pray over his body. Protests over subsidy cuts on fuel and food have been taking place across Sudan since September 2013.

School authorities in India persistently discriminate against children from marginalized communities, denying them their right to education, Human Rights Watch said in a report released. Four years after an ambitious education law went into effect in India guaranteeing free schooling to every child ages 6 to 14, almost every child is enrolled, yet nearly half are likely to drop out before completing their elementary education.

The Thai authorities should urgently provide information about a prominent ethnic Karen activist who is believed to have been forcibly disappeared, Human Rights Watch said. Por Cha Lee Rakcharoen, known as “Billy,” was reportedly arrested on April 17, 2014, in Kaengkrachan National Park in Petchaburi province and released, but his current whereabouts are unknown.

Country representatives of key non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies and donors in South Sudan unite in condemning recent days’ attacks against civilians in Bentiu, Bor, and other parts of the country. Humanitarian partners are particularly outraged by deliberate and targeted killings of civilians in hospitals, churches, UN peacekeeping bases and other places where people’s rights should be sacrosanct.

Spain’s Audiencia Nacional is continuing its investigation into the alleged torture of men formerly detained at Guantánamo prison by U.S. officials, despite recent legislative restrictions stating that Spanish courts can only investigate human rights violations committed abroad if the suspects are present in Spain. In an order issued, Judge Pablo Ruz ruled that Spain’s obligations under international law to investigate any credible allegation of torture took precedence over the new restrictions, and renewed his request for information from the Obama Administration regarding any U.S.-based investigations into torture allegations.