Human Rights | WPN World People News

The border between Bulgaria and Turkey.

The European Union should ensure that human rights are at the core of its relationships with the countries involved in the Eastern Partnership. On November 28 and 29, 2013, the EU will convene a summit of its eastern neighbors in Vilnius, at which it is expected to lay the foundation for deeper political and economic ties with several partnership countries.

Seven deaths at an October fire in a fabric mill in Bangladesh could have been prevented, Human Rights Watch said. In interviews, workers from the Aswad Composite Mills told Human Rights Watch that the fire hydrant system at the plant did not work properly, allowing the flames to spread quickly.

In the village of Mélé, Central African Republic, only half of the children in the region go to school because of conflict.

Russian authorities should immediately withdraw drug trafficking and forgery charges against a doctor and a woman who helped a dying cancer patient in excruciating pain obtain pain medication. Authorities should also petition the local court to void a ruling barring the defendants’ lead lawyer from acting in the case.

L-r: Tetiana Izhevska, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians and Members of Other Religions; Rabbi Andrew Baker, Personal Representative on Combating Anti-Semitism; and Adil Akhmetiv, Personal Representative on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims, speaking at the Permanent Council, Vienna, 7 November 2013.

In its immediate response to the vast devastation caused in the Philippines by the tropical cyclone Haiyan (Yolanda), the European Commission is making available €3 million to help in emergency relief efforts in the worst affected areas.

The Iranian government should follow through on President Hassan Rouhani’s promises to improve access to human rights for religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said. That should include allowing Sunni Muslims, a minority in Shia-dominated Iran, to gather and pray freely in their own mosques in Tehran and other areas of the country.

Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Najat Maalla M’jid.