Human Rights | WPN World People News

Other countries should use the upcoming periodic review of Jordan’s human rights record at the United Nations Human Rights Council to press for concrete reforms, Human Rights Watch said. In particular, country representatives gathering in Geneva for the review process on October 24, 2013, should press Jordan to amend its penal code to remove vague charges that limit rights to free expression, assembly, and association.

China’s government should use its appearance before the United Nations Human Rights Council to demonstrate its stated commitment to improving human rights by ending its systematic repression of human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch said. China will be reviewed for the second time under the UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) procedure on October 22, 2013.

The government of Uganda has failed to hold to account senior officials implicated in the theft and diversion of public funds, Human Rights Watch and Yale Law School’s Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic said in a joint report released.

The Dutch government has lodged a rare application at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), asking it to order the immediate release of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise and all those who were aboard for the peaceful protest against Gazprom’s Arctic oil platform, the Prirazlomnaya.

Other countries should use the rare opportunity for scrutiny of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record on October 21, 2013, to press for concrete steps to end abuses. Country representatives gathering in Geneva for the United Nations Human Rights Council’s periodic review of Saudi Arabia should press for actions that include the immediate release of Saudi activists jailed over the past year solely for peacefully advocating reform.

Of the 21 million in forced labour 70% are in forced labour exploitation and 22% are in forced sexual exploitation.

The OSCE is dedicated to increasing women’s participation in conflict prevention, crisis management and post conflict rehabilitation.

As the Arctic 30 face their 30th day of imprisonment by Russian authorities, nearly 10,000 people are taking to the streets at more than 100 events in 36 countries to call for their immediate release.

Earlier this month at least 200 people drowned when their boat caught fire and sank in the rough waters off the coast of the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa. The deaths focused renewed attention on the trafficking of migrants from Libya to Europe and prompted urgent talks between Libyan and European authorities on how to staunch the migrant flow and prevent the smuggler’s rickety boats launching from the Libyan coast.

Goal 1 of MDGs: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.