Human Rights | WPN World People News

The Egyptian Parliament on April 22, 2020 swiftly approved government-proposed amendments to the 1958 Emergency Law which will give additional sweeping powers to President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi and security agencies, Human Rights Watch said on May 07, 2020. President al-Sisi should return the amendments unsigned to Parliament, which should revise the many abusive articles in the law.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte should rescind an order to shut down ABS-CBN, the country’s largest broadcast television and radio network, Human Rights Watch said on May 06, 2020. The House of Representatives, whose inaction on bills to renew the broadcaster’s license led to the closure, should promptly renew the franchise.

Jordanian authorities have arrested media workers and others and issued a vaguely worded emergency decree that could chill online discussion about Jordan’s Covid-19 response, Human Rights Watch said on May 06, 2020.

The Ethiopian government has been using Covid-19 restrictions and a recently declared state of emergency as a pretext to restrict free speech.

Bangladesh authorities have quarantined 29 Rohingya refugees without adequate access to aid on an unstable silt island in the Bay of Bengal, Human Rights Watch said on May 05, 2020. The authorities said that they are holding the refugees, who had been adrift at sea for over two months, on Bhasan Char to prevent a Covid-19 outbreak in the camps.

The Islamic State (also known as ISIS) used a gorge in northeast Syria as a dumping ground for the bodies of people it had abducted or detained, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on May 04, 2020. A Human Rights Watch investigation and drone flight into the gorge highlight the need for the authorities to secure the site, remove human remains, and preserve evidence for criminal proceedings against the killers.

The UN Secretary-General is calling for greater protection of journalists who are providing the “antidote” to what he has characterized as a pandemic of misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 crisis.

The United Nations Childen’s Fund (UNICEF) welcomed the landmark move by Sudan’s transitional government this week to criminalize female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), with a three-year jail sentence for offenders.

Somali authorities have been stepping up their intimidation of journalists as the country faces a growing number of Covid-19 cases. Since mid-April 2020 alone, authorities arbitrarily detained three journalists, accused two of various crimes, and prohibited a local radio station from broadcasting in a local dialect.

UN experts urge the United States to lift its embargo on Cuba that is obstructing the country’s health care system ability to fight the COVID19 crisis.