Human Rights | WPN World People News

The Myanmar authorities should immediately quash the convictions of five theater performers for criticizing the military and drop all remaining charges against troupe members, Human Rights Watch said on Oct 31, 2019. The five had been arrested for performing satirical slam poetry known as thangyat, a traditional vehicle for humorous criticism of topics from politics to social behavior.

Draft amendments to Kyrgyzstan’s trade union law would severely inhibit independent trade union organizing and violate international labor treaties to which Kyrgyzstan is a party, Human Rights Watch said on Oct 31, 2019. Parliament should reject the amendments when they are presented for a third reading.

United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-backed Afghan forces have committed summary executions and other grave abuses without accountability, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Oct 31, 2019. These strike forces have unlawfully killed civilians during night raids, forcibly disappeared detainees, and attacked healthcare facilities for allegedly treating insurgent fighters. Civilian casualties from these raids and air operations have dramatically increased in the last two years.

Asylum seekers with disabilities waiting in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico for their United States asylum applications to be processed face obstacles to getting basic services, Human Rights Watch said on Oct 29, 2019. Mexico’s government should identify and ensure services for people with disabilities and chronic health conditions.

Tanzanian authorities unlawfully coerced more than 200 unregistered asylum seekers into returning to Burundi on October 15, 2019 by threatening to withhold their legal status in Tanzania, Human Rights Watch said on Oct 29, 2019. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) facilitated the returns by registering the asylum seekers under its voluntary repatriation program, despite threats from Tanzanian officials that they could risk arrest if they stayed in Tanzania.

Children attend class in open at a government middle school, Rajouri district, Jammu and Kashmir, India.

Iraqi security forces fired tear gas canisters into crowds, killing at least eight protesters, during demonstrations in Baghdad on October 25, 2019. Although forces in Baghdad refrained from using live rounds, at demonstrations in southern cities, protesters attempted to burn down Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashad or PMF) office buildings, leading forces inside to open fire and kill protesters. In Basra, a police vehicle drove into a crowd of protesters, injuring some.

Six medical workers abducted by a local armed group in Zintan, Libya, were freed on October 23, 2019, after 12 days of captivity, Human Rights Watch said on Oct 24. The Zintan authorities should ensure that the captors are held to account.

Thai authorities over five years of military rule prosecuted numerous peaceful critics of the government to stay in power, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Oct 24, 2019. Concerned governments should press Thailand to protect the rights to expression and assembly, and reform laws penalizing peaceful speech to bring them in line with international standards.

The Burundi authorities should immediately and unconditionally release four journalists and their driver arrested on October 22, 2019 while they were on a reporting trip to Bubanza Province for Iwacu newspaper.