Human Rights

UN: Protect Rights in Welfare Systems’ Tech Overhaul

Automating Benefits, Services Threatens Welfare Rights, Privacy

Governments should heed the call of the United Nations’ leading expert on poverty to fully integrate human rights protections into their efforts to digitize and automate welfare benefits and services, seven human rights groups said on Oct 17, 2019.

Malta: Human rights experts call for justice in case of murdered journalist

image1170x530cropped_451_0_0.jpg
ress Briefing by Ms. Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

UAE: Free Unjustly Detained Rights Defender Ahmed Mansoor

Ahead of His 50th birthday, Over 135 Groups Call for His Release

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) should free the unjustly imprisoned prominent human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor ahead of his 50th birthday on October 22, 2019, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, and over 135 other organizations said in a letter to the UAE president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan on Oct 16, 2019.

UN’s Bachelet addresses progress and setbacks in human rights worldwide

image1170x530cropped_449_0_0.jpg
Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, addresses the 42nd session of the Human Rights Council.

US: Rolling Back Coal Ash Rules Threatens Health

EPA Proposal Effectively Subsidizes Coal Plants

201910bhr_usp_guayama_coalashpile_0_0.jpg
A coal ash pile in Guayama, Puerto Rico

Australia: Older People in Aged Care Drugged Up

Prohibit Chemical Restraint; Ensure Person-Centered Support

Many aged care facilities in Australia routinely give older people with dementia dangerous medicines to control their behavior, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Oct 15, 2019.

Uganda: Brutal Killing of Gay Activist

Amid Attacks, Officials Threaten Death Penalty for LGBT People

Ugandan authorities should thoroughly investigate the fatal attack on October 4, 2019 on an activist for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, Human Rights Watch said on Oct 15. The death of the activist, Brian Wasswa, comes as the Ugandan government calls for reintroducing an anti-homosexuality bill that would provide the death penalty for consensual same-sex acts.

Mauritania: Take Key Steps for Women’s Rights

Take Decisive Steps to Improve Women’s Rights

201809mena_mauritania_photo4_0_0.jpg
Aminetou Mint Ely [center, holding phone], president of the Association of Women Heads of Family and staff of a support center for survivors of gender-based violence, run by the association, Rosso, Mauritania, February 7, 2018.

#MeToo Movement’s Second Anniversary

Activists from Around the Globe Reflect on Successes, Challenges

The global #MeToo movement has sparked significant social, cultural, and legal change, but many challenges remain, Human Rights Watch said, on the eve of the second anniversary of the #MeToo hashtag going viral on social media.

UN: Venezuela Unfit for Rights Council Seat

54 Groups Highlight Its Abysmal Human Rights Record

Venezuela’s brutal crackdown on dissent, and its failure to tackle a humanitarian emergency that is largely of its own making, gives rise to serious concerns about its fitness as a candidate for the United Nations Human Rights Council, a coalition of 54 international and Venezuelan organizations said on Oct 10, 2019.

Could not connect2