Human Rights | WPN World People News

The Mozambique authorities should urgently investigate and appropriately prosecute alleged sexual exploitation of Cyclone Idai victims by local officials, Human Rights Watch said on April 25, 2019. Hunger and destruction caused by the cyclone have left hundreds of thousands of women vulnerable to abuse.

Saudi Arabia’s government announced the mass execution of 37 men on April 23, 2019 in various parts of the country, Human Rights Watch said on April 24, 2019. At least 33 of the 37 were from the country’s minority Shia community and had been convicted following unfair trials for various alleged crimes, including protest-related offenses, espionage, and terrorism. The mass execution was the largest since January 2016, when Saudi Arabia executed 47 men for terrorism offenses.

Egypt is hosting an Africa human rights session beginning April 24, 2019, while its government is presiding over the worst human rights crisis in the country in recent decades, 15 African, Egyptian, and international organizations said on April 24, 2019.

A South Sudanese rape victim narrates her ordeal at an undisclosed location near Bentiu town. (December 2018)

Many United States states are using anti-boycott laws and executive orders to punish companies that refuse to do business with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Human Rights Watch said on April 23, 2019. More than 250 million Americans, some 78 percent of the population, live in states with anti-boycott laws or policies.

Candidates for the European Parliament should clarify their positions on key human rights issues at a time when respect for human rights and the rule of law are under attack from some European leaders, Human Rights Watch said on April 23, 2019. Human Rights Watch has sent a questionnaire to leading candidates from European political groupings running for election and plans to make the responses public ahead of the 23-26 May, 2019 polls.

The Chinese government should ensure the projects it finances or engages in under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) respect human rights, Human Rights Watch said on April 21, 2019. On April 25-27, 2019, President Xi Jinping will host heads of state and international organization leaders at the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing. The BRI, announced in 2013, is China’s trillion-dollar infrastructure and investment program stretching across some 70 countries, linking China to the rest of Asia, Africa, and Europe via land and maritime networks.

Sudan’s transitional military council should uphold their commitments to human rights and justice for past crimes by transferring Omar al-Bashir, the deposed president, and other Sudanese fugitives to the International Criminal Court (ICC). ICC states parties should step up pressure on the council to surrender al-Bashir and other war crimes suspects to the Hague court without any further delay.

Iranian authorities should release and quash the convictions of all activists who have been prosecuted for peacefully protesting the country’s compulsory hijab laws, Human Rights Watch said on April 18, 2019. In the past week, the authorities arrested two activists – a mother and daughter – for protesting compulsory hijab laws.

Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, and first lady Cho Cho, left, smile as they take part in the first day of Myanmar traditional water festival, also known as Myanmar New Year, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar on Saturday, April 13, 2019.