Burma’s new telecom license winners should make a public commitment to strong human rights policies and broad transparency measures, Human Rights Watch said. Firms should say how they plan to protect users from illegal surveillance and censorship, given the current lack of legal human rights protections in Burmese telecommunications law.

Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court sentenced a prominent human rights activist to five years in prison on June 17, 2013, based on his writings and exposure of human rights abuses. Mikhlif al-Shammari was convicted of “sowing discord” and other offenses and barred from travelling for 10 years.

The United States should protect people who use classified or other sensitive government information to expose what appear to be serious human rights violations and other government wrongdoing, Human Rights Watch said in a statement released today.

The two-year prison sentence for a Tunisian rapper on June 13, 2013, for “insulting the police” in a song violates freedom of speech. The criminal court sentence is another manifestation of the continuing intolerance for those who criticize government institutions in Tunisia.

The Singaporean government should withdraw an onerous new licensing requirement for online news sites. The new rules will further discourage independent commentary and reporting on the Internet in Singapore.

Jordanian authorities should immediately rescind an order to censor 263 unlicensed local news websites.The government should also scrap recent legislation that allows it to encroach on online media freedom. The attempts to regulate online speech violate Jordan’s constitutional free expression guarantees.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government should end police violence and excessive use of force against protests across Turkey. Officials should uphold the right to peaceful protest and free speech.

Facebook has taken a critical step toward increasing respect for human rights by joining the Global Network Initiative.

International telecommunications companies risk being linked to human rights abuses if they enter the Burmese market before adequate protections are in place, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Burma’s human rights reforms thus far have been inadequate, including in the Internet and telecommunications sector, so companies entering the country should adopt robust safeguards to prevent and address any abuses linked to their operations.

The systemic changes to Hungary’s legal framework introduced by the government since 2010 weaken legal checks on its authority, interfere with media freedom, and undermine human rights protections, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

Vietnam should drop charges and free two activists arrested in October 2012 for “conducting propaganda against the state.

The Vietnamese authorities should stop impeding and abusing people trying to hold “human rights picnics” in public spaces.

Jordanian criminal justice authorities should immediately drop their three-year prosecution of two intellectuals and withdraw all charges against them.

With new protests planned in the coming days, the Bangladeshi government should ensure that the security forces immediately end their practice of using excessive force against protesters. The government should appoint an independent commission to investigate the deaths of dozens of protesters, including children, since large-scale street protests began in February, and prosecute anyone responsible for unlawful killings and use of force.

Sudan should immediately stop censoring newspapers and end all forms of repression of media and journalists, on World Press Freedom Day.

Colombia should ensure that the investigation into the attack on a leading investigative journalist thoroughly examines possible motives related to his work and identifies all responsible parties, Human Rights Watch said today. On the evening of May 1, 2013, gunmen opened fire on the car driven by Ricardo Calderón, an editor at Semana magazine, Colombia’s main newsweekly, as it was stopped on a road between Ibagué and Bogotá. Five bullets penetrated the body of the vehicle, but Calderón escaped without injuries.

The Iranian government is increasingly violating workers’ rights to peaceful assembly and association. Dozens of labor and independent trade union activists are in prison for speaking out in defense of workers.Human Rights Watch called for the government to end the crackdown and free labor rights advocates in anticipation of International Workers’ Day on May 1, as part of a joint campaign by Iranian and international rights groups to highlight the plight of workers.

South Africa’s “secrecy bill,” adopted by the National Assembly on April 25, 2013, lacks essential protections for whistleblowers.

Iraqi authorities should ensure that a promised investigation into a deadly raid on April 23, 2013, in Haweeja, near Kirkuk, examines allegations that security forces used excessive and lethal force.

Kuwait’s Court of Appeal released a former member of parliament on bail on April 22, 2013, in his appeal of a five-year sentence for insulting the emir.

The World Bank’s “vision” statement will be undermined if it fails to recognize the importance of human rights, nine organizations warned. The human rights and development groups called on President Jim Kim to make a firm commitment to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights in all of its activities.

International racing bodies responsible for scheduling the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix from April 19 to 21, 2013, have taken no steps to address human rights abuses that appear to be directly linked to the event.

The government of Venezuela should not limit citizens’ rights to freely express their views and assemble peacefully in response to the disputed presidential election, Human Rights Watch said today. It should respect freedom of the press and all violent incidents should be subject to prompt, thorough, and impartial investigations, Human Rights Watch said.

The adoption of a new media law by Burundi’s National Assembly on April 3, 2013, is an attempt to curtail free speech and independent journalism. The Senate and president should reject this version of the draft law, which would undermine Burundians’ hard-won struggle for fundamental freedoms.

Tunisia’s new justice minister should ensure the immediate release of Sami Fehri, the director of the privately owned Attounissia TV channel.

Bahraini authorities are carrying out home raids and arbitrarily detaining opposition protesters in advance of the Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend of April 19 to 21, 2013, Human Rights Watch said today, based on information from a variety of local sources.

Yemen’s Defense Ministry should cooperate in bringing the killer of a journalist and his friend to justice, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the defense minister, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, requesting information about possible military involvement in the case.

Algerian authorities illegally restricted rights to free movement when they barred 96 Algerian civil society activists from travelling to Tunisia, without giving any reason.

Algerian authorities illegally restricted rights to free movement when they barred 96 Algerian civil society activists from travelling to Tunisia, without giving any reason. Border officials stopped the activists on March 25 as they were about to enter Tunisia, where they intended to attend the World Social Forum. The forum, a global gathering of approximately 50,000 activists on areas such as human rights and the environment, runs from March 26 to March 30, 2013.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia should order local governments not to demolish houses of worship and should revoke discriminatory regulations on religious structures.

Yemeni authorities should ensure that an investigation into the killing of a journalist and another man in Aden fully and impartially examines the military’s possible role and brings those responsible to justice.

Iran’s judiciary should conclude a speedy, independent, and transparent criminal investigation followed by prosecution of those believed responsible for the death of the blogger Sattar Behesht. Beheshti died in the custody of Tehran’s cyber police in November 2012. Iranian officials should stop harassing his family and hampering their efforts to seek justice and ensure that those responsible for the blogger’s death are held to account.

The trial of 94 Emirati citizens accused of crimes against national security on March 4, 2013, raises serious fair trial concerns, including limited access to lawyers and withholding of key documents concerning the charges and evidence against them. The detainees include two prominent human rights lawyers, Mohammed al-Roken and Mohammed al-Mansoori, as well as judges, teachers, and student leaders, at least 10 of whom are women. Several defendents have alleged that they were subjected to ill-treatment in detention.

The Indonesian government is failing to protect the country’s religious minorities from growing religious intolerance and violence. 

The government-proposed draft law in Egypt concerning public demonstrations would severely limit the right to peaceful public assembly and is open to abuse by police, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the president and the Justice Ministry.

The Iranian authorities should immediately release from arbitrary house arrest two former presidential candidates Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, an author and political activist, the Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and six leading human rights groups said today. The authorities should also stop harassing or detaining without cause the couple’s two daughters and Karroubi’s son.

Israel engaged in discriminatory practices and other rights violations against Palestinians during 2012, while Palestinian authorities committed abuses against their own population, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013.  

The government of Cameroon should immediately take action against a series of death threats made over the last four months to two lawyers who represent clients accused of homosexual conduct, Human Rights Watch said today in an open letter to President Paul Biya. Alice Nkom and Michel Togué, Cameroonian human rights lawyers, began receiving death threats in October 2012, in the form of emails and text messages, assailing the lawyers for their work defending clients charged with homosexuality. Consensual same-sex conduct is criminalized under the Cameroonian penal code’s article 347 bis, and at least 28 people have been prosecuted under the law since 2010. Nkom and Togué are among the only lawyers courageous enough to take up these cases in a country where homophobia is pervasive.

The Azerbaijani government should immediately end a hostile campaign of intimidation against writer Akram Aylisli. Aylisli recently published a controversial novel depicting relationships between ethnic Azeris and Armenians in Azerbaijan.

Somali authorities should immediately charge or release Daud Abdi Daud, a journalist who has been in custody since February 5, 2013. On February 11, he was transferred from police custody to Mogadishu Central Prison. Daud Abdi, who works for Kulmiye Radio, is secretary general of the Somali Media for Environment, Science, Health, and Agriculture.

Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) should stop arbitrarily detaining journalists, activists, and political opposition figures, and end its prosecution of journalists for insulting or defaming public figures. The Asayish – the Kurdistan Security Agency – and police arrested without warrants journalists and others who published articles criticizing public officials, and detained them without charge or trial for periods ranging from several weeks to a year.

Qatar has not delivered on its pledges to improve migrant workers’ rights, Human Rights Watch said today at a news conference in Doha about its World Report 2013. More than two years after it won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, It is high time for Qatar to deliver on its promises for reforms to prevent the trafficking and forced labor of migrant workers, Human Rights Watch said. The Qatar Supreme Committee for Qatar 2022 – the tournament’s quasi-governmental delivery committee – has made encouraging pledges on workers’ rights, but these lack detail. Nor do they mask the failure of the Qatari authorities either to reform exploitative laws, such as the kafala system of sponsorship-based employment and the prohibition on trade unions, or to enforce the prohibition on illegal recruitment fees and the confiscation of passports.

A Somali court’s conviction of a woman who alleged rape by security forces, and a journalist who interviewed her, is a serious setback for ending sexual violence and protecting press freedom, five human rights and media organizations said today. The government should drop its groundless case against the journalist and the woman, and immediately order the release of the journalist, the organizations said.

The Human Rights situation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) deteriorated rapidly during 2012, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013.

Iraq’s leadership used draconian measures against opposition politicians, detainees, demonstrators, and journalists, effectively squeezing the space for independent civil society and political freedoms in Iraq, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013.

Bahrain’s failure to release political prisoners or hold accountable high officials responsible for torture, and its escalating campaign to silence human rights defenders, exposes the government's fraudulent claims that it is carrying out promised reforms, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013.

Somali authorities should drop politically motivated charges against five people including a journalist and a woman who alleged she was raped by state security forces.

Armed opposition groups appeared to have deliberately destroyed religious sites in mixed areas of Northern Syria, in November and December 2012.An armed opposition group destroyed a Shia place of worship in Idlib governorate, and two Christian churches in Latakia governorate were looted.

Sudan should immediately rescind its decision to shut down four civil society organizations in Khartoum in December 2012. The government should allow independent groups to operate freely and conduct peaceful protests.

President François Hollande of France should publicly and privately convey concerns about deteriorating human rights conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on his visit there. Hollande is scheduled to arrive for his first official visit to the UAE on January 15, 2013.

Bahrain’s Court of Cassation ruling on January 7, 2013, upholding lengthy prison terms of 13 prominent dissidents appears to confirm the inability of Bahrain’s judicial system to protect basic rights. A military court had convicted the dissidents solely for exercising their rights to free expression and peaceful assembly.