Human Rights in the News: February 2024

Welcome to the February 2024 edition of Human Rights in the News, Woven Teaching’s monthly collection of important human rights stories from around the world.

A Disneyland cast member greets visitors at the theme park in 2021. (Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Disneyland character performers move to unionize: 'We are the Magic'
Andrea Chang, Christi Carras  |  Los Angeles Times  |  13 February 2024

Employees at Disneyland have moved to unionize. While many of the park’s employees are already union members, the performers who dress up like Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, and other characters have begun the process to seek union recognition.

Yván Gil, Venezuela’s foreign minister, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (Credit: Dave Sanders/The New York Times)

In Extraordinary Move, Venezuela Expels U.N. Human Rights Agency
Julie Turkewitz, Genevieve Glatsky and Isayen Herrera  |  The New York Times  |  15 February 2024

Venezuela has expelled the country’s UN office on human rights, giving the organization 72 hours to leave the country. The announcement comes in the wake of international criticism following the arrest of a prominent human rights lawyer in Venezuela.

Oleg Orlov from the chest up, slighting raising a hand with a finger pointed up (Credit: Yuri Kadobnov/AFP)

Russian human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov sentenced to jail
Al Jazeera | 27 February 2024

Human rights defender Oleg Orlov has been sentenced to 30 months in prison. A leader of the Russian group Memorial, which speaks out against the Russian government and won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, Orlov was convicted of discrediting Russia’s armed forces.

Additionally, Aleksei Navalny, the opposition leader in Russia, recently died in a Russian prison. He was an outspoken critic of Putin and continued even as he was held in prison. Navalny was 47 years old and had already survived a near fatal poisoning in 2020.

Residents carrying belongings flee fighting between rebels and Congolese troops (Credit: AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

UN hands over 1st military base in Congo to begin its drawdown after decades in the country
Ruth Alonga  |  Associated Press  |  28 February 2024

UN peacekeepers have handed over their first military base to security forces in eastern Congo as part of a withdrawal from the country. The UN has been operating in Democratic Republic of Congo for 25 years, but Congolese civilians say that UN presence has not protected them from rebel attacks.

A young Palestinian looking at a destroyed mosque in Rafah, in southern Gaza (Credit: Mohammed Abed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Israeli Forces Will Move Into Rafah, Cease-Fire Deal or Not, Netanyahu Says
Thomas Fuller and Isabel Kershner  |  The New York Times  |  25 February 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israeli forces will push into Rafah regardless of the outcome of ceasefire talks. “It has to be done,” the Israeli prime minister said. “Because total victory is our goal, and total victory is within reach.” There are more than 1.3 million displaced Palestinians in Rafah as the result of Israel’s attacks on Gaza. The Israeli government believes that this is the only way to eradicate Hamas and prevent future attacks on Israelis and Jews.

Have a topic you’d like to see us include? Leave us a comment and let us know!