In 1984, the United Nations introduced the Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), and 155 nations ratified and implemented the convention.1 The legislation was intended to end the use of torture as a form of punishment among its signatory countries.2 In 2017, the Landmark Agreement for Torture-Free Trade was introduced with the purpose of eliminating torture devices from international trade such as spiked batons and leg irons.3 By 2017, 106 countries had eliminated the death penalty, and four nations accounted for 84 percent of the world’s executions. Over 50 percent of all documented executions were performed in Iran, and with Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan, the four nations collectively carried out 84 percent of all executions worldwide in 2017.4

In the Philippines, Morocco, Mexico and Uzbekistan torture is known to be used by law enforcement to solicit confessions, according to Amnesty International. Human rights should be guaranteed to every person on the planet and yet there are still numerous countries throughout the world that are severely restricting human rights for their citizens.1 One of the most pressing human rights violations that is happening is the recruitment and usage of child soldiers in several African countries.2 There are currently three ongoing conflicts that are using child soldiers in the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Syria.3 Although exact statistics on the number of child soldiers who are active in the countries are difficult to obtain, UNICEF has estimated the number of child soldiers active in South Sudan to be around 9,000.4 Officials in the country have observed children younger than 15 years of age engaging in military training, wearing uniforms as well as carrying weapons.5

Human trafficking, both inside countries and across international borders, is a pervasive issue for many countries.6 Human trafficking includes forced labor, domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation.7 The United Nations estimates that over 2.5 million people are mired in forced labor at any given time.8 Asian countries and the Pacific have the highest concentration of forced labor victims with around 1.4 million victims.9 There are currently 161 countries that are considered to have a risk of being a transit, source, or destination country.10 Human trafficking is a human rights violation that is present and active in over 137 countries and the issue affects all economies.11

Many countries and several international human rights organizations consider the right to life the chief human right.12 The right to life, however, is denied in many countries.13 Over the past year Indonesia, Kuwait, Nigeria, and Vietnam have all resumed executions.14 Although it is generally accepted that China executes more citizens per year than the entire world average, the actual number is unknown as executions are considered state secrets.15

The United States remains the only country within the Americas that still uses the death penalty.16 Despite the increases in executions in certain countries, the global community has been turning towards the abolition of state-run executions. The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”1 Trafficking occurs for a number of reasons, some of which are prostitution, sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery and organ harvesting.2 Coercion, abduction, fraud and deception are used to recruit, transfer, house or receive victims.3

Victims include a wide range of ages and genders, including women, men and children, but women constitute a significant portion of both victims and culprits:
particularly because victimized women can become recruiters.4 Vulnerable populations come from all over the world, yet are typically moving from less developed nations to more developed nations.5 Children make up 28 percent of trafficking victims worldwide, yet, in Sub-Saharan Africa, they account for 62 percent of victims, and in Central America and the Caribbean, they make up 64 percent.6

Fifty percent of human trafficking victims worldwide are women, 21 percent are men, 20 percent are girls, and 8 percent are boys. Women and girls are often trafficked for marriage or sexual servitude while men and boys are often forced into exploitative, intense labor like mining or combat.7 To date, 158 nations have criminalized human trafficking, yet the rate of convictions for human trafficking offenders is low. Reporters Without Border ranks the Middle East the lowest on the World Press Freedom Index. In 2017, 13 journalists were killed, with 40 more detained, missing or imprisoned. Syria and Yemen are ranked two of the most dangerous nations in the world for journalists.

1 Other nations’ journalists, even those with a high ranking on the World Press Freedom Index, are facing a climate of opposition, particularly in select European nations.2 Turkey is home to the world’s largest prison for journalists, and in 2016 the nation conducted mass trials for journalists who were suspected to be collaborators in a coup attempt. Russia ranks 148th on the index, and currently is detaining the highest number of journalists since the collapse of the Soviet Union.3

While the United States and Canada have distinct constitutional provisions for the freedom of the press, journalists often face social pressures and verbal attacks, though they are physically protected by law.4 Tunisia’s press freedoms have expanded after the fall of the Arab Spring.5 China continues to place restrictions on its citizens’ access to media.6 In 2018, 80 journalists around the world were killed, 348 remain in prison and 60 are currently being held hostage.

In years prior, the death toll of those in media professions had been in decline. Over half of those killed in 2018 were intentionally targeted and attacked. Many more human violations happens everyday in different countries but there stories are never told, justice never reaches them, the world must work together join hands to reduce the humans rights violations in different backward and politically unstable countries the world organizations' should work with more vigil to safeguard the the basic rights of the people.