Author: Human Rights Watch

(Washington, DC) – The United States Congress’ failure to extend public subsidies for private health insurance has caused millions to lose healthcare coverage, increasing financial hardship and deepening inequality, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam America said today. Six months after the subsidies expired on January 1, 2026, early data indicate that millions of households lost health insurance […]

The United Nations Security Council on June 20 warned of the “imminent risk of mass atrocities” in El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan region in western Sudan, which for months now has been the epicenter of fierce fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The conflict, which broke out […]

Cambodia’s government is systematically coercing and publicizing confessions from detained political opposition members and activists to undermine their political standing. By compelling the activists to join the ruling party, the authorities seek to discredit them and further cement effective one-party rule. The Cambodian government should drop politically motivated charges, quash unjust convictions, and immediately and […]

(Beirut) – Demonstrations demanding accountability for Assad-era crimes in Syria have coincided with a rise in vigilante attacks and identity-based incitement between June 13 and 17, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. The protests spread across Aleppo, Idlib, Deir Ezzor, Raqqa, and Damascus governorates. Syrian authorities should ensure that security forces protect people accused of […]

(Nairobi) – Burkina Faso’s authorities should urgently account for the journalist Atiana Serge Oulon, who was forcibly disappeared by state security forces two years ago, and release him immediately, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Observatoire Kisal, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership between the International Federation for Human Rights (Fédération internationale […]

The UK Home Office is pushing ahead with plans to use AI technology to guess the age of young people arriving at UK borders to seek asylum, starting in 2027. Yet the Home Office’s own tests found the technology performed worse on certain groups of people, notably Africans. The plans severely endanger the human rights of children seeking asylum and should be […]

The Canadian government’s elimination of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), announced on June 11, marks a significant step backwards in the fight for accountability for human rights abuses by Canadian companies. The CORE, established in 2019, investigates rights abuses by Canadian companies operating abroad in the oil and gas, mining, and garment sectors. For example, […]

In the process leading toward a new international treaty to prevent and punish crimes against humanity, there is already growing, cross-regional support to ensure the final effort includes justice for crimes against children. In recent weeks, countries submitted formal proposals for amendments to the draft articles under consideration for the treaty. A civil society coalition, including […]

(Berlin, June 18, 2026) – Uzbek authorities should release a local human rights activist accused of extortion and investigate his allegations of abuse in police custody, Human Rights Watch said today. Javokhir Muminov, the activist, told his lawyer on June 10, 2026, that following his arrest, police officers had beaten and suffocated him. “This criminal […]

The Trump administration’s deployment of thousands of federal immigration agents to Minnesota led to widespread human rights violations, terrorized residents, and spotlighted the deeply abusive patterns in US immigration enforcement. In addition to unlawful killings, excessive force, racial profiling, and unlawful detentions, the abuses and resulting terror forced many people to stay at home, causing […]