Author: Human Rights Watch

(Bangkok) – A senior cabinet minister in Thailand has brought criminal defamation lawsuits against two prominent journalists who reported about a bribery case, raising serious concerns for media freedom, Human Rights Watch said today. The trial court can dismiss the case if it lacks legal merit or is without basis. On February 27, 2026, the Minister […]

On April 7, Australian police arrested Ben Roberts-Smith, a decorated Australian soldier who stands accused of committing five counts of war crimes in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.  Many of the details of Roberts-Smith’s alleged crimes were made public when he sued media outlets that had first reported on the allegations. He lost the defamation case.  For victims of […]

On April 7, Australian police arrested Ben Roberts-Smith, a decorated Australian soldier who stands accused of committing five counts of war crimes in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.  Many of the details of Roberts-Smith’s alleged crimes were made public when he sued media outlets that had first reported on the allegations. He lost the defamation case.  For victims of […]

Forces affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces have arbitrarily detained, tortured, and otherwise ill-treated civilians in areas under their control, and denied them due process rights. The military has led a campaign of fear and retaliation against people they label collaborators, because of their ethnic identity, humanitarian work, or political affiliation or for having lived […]

On April 2, the Cuban government announced the release of 2,010 prisoners, framing it as a “humanitarian gesture.” While the announcement raised hopes among many political prisoners’ families, neither Human Rights Watch nor other civil society groups, including Prisoners Defenders and Justicia 11J, have identified any political prisoners among those released. In its announcement, the Cuban […]

A new United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report delivers a sobering message: the number of children out of school has risen for the seventh consecutive year, reaching 273 million worldwide. While nearly 90 percent of children globally complete primary school, the greatest gaps are in early learning and secondary education. Most out-of-school […]

The Trump administration is using a US federal funding provision to make abortion care less accessible, threatening states with devastating federal funding cuts for protecting the right to abortion.  The provision, known as the Weldon Amendment and attached to federal spending bills since 2005, is meant to prevent states from treating differently under state law health care providers, practitioners, […]

Cameroonian authorities are arbitrarily detaining non-Cameroonian nationals deported from the United States and detaining and abusing journalists who tried to interview them. But US President Donald Trump’s administration doesn’t seem to care. In January and February, under a secret agreement, the US government deported to Cameroon 17 men and women—including asylum seekers and a stateless […]

A new United Nations report details how criminal groups in Haiti are exploiting the near-total absence of the state, as well as widespread hunger and violence, to recruit children who then face abuse. These criminal groups traffic children by using threats and material incentives to force them into criminal activity, sexual abuse, and sexual slavery. At […]

In the early morning hours of February 26, 2023, the Summer Love shipwrecked off the coast of Calabria, Italy. At least 94 people, including 35 children, died in what is known as the Cutro shipwreck. According to survivors, the boat was carrying up to 250 people, most from Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan. The anniversary comes […]