Author: Human Rights Watch

United States Border Patrol agents are denying asylum access to families fleeing violence in Mexico, treating them abusively and dismissively, and returning them to the country they fled in fear. Current practices violate US and international human rights law, and border patrol agents violate both the right to seek asylum and to receive humane treatment […]

Some provisions of Ukraine’s anti-collaboration legislation make it possible to criminally prosecute Ukrainian civilians for legitimate activities essential to civilian life in occupied areas. These provisions have led to unjust prosecution of many Ukrainian civilians. Ukrainian authorities should revise the legislation, in close consultation with civil society, to ensure compliance with international humanitarian and human […]

(Beirut) – The outbreak of major hostilities in northern Syria beginning on November 27, 2024, raises concerns that civilians face a real risk of serious abuses at the hands of opposition armed groups and the Syrian government, Human Rights Watch said today. All parties to the conflict should abide by their obligations under international humanitarian […]

Volkswagen’s decision last week to cease operations in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region after 12 years is significant, though long overdue. The German automaker’s exit demonstrates the near impossibility of operating responsibly in a region where the Chinese government is committing crimes against humanity, and subjecting Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims to state-imposed forced labor. Volkswagen was among the […]

A new Belgian law addressing sexual and labor exploitation came into force on December 1. The law follows years of human rights advocacy by community experts Utsopi, Violett, and Espace P, and responds to some of the worst forms of violence and discrimination faced by people who sell sexual services. First, the law provides access to social security […]

(Toluca) – The vote by the Congress of the State of Mexico on November 25, 2024, to decriminalize abortion in all cases during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is a significant step forward for reproductive rights in the country’s most populous state, Human Rights Watch said today. Once enacted, the reform will remove all criminal […]

On November 27, a Zimbabwean court sentenced Jameson Timba, interim leader of the opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), and 34 others to suspended prison terms, after being convicted earlier in the week for participation in an unlawful gathering. Timba was sentenced to a suspended two-year prison term, while the other activists received lesser suspended […]

(Bangkok, November 29, 2024) – Thai authorities forcibly returned six Cambodian political opposition activists and a young child on November 25, 2024, putting them at risk of unfair trials and mistreatment in Cambodia, Human Rights Watch said today. Cambodian authorities should immediately drop the politically motivated charges against these refugees and an asylum seeker and […]

Prison officers allegedly sexually assaulted and harassed Vida Rabbani, an Iranian journalist and activist, during a body search at Evin Prison in Tehran on October 3, an informed source told Human Rights Watch in late November. Security forces arrested Rabbani in September 2022, during the nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Jina Amini’s death while detained by […]

On Thursday night, the Australian government passed new laws that expand the country’s offshore detention regime, further evade international obligations, and allow officials to pursue prison terms for people who resist deportation, including asylum seekers. These laws undermine the core principles of refugee protection and mark an escalation in Australia’s existing mistreatment of refugees, migrants, and […]