Author: Human Rights Watch

(Washington, DC) – Human Rights Watch today published a detailed question-and-answer document analyzing the Trump administration’s boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific. To date, 26 reported strikes have unlawfully killed at least 95 people, none of whom the US government has identified. The Question-and-Answer document is intended as a resource for understanding the legal […]

China’s government has long sought to silence dissent abroad, but recently there’s been a disturbing escalation: harassment through sexually explicit letters targeting activists outside the country. Hongkongers Carmen Lau and Ted Hui are exiled activists who face arrest warrants back in Hong Kong under the draconian National Security Law. They revealed last week that anonymous […]

(Beirut) – Egyptian authorities should quash the conviction of prominent economist Abd al-Khaliq Farouk, who on October 2, 2025, was sentenced to five years in prison for articles and social media posts in violation of his free speech and due process rights, Human Rights Watch said today. An appeals court is scheduled to hear his case […]

Gyula Balog had a twinkle in his eye to match his wide smile, as he declared, “I’m an alcoholic, a homeless person, an activist, an actor, and an expert by experience.” He made sure the interpreter captured these words in that precise order, and then continued, “I have been sober for 31 years, and spent […]

(London, December 17, 2025) – Authorities in Kazakhstan have targeted independent journalists and media outlets in recent weeks, a coalition of nine human rights groups said today. The authorities have searched the newsroom of an independent news agency, detained media workers, and pressured journalists over their reporting. The coalition includes Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, […]

Discussions are advancing at the United Nations on a new global treaty to guarantee every child’s right to a free education. Last week, countries gathered at the UN in Geneva to explore ways of strengthening international law around access to free pre-primary and secondary education. At least 74 countries from all regions participated, reflecting broad […]

(Washington, DC, December 18, 2025) – United States federal immigration enforcement agents now commonly operate masked and without visible identification, compounding the abusive and unaccountable nature of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, Human Rights Watch said today. The indefinite and widespread nature of these practices is fundamentally inconsistent with the United States’ obligations to ensure […]

Kazakhstan’s Senate adopted two rights-violating laws on December 18, both of them threatening freedom of expression.  The first is a discriminatory draft law banning so-called propaganda of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) expression, which would make it illegal to publicly support LGBT rights. The clear intention of the bill is to silence all forms of […]

A new executive order seeking to designate “illicit fentanyl” a “weapon of mass destruction” could open the door to a dangerous expansion of militarized law enforcement and abusive military action. The December 15 order directs the defense secretary and attorney general to “determine whether the threats posed by fentanyl and its impact on the United States” justifies the […]

The International Automobile Federation (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, or FIA), the international body governing motor sports, including Formula1, held its annual General Assemblies last week in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.  At the General Assemblies, the federation presented Uzbekistan as the “star of the east,” seemingly without a single reference to Uzbekistan’s deeply problematic human rights record. In recent years, Uzbek […]