Author: Human Rights Watch

Within a span of only five months, between March 18 and the end of August 2026, Iran’s authorities announced the executions of 29 people in connection with recent protests. These executions were unlawful and in violation of international human rights law. Several protesters executed were teenagers aged 18 and 19. Scores more remain at imminent […]

Without warning, Pakistan has directed all medical and dental institutions to expel Afghan students and arrange to send them back to Afghanistan. It is the latest move by Pakistani authorities to summarily deport Afghans from the country. Especially for Afghan women students, being returned to Afghanistan ends their chances of ever becoming doctors or dentists, as […]

(Sydney) – The Australian government has caused thousands of people seeking asylum to suffer grave abuses under its offshore detention system, which began in September 2001, Human Rights Watch said today. Over the past 25 years, Australia has forcibly transferred more than 5,000 asylum seekers to Naoero (formerly called Nauru) and Manus Island, Papua New […]

A military court in Jakarta reduced the prison sentences and overturned the dishonorable discharge of two of the four military personnel convicted for the March 2026 acid attack against human rights activist Andrie Yunus.  The appellate decision, dated August 20, reduced the sentences of 2nd Sgt. Edi Sudarko and 1st Lt. Budhi Hariyanto Widhi Cahyono of […]

Chinese lawyer Ruth Wang fled to Taiwan on September 2 after authorities threatened to shut down her law firm. Her offense? Representing members of China’s Zion Church, a prominent underground Protestant congregation. While founding pastor Ezra Jin was freed from custody in July following high-level US intervention, eight other church members have remained wrongfully detained since their October […]

The global push to make free education accessible for every child gained momentum, as 81 states met at the United Nations in Geneva on August 31 to September 2 to discuss a proposed treaty that could strengthen children’s right to education and remove financial barriers that keep many out of school. The new optional protocol […]

Recent use of white phosphorus munitions by Israeli forces in Lebanon underscores the need for new international law to regulate these devastating weapons. White phosphorus munitions can inflict excruciating burns and cause lifelong physical, psychological, and socioeconomic harm. Countries should condemn ongoing use of white phosphorus munitions, call for further international talks on the matter, […]

(Beirut, September 9, 2026) – Hezbollah unlawfully fired widely banned cluster munitions into a town in northern Israel on March 4, 2026, and again on March 15, Human Rights Watch said today.  The attacks, neither of which caused civilian casualties, took place during a major escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah beginning on […]

Barely a week after African leaders met in Luanda, Angola to strengthen the African Union’s conflict prevention capacity, escalating tensions in northern Ethiopia are testing whether the AU can turn early warning into action. Tensions between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the Tigray region’s main political party, have grown for over […]

Hungary’s government has extended until December 31 the “state of crisis caused by mass migration,” prolonging an emergency regime introduced in 2016 despite the absence of the conditions that could justify its continued use.  Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on September 4 that the government would extend the measure, which was due to expire on September 7. […]