Author: Human Rights Watch

As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth year, sustained international efforts are critical to ensure accountability for grave abuses. New findings by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine underscore why its mandate should be renewed. The commission’s new report includes findings on Russian authorities’ deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian […]

This week, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic will visit Canberra in anticipation of signing a free trade agreement with Australia. The deal will be the third concluded by the EU this year, following others with the Mercosur and India, and with more likely to follow. Australia meanwhile has concluded an agreement […]

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women between January 1, 2025, and February 16, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in response to a request from US senators. These figures reveal part of the mounting human toll of the administration’s immigration crackdown. The response said that “(a)s of” […]

(Brussels) – Hungarian authorities should arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters Hungarian territory, Human Rights Watch said today. Netanyahu is expected to travel to Hungary on March 21, 2026, to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference Hungary, an official source reported. The visit comes shortly before Hungary’s national elections, scheduled for […]

(Athens) – The arrest of a human rights activist, Tommy Olsen, by Norwegian authorities on March 16, 2026, is based on a groundless extradition request by Greece, Human Rights Watch said today. Olsen, a Norwegian national and the founder of the nongovernmental organization Aegean Boat Report, was arrested at his home in Tromsø under a […]

(Beirut) – Bahraini authorities have arrested dozens of people for exercising their right to peaceful expression, seeking the death penalty in some cases, amid the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran, Human Rights Watch said today. “At this critical moment, Bahrain authorities should be expanding their efforts to protect people, not arresting them for […]

Tanzanian security forces cracking down on protests during and after the country’s 2025 general elections killed and injured people who were not participating in demonstrations. Based on initial research into the killings, Human Rights Watch believes that hundreds of people across the country may have been killed.  The Tanzanian authorities should recognize that impunity for […]

While breaking news stories capture our attention—North Korea’s recent launching of 10 ballistic missiles grabbed headlines—there’s a tendency to ignore long running but dire issues such as North Korea’s ongoing human rights crisis.  On March 13, the United Nations special rapporteur on North Korea, Elizabeth Salmón, reminded us of the latter’s importance. She told the UN […]

The decision by the Budapest police to ban a demonstration to commemorate the International Day of Trans Visibility, is not about a single protest, but is the latest step in a broader campaign in Hungary to restrict peaceful assembly and silence dissenting voices. The decision relies on 2025 legislation that allows restrictions on events, including protests, associated with lesbian, […]

Shayan Sardarizadeh, a journalist at BBC Verify, warned on March 9 that great care was needed in publishing analysis of videos from Iran to avoid putting people at risk of identification and detention. He highlighted the risk that publishing the coordinates of videos could reveal the home addresses of the people who had filmed them. […]