Author: Human Rights Watch

The United Nations will hold elections in April for the 19 members of the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, which controls UN accreditation for nongovernmental groups. The election to the UN’s gatekeeper for civil society comes at a difficult time for human rights and civil society groups around the world, with governments defunding these groups, […]

In a wave of arrests that began on February 24, South Sudanese authorities have detained at least six current and former officials linked to the country’s oil and financial sectors. While authorities have yet to publicly clarify if charges have been brought, Minister for Information Ateny Wek Ateny told media that the arrests were not […]

The world’s highest court has spoken: tackling climate change is not a choice: it’s a legal obligation. Now it’s up to the United Nations General Assembly to speak up and urge its 193 member countries to take action. Millions of people around the world have already lost their homes, livelihoods, and lives, due to climate […]

Ecuador is failing to comply with key provisions of an Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling to protect the Tagaeri and Taromenane Indigenous peoples from nearby oil facilities in Yasuní National Park. The court ruled that oil extraction generated environmental pollution and increased the risks of forced contact with the Indigenous groups, potentially exposing them […]

It is a hot afternoon in a rural district in Malawi. People gather around a tent set up at the Local Trading Center, eager to witness a community outreach program that aims to combat rising violence against people with albinism. The organizers passionately encourage greater understanding of albinism and the protection of the rights of […]

(London) – Bangladesh’s recently elected prime minister, Tarique Rahman, and his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government face many urgent challenges but can use this opportunity to bring lasting protections of human rights, nine rights groups wrote in a letter to Rahman published today. Prime Minister Rahman came to office following a landslide election victory in […]

(Washington) – El Salvador is forcibly disappearing and arbitrarily detaining Salvadorans deported from the United States, Human Rights Watch said today, one year after some of the men were sent to El Salvador. The detained people are among more than 9,000 Salvadorans deported by the United States since the start of 2025. Some of them were […]

Over two-and-a-half years after Niger’s military coup, the country’s ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum, and his wife remain detained without legal basis. On March 11, the European Parliament unanimously adopted an urgent resolution condemning their arbitrary detention, as well as that of “other individuals detained in the coup,” and calling for their immediate release. Niger’s Foreign Affairs Ministry reacted sharply, […]

A new report prepared under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) documents a significant deterioration in human rights and democratic standards in Georgia and calls for urgent reforms to protect fundamental freedoms. Published on March 12, the report was prepared by an OSCE fact-finding mission after 23 participating states invoked […]

A ruling this week by Ukraine’s Supreme Court recognizing a same-sex couple as a de facto family marks a significant victory for equality. The case involves Zorian Kis, a Ukrainian diplomat, and his partner Tymur Levchuk. After years of legal struggle, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision recognizing that the couple constitutes a family under […]