Author: Human Rights Watch

Zambian police and military forcibly disappeared, arbitrarily detained, beat, and threatened opposition members, lawyers, journalists, and government critics in the days before and after general elections in August.  The post-election climate of intimidation, harassment, and repression has had a chilling effect on civic and political organizations, particularly on dissenting voices. The authorities should immediately halt […]

Prison authorities in the Australian state of South Australia are harming people with disabilities by using solitary confinement. Solitary confinement has a disproportionately harmful impact on people with disabilities and can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and even torture.  Australia’s federal and state governments should take urgent action to ensure proper independent oversight […]

(New York) – An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan imposed 10-year prison sentences on two human rights lawyers on October 29, 2026, in an escalation of the government’s crackdown on civil society, Human Rights Watch said today. Pakistani authorities should immediately quash the convictions, release Imaan Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha, and cease criminal […]

The United States Treasury announced new sanctions this week against Rwanda’s Ministry of Defense and Zigama Credit and Savings Society, a Rwandan financial institution that the US Treasury found facilitated payments for the Rwandan army and the abusive M23 armed group. The sanctions freeze all named parties’ assets and interests in the US and effectively bar […]

When I woke up this morning to the news that Novaya Gazeta is closing its doors, it felt like a personal blow. To me, Novaya’s office in a small grey building in central Moscow always felt like home.  The newsroom moved to Moscow almost three decades ago. I got to know its every nook and […]

Six months after their abductions, Mountaga Tall, an outspoken critic of Mali’s junta, and his son, Cheick Mamadou Tall, remain missing, their fate unknown, and the Malian authorities silent. Every day that passes without news raises fears for their safety and deepens their family’s anguish. Unidentified gunmen abducted Tall in Bamako, Mali’s capital, on May 2. Tall’s […]

An incarcerated Indigenous woman was reportedly shackled during a hospital stay earlier this month to deliver her baby by caesarean section in a Queensland hospital in Australia. Queensland Corrective Services promised an internal review but did not confirm the shackling. Shackling a woman during childbirth contravenes international human rights standards. The incident happened days before Australia’s two […]

This week a Chinese sports forum unearthed an April 2026 interview with Real Madrid football star Kylian Mbappé jokingly likening himself to a “Chinese dictator” (dictateur chinois). While Mbappé, known for dictating terms on the pitch, did not name names, the broadcaster added art showing him as Chinese Communist Party founder Mao Zedong. Beijing’s reaction […]

A UN Commission of Inquiry concluded on October 14 that Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of persecution against Palestinian children. Their findings recognize an important dimension that has not been given enough attention: children in the West Bank have been deliberately targeted—not just because of their nationality, race or ethnicity but also […]

More than three months have passed since plainclothes security officers arrested pro-democracy activist Clovis Kakule Mutsuva on July 18 in North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Mutsuva, 32, is awaiting trial before a military court on several charges. The Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan-origin armed group active in eastern Congo, has been carrying out deadly […]