Author: Human Rights Watch

North Korean athletes who took selfies with their South Korean and Chinese counterparts at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games are reportedly facing intense scrutiny and possible punishment upon their return home. In North Korea, even an innocent selfie can have stark implications, given the government’s strict ideological controls and repression. While the athletes’ selfies were celebrated by […]

The Bangladeshi people have shown enormous courage over the past few months, paying a very high price to secure an opportunity for democratic transition and progress on human rights. The European Union should stand by their side and take concrete actions to support them. The authoritarian rule of Sheikh Hasina’s government ended when she resigned […]

  (Istanbul) – Türkiye’s Environment Ministry should not approve the planned addition of two more units at Afşin-Elbistan coal power plant A in the southeastern  Kahramanmaraş province in view of the serious harm the plant has caused the surrounding community, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch research found that air pollution levels near plant […]

Mongolia should deny entry to Russian President Vladimir Putin or arrest him if he enters the country. The Kremlin announced that Putin is planning to travel to Mongolia on September 3, 2024, following an invitation by Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh to attend a military anniversary event. President Putin has been wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) […]

In the wake of recent racist and Islamophobic riots in the United Kingdom, the United Nations’ anti-racism body has issued a report on the UK’s record addressing racial discrimination. In it, the UN  urged the UK government to finally right the wrongs committed against Black Britons from the Windrush generation and the Chagossian people as […]

This week, Mexico’s Aguascalientes state took an alarming step backwards on access to abortion in violation of Mexico’s legal obligations. One year ago, in August 2023, Mexico’s Supreme Court ordered the decriminalization of abortion in Aguascalientes, after five civil society organizations – GIRE, CECADEC, Cultivando Género, Morras Help Morras, and TERFU A.C. – challenged the abortion prohibition […]

(Berlin) – Azerbaijani authorities have arrested a researcher and political analyst, Bahruz Samadov, on spurious treason charges, in the government’s escalating crackdown against its critics, Human Rights Watch said today. A Ph.D. candidate at Prague’s Charles University, Samadov is the latest scholar targeted ahead of COP29, the global United Nations climate summit, to be hosted by […]

It was an extraordinary sight for Indonesia: On August 28, protesters set up tents outside a government guesthouse in Yogyakarta city where the president, Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, was staying the night after inaugurating a local market. Hundreds of protesters, surrounded by police officers and presidential guards, shouted slogans accusing the president of corruption […]

The president’s decree launching the Public Policy to Eradicate Sexual Violence in Schools is an important step in Ecuador’s efforts to tackle endemic levels of school-related sexual violence. Human Rights Watch analysis shows the policy lacks adequate long-term funding, which could affect its implementation, reinforce longstanding barriers to response, and jeopardize the implementation of the […]

(New York) – The Hong Kong government should quash the politically motivated convictions of two journalists and cease its assault on media freedom, Human Rights Watch said today. On August 29, 2024, the Hong Kong District Court convicted two editors of the now-defunct Stand News – Chung Pui-kuen, 54, the former editor-in-chief, and Patrick Lam, 36, […]