Author: Human Rights Watch

A new Belgian law addressing sexual and labor exploitation came into force on December 1. The law follows years of human rights advocacy by community experts Utsopi, Violett, and Espace P, and responds to some of the worst forms of violence and discrimination faced by people who sell sexual services. First, the law provides access to social security […]

(Toluca) – The vote by the Congress of the State of Mexico on November 25, 2024, to decriminalize abortion in all cases during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is a significant step forward for reproductive rights in the country’s most populous state, Human Rights Watch said today. Once enacted, the reform will remove all criminal […]

On November 27, a Zimbabwean court sentenced Jameson Timba, interim leader of the opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), and 34 others to suspended prison terms, after being convicted earlier in the week for participation in an unlawful gathering. Timba was sentenced to a suspended two-year prison term, while the other activists received lesser suspended […]

(Bangkok, November 29, 2024) – Thai authorities forcibly returned six Cambodian political opposition activists and a young child on November 25, 2024, putting them at risk of unfair trials and mistreatment in Cambodia, Human Rights Watch said today. Cambodian authorities should immediately drop the politically motivated charges against these refugees and an asylum seeker and […]

Prison officers allegedly sexually assaulted and harassed Vida Rabbani, an Iranian journalist and activist, during a body search at Evin Prison in Tehran on October 3, an informed source told Human Rights Watch in late November. Security forces arrested Rabbani in September 2022, during the nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Jina Amini’s death while detained by […]

On Thursday night, the Australian government passed new laws that expand the country’s offshore detention regime, further evade international obligations, and allow officials to pursue prison terms for people who resist deportation, including asylum seekers. These laws undermine the core principles of refugee protection and mark an escalation in Australia’s existing mistreatment of refugees, migrants, and […]

The plight of Afghan women and girls under Taliban rule continues to demand the world’s attention. The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, observed from November 25 to December 10 and using the hashtag #16Days, is a crucial moment to unite. The violence women and girls in Afghanistan face is structural and systematic. Girls […]

(New York) – Sri Lanka’s new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, should address the country’s many human rights problems by fulfilling and building upon pledges he made in recent election campaigns, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the president on November 18, 2024. Dissanayake was elected president on September 21, and on November 14 […]

Today’s United Nations report on the state of Afghanistan’s media is devastating. Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, they have largely destroyed Afghanistan’s media landscape, creating such a climate of fear that Afghan journalists cannot genuinely investigate or report. The Taliban have detained and tortured journalists, severely limited what the media can report, […]

Victims and survivors of celebratory shootings by Chad’s security forces, that killed at least 11 people on May 9, 2024, are still awaiting justice six months later. In response to an announcement that the then-transitional president had won the presidential election, his loyal forces opened fire over cities and towns in what some described as […]