Author: Human Rights Watch

On Tuesday, Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner released a report, “Help way earlier!”, that finds that Australia is failing to protect children’s rights in its criminal justice system. Commissioner Anne Hollands based her findings on interviews with 150 children and young people who have experienced the system firsthand. The report makes 24 recommendations, including banning solitary confinement for […]

(Beirut) – Tunisian authorities have prosecuted, convicted, or imprisoned at least eight prospective candidates for the October 6, 2024, presidential election, Human Rights Watch said today. The electoral commission has approved only three candidates, including incumbent President Kais Saied. Tunisian authorities should urgently end politically motivated prosecutions and allow for free and fair elections. Tunisia is […]

(Berlin) – Georgian authorities have yet to demonstrate that they are conducting effective investigations into a spate of violent attacks on civic and political activists over recent months, Human Rights Watch said today. Impunity for these attacks risks encouraging further political violence and instability in the run-up to the country’s parliamentary elections in October 2024. From […]

(Geneva) – Nepal’s long-awaited transitional justice law, adopted by the lower house of parliament on August 14, 2024, incorporates many positive provisions that could help in advancing justice, accountability, and redress for the widespread human rights violations and abuses committed during the 1996-2006 conflict, but still has elements that could undermine a successful outcome, Amnesty International, […]

On August 16, Cambodian authorities forcibly disappeared 28-year-old Vannith Hay. He was detained after Cambodia’s former Prime Minister and current Senate President Hun Sen threatened his brother Vanna Hay, an activist leading the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Movement in Japan, in a speech earlier this month. None of Vannith Hay’s family members have been able to […]

Air pollution and stress from wildfires is on the rise with specific harms for maternal health, but experiences from Oregon indicate that public health officials are not doing enough to reach pregnant people with vital health hazard information. It’s crucial for state and federal governments to address the environmental harms to pregnancy that intersect with […]

(Nairobi) – Burkina Faso‘s military authorities are misusing an emergency law to unlawfully conscript magistrates – prosecutors and judges – who have opened legal proceedings against junta supporters, Human Rights Watch said today. These recent conscriptions come amid the Burkinabè junta’s growing repression of dissidents, journalists, human rights defenders, and political opponents. Between August 9 […]

(Sydney) – Australian leaders should discuss human rights issues with Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo during meetings in Canberra on August 20, 2024, Human Rights Watch said today. Australia should seek commitments from Prabowo to uphold religious freedom, protect Indigenous and religious minorities, and revise government policies that discriminate against women and girls, people living […]

(Beirut) – The Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port on the evening of July 20, 2024, were an apparently unlawful indiscriminate or disproportionate attack on civilians that could have a long-term impact on millions of Yemenis who rely on the port for food and humanitarian aid, Human Rights Watch said today. The Israeli strikes came a day […]

“It is unthinkable for me to go out. I could get a heatstroke,” Esther Laforge, 35, messaged me earlier this month. Esther, who lives outside of the Spanish city of Seville where temperature is expected to hit 40 degrees Celsius this week, has a physical disability that affects her body temperature regulation. As Spain experiences […]