Author: Human Rights Watch

With the United States election one week away, millions of voters have the opportunity to support human rights as they cast their ballots. Ten states have abortion-related measures on the ballot. Most would enshrine abortion rights in state constitutions. The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to eliminate the constitutional right to abortion has had devastating impacts on health […]

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo appears to be rejigging a plan to auction off the rights to drill for oil and gas in 30 blocks across the country. On October 11, Congo’s hydrocarbons minister announced he had cancelled the auction of 27 oil blocks, citing late submissions, inappropriate or irregular offers, and a […]

(Bangkok) – The Vietnamese government should annul the politically motivated verdict against the democracy activist Duong Van Thai and release him immediately, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 30, 2024, a Hanoi court convicted Duong Van Thai of issuing propaganda against the state under article 117 of the penal code and sentenced him to 12 […]

(Yerevan, October 31, 2024) – The Armenian government’s bill for the mandatory installation of video surveillance systems with 24-hour police access throughout the capital, Yerevan, is unjustified and interferes with privacy and other rights, Human Rights Watch said today.  The bill, which passed its first parliamentary review in June 2024, requires private entities in Yerevan to […]

A. Kayum Ahmed Since the US seized control of Guam during World War II, its military has turned the Pacific island into a fortress, destroying cultural sites, food sources, and limestone forests that contain medicinal plants used by the Indigenous Chamorro people. But on October 14, a Chamorro-led advocacy group, Prutehi Litekyan: Save Ritidian (Prutehi), […]

(Bangkok) – Successive Thai governments have failed to bring to justice former officials charged with murder and other offenses in connection with the deaths of 85 people, as well as injuries to hundreds following the violent dispersal of ethnic Malay Muslim protesters in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat province two decades ago, Human Rights Watch said […]

Joe Stork, a beloved mentor and friend to human rights activists across the Middle East and a treasured colleague whose career at Human Rights Watch spanned more than three decades, died unexpectedly on October 23, 2024, at his home in Washington, DC. He was 81. Stork, who joined Human Rights Watch in 1996 as the […]

(Beirut, October 26, 2024) – Israel’s renewed northern Gaza offensive is displacing and endangering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, Human Rights Watch said today. Videos, photographs, satellite imagery, media reports, and UN agency reports analyzed by Human Rights Watch show that civilians are at grave risk of mass forced displacement and other atrocities as the last […]

Iran’s judiciary has announced the enforcement of a five-year prison sentence for two journalists accused of “propaganda against the state” over their reporting on the death in custody of Mahsa Jina Amini which sparked nationwide protests in 2022. Elaheh Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi, journalists from the “Ham-Mihan” and “Shargh” newspapers were among the first to report […]

Mozambique’s election commission today declared Daniel Chapo and his ruling party Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique, Frelimo) winners of the country’s October 9 general elections. The elections were marred by political killings, widespread irregularities, and restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly. International observers, including the African Union, European Union, and the Commonwealth, have raised serious […]