Author: Human Rights Watch

(Beirut) – After months of legal and political wrangling, an amendment to Iraq’s Personal Status Law that entered into force on February 17, 2025, violates women’s and girls’ rights to equality before the law and puts them at risk of other abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. Persistent pressure and advocacy by women’s rights groups partly reduced the […]

Nine women journalists in Azerbaijan are marking International Women’s Day behind bars or under house arrest amid the government’s relentless crackdown on critics. Women journalists and civic activists who speak truth to power face unique risks in Azerbaijan’s patriarchal society. The authorities have a long record of subjecting them to gender-based smear campaigns and trolling in an […]

People who have escaped from North Korea since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic have described severe repression and restrictions on economic activity. North Korean escapees’ accounts illustrate the devastating impact of the government’s oppressive Covid-19 measures that further shrank people’s already limited freedoms. The UN Human Rights Council should renew the mandate of the UN special rapporteur […]

(Johannesburg, March 3, 2025) – South Africa and other countries that have not yet done so should endorse a widely adopted political commitment aimed at protecting civilians from the bombing and shelling of cities and towns during wartime, Human Rights Watch said today following a regional meeting on this concern held in Johannesburg, South Africa […]

This week, the Trump administration announced that it will ramp up enforcement of a relatively obscure legal provision that requires undocumented immigrants in the United States to register with the government. This move risks adding another layer of fear and anxiety in immigrant communities where the Trump administration’s moves on immigration have already left many fearful […]

On February 28, 2024, a key Chadian opposition politician, Yaya Dillo, was killed during an assault carried out by state security forces on his party’s headquarters in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena. A year on, authorities have yet to clarify the circumstances surrounding his death. At the time of the incident, state prosecutor Oumar Mahamat Kedelaye said at a news […]

On February 27 and 28, 2025, European Union commissioners will conduct an “unprecedented visit” to India, seeking to “upgrade the strategic partnership” and strengthen bilateral trade, economic, technology, and security ties. In a letter sent ahead of the visit, 12 human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, urged EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the […]

Sunday’s federal elections in Germany were held at a time when Germany’s support for human rights both at home and on the international stage is crucial. Having won the largest share of the votes with 28% and secured Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party the Christian Social […]

(Bishkek, February 21, 2025) – Kyrgyzstani authorities should urgently take all necessary measures to ensure the ongoing safety and security of an imprisoned human rights defender and journalist who has received death threats from a fellow prisoner, eight human rights organizations said today. Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy, director of the Temirov Live media outlet, was sentenced […]

Power has its perks in Niger and the rules are being rewritten by those in charge. On Thursday, a national commission, representing participants to talks on the country’s transition to democratic rule, recommended a minimum five-year transition period that can be extended if needed. The presidential guard ousted Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, in […]