Author: Human Rights Watch

(Bangkok) – The Vietnamese authorities should immediately quash the criminal conviction of a prominent commentator on social media and release her, Human Rights Watch said today. On July 29, 2026, a court in Hanoi convicted Hoang Thi Hong Thai and sentenced her to six years in prison. Hanoi police had arrested her on January 7 for […]

An Azerbaijani court on July 27 sentenced nine journalists, media workers, and civil society activists to between 12 and 15 years in prison. It is the harshest verdict since the government began its ongoing crackdown on independent journalism. The Baku Grave Crimes Court handed down the sentences in the so-called Toplum TV case. Akif Gurbanov […]

South Sudan’s army, opposition forces, and their respective allied militias abused residents and caused much of the population to flee during fighting in 2025 in Nagero County, Western Equatoria. Civilians have returned to Nagero town and environs, but continue to live in fear, and the government has continued to limit aid access into Nagero County […]

(London) – Bangladesh authorities are failing to uphold international legal standards at the country’s International Crimes Tribunal, Human Rights Watch said today. The failures risk denying justice to victims, undermining the rule of law, falsely imprisoning political opponents, and repeating the rights violations of the past. On July 27, prosecutors submitted charges against 41 people for […]

Indonesian authorities are wrongfully prosecuting environmental defenders who protest deforestation and pollution as well as Indigenous leaders who defend their land rights. The Prabowo administration has intensified the crackdown on free expression by expanding the military’s role in state-owned mining, oil palm plantations, infrastructure projects, and so-called food and energy estates. The government should fairly […]

Yemeni government forces in coalition with Saudi Arabia attacked Sanaa airport on July 13 with at least five airstrikes, three of which targeted the airport’s runway, according to Human Rights Watch’s analysis of satellite imagery. The attack was meant to prevent a flight operated by Mahan Air, a privately-owned Iranian airline, from landing at Houthi-controlled Sanaa […]

(Beirut) – Saudi authorities executed five Ethiopian migrants for nonlethal drug-related offenses on July 27, 2026, without due process, Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi authorities have executed at least 17 Ethiopian nationals since the beginning of 2026 on drug-related charges.  At least 79 more remain at imminent risk of execution on similar charges. Saudi […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed a policy change in June that would significantly limit employment authorization available for many immigrants.  But for many, including survivors of domestic violence, the ability to work in the United States is crucial to being able to leave an abusive situation. Survivors of domestic violence may qualify for […]

Can Thi Theu, 64, is serving an eight-year prison sentence at Prison No. 5 in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province because she joined protests against land confiscation and environmental degradation in 2016 and publicly supported other human rights activists and political prisoners languishing behind bars.  During a recent visit, Can Thi Theu’s family learned that she […]

Pollution linked to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s only oil producer poses serious health risks to communities near its operations.  Perenco, the oil company, has engaged in gas flaring and waste burning that have contributed to poor air quality and not prevented oil spills from wells and pipelines from leaking into the soil and riverbeds, […]