Author: Human Rights Watch

The US State Department’s annual human rights report was created to give Congress a clear accounting of how other governments treat their people, measured against international human rights law. Recent media reports indicate that the Trump administration is turning that purpose on its head by mandating reporting in support of ideological priorities at odds with […]

In February 2026, it will be 80 years since the United Nations selected its first secretary-general, a man. Since then, eight other people have had that job, all men. Surely, it’s long past time a woman held the post.  António Guterres, the current secretary-general, completes his term in December 2026. Maneuvering over his successor is well underway. […]

Three years ago, a series of protests in China has sparked a political awakening among Chinese youth, with many questioning Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s authoritarian policies and practices and notably confronting the government’s abuses against Tibetans and Uyghurs. In response to a deadly apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, blamed on harsh Covid-19 restrictions, thousands in […]

(Tokyo) – Japan’s new government should make the promotion of human rights central to its foreign policy, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on November 6, 2025. The Japanese government should affirm its commitment to human rights by taking the lead in promoting civilian democratic rule and the rule […]

A quiet desert night in northern Mali turned deadly when an apparent military drone launched its explosive munition on a tent, leaving an entire family dead. The strike was a recent example of Malian military operations killing civilians and may amount to a war crime. The November 13 strike at about 9:30 p.m. on the village […]

Conflicts and crises cause harm based on gender. Because women and girls across the globe experience legal, economic, and cultural discrimination, they also experience the impacts of conflict in distinct and often more profound ways than others. With data underscoring escalating conflict globally, reaching a level not seen since the post-World War II era, creating better […]

(Beirut) – Bahraini authorities have detained Ebrahim Sharif, a prominent political activist, for peaceful comments he made in Beirut, Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) said today. Yusuf al-Jamri, a blogger, said that the authorities detained Sharif, former secretary general of Bahrain’s National Democratic Action Society, due to comments he made […]

(New York) – The Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court has struck down provisions in the Codes of Justice of the National Police and the Armed Forces that criminalized consensual same-sex conduct by officers, Human Rights Watch said today. The ruling, made public on November 18, 2025, is a landmark victory for equality, ending a regime of state-sanctioned discrimination […]

(Nairobi, November 21, 2025) – The African Union (AU) and European Union should put respect for human rights and international humanitarian law at the center of their partnership, Human Rights Watch said today ahead of the blocs’ seventh summit on November 24-25, 2025, in Luanda, Angola. Both regional blocs should redouble efforts to tackle conflict-related atrocities and […]

The fragile truce largely insulating civilians in northern Ethiopia from war crimes and other abuses may be unraveling. With many countries focused elsewhere, it is increasingly important that influential governments mobilize swiftly to prevent a resurgence of atrocities in the northern Tigray region that could spread further. In recent weeks, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed […]