Author: Human Rights Watch

(Washington, DC) – A prosecutor in the Ecuadorian coastal city of Manta was shot and killed on June 14, 2026, the most recent in a series of killings of judicial officials in Ecuador, Human Rights Watch said today. Gloria Alexandra Bravo Cedeño is the third prosecutor to be killed in Manta since 2022. Ecuadorian authorities should […]

Syria’s 14-year conflict destroyed vast swathes of the country and killed hundreds of thousands, but it also left behind over 1.5 million Syrians with war-caused disabilities. Syria’s minister of social affairs, Hind Kabawat, acknowledged this dire situation on June 9 at a UN meeting on the rights of persons with disabilities in New York, calling on international partners […]

US President Donald Trump signed the Secure America Act into law on June 10, including roughly $70 billion for immigration enforcement. The legislation funds several agencies through September 2029, including approximately $38 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and $26 billion for US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Congressional approval for this legislation comes after months […]

A Baku court’s June 12 decision to convict prominent human rights defender Rufat Safarov on bogus criminal charges and sentence him to eight years in prison is the latest blow to Azerbaijan’s already severely restricted civic space. Safarov, executive director of the human rights organization Defense Line (Müdafiə Xətti), was convicted by the Baku Court […]

The European Parliament in Strasbourg adopted on June 16 its second motion in a year pressing European Union institutions and governments to address transnational repression. Transnational repression encompasses violations used by states to target, silence, or intimidate critics, particularly nationals and former nationals, who are outside their borders and beyond their territorial jurisdictions. In its […]

On June 4, the United States House of Representatives passed the 2027 agriculture appropriations bill. If enacted in its current state, the bill would cut US$200 million from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) compared to 2026.  The reduction would hit fruit and vegetable benefits for 5.4 million pregnant and […]

With Hungary’s reversal of its decision to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC), the European Union has an opportunity to extend the significance of this moment for international justice well beyond Budapest. EU leaders should state clearly and with one voice in the conclusion of the upcoming June 18-19 European Council meeting that their support […]

On June 15, the Court of Appeal in London upheld the United Kingdom government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group. This damaging ruling, which overturns an earlier High Court decision against the government, will likely further inhibit the right to protest in the UK and globally. Palestine Action was established in 2020 […]

Niger’s junta leader, Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani, signed on June 11 a decree provisionally stripping Nigerien nationality from Mariama Djibrine, a leading opposition figure living in exile. The measure is based on a 2024 order that created a national database of people suspected of terrorism. Authorities accuse Djibrine of disseminating “information likely to disturb public order, inciting revolt, and […]

(São Paulo) – Brazilian judicial authorities in two important recent rulings, affirmed the rights of small landholders and Indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Amazon and called on federal authorities to remove illegal occupants, a major driver of illegal deforestation in the region, Human Rights Watch said today.  The decisions condemn federal authorities for their delays […]