Author: Human Rights Watch

Gender stereotypes are such a pervasive part of everyday life that it can be hard to even recognize them—but they do extraordinary damage and are at the root of many forms of inequality and violence. Under the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), governments are obligated to eradicate […]

(Brussels) – The European Commission’s announcement that it would not initiate a process to further amend the text of its milestone anti-deforestation regulation paves the way for it to be implemented by the end of 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. However, at the same time, the Commission has proposed to exclude leather from the list […]

The military authorities in Burkina Faso are tightening their grip on what people can see, hear, and know. On May 5, Burkina Faso’s media regulator ordered the suspension of French broadcaster TV5Monde, accusing it of “disinformation” and “apology of terrorism” in its reporting on Islamist armed groups in Burkina Faso and neighboring Mali. The action is the […]

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report on South Sudan offers a damning indictment of the immense suffering to civilians caused by the country’s warring parties. The report, issued on April 28, warns that the situation is worse than anticipated, with 7.8 million people in desperate need of food aid.  It notes that 73,000 people are […]

When an Uzbekistan court on May 1 found the Karakalpak lawyer and blogger Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov guilty of committing “actions disrupting the work of a penal institution,” sentencing him to five years in prison, he reportedly had a wry grin on his face.  However unjust, Tazhimuratov surely expected such an outcome.  Tazhimuratov was already in prison, serving […]

The US Supreme Court paused on Monday an order by the country’s Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that had inflicted a serious blow to abortion access nationwide. While the immediate danger was temporarily halted, the episode underscores a looming threat to abortion access posed by ongoing litigation in the United States.  On May 1, the […]

The commission established to investigate violence during and after Tanzania’s October 2025 general elections submitted its findings to President Samia Suluhu Hassan on April 23, but it missed an opportunity to establish the full truth and lay the foundation for accountability. The commission chair, Mohamed Chande Othman, said the commission documented 518 deaths across 11 […]

Georgia’s new centralized health database law took effect on May 1, creating serious risks of privacy violations and discrimination, and potentially deterring people from seeking health care and mental health services. Parliament adopted the legislative package on December 9, 2025, mandating the establishment of a unified database covering people with mental health conditions and those diagnosed […]

Wilfredo, un niño venezolano de 10 años, compareció solo ante un tribunal de inmigración hace dos semanas, obligado a defenderse frente a su posible deportación a Ecuador mientras su madre permanecía detenida en un centro de ICE. Como miles de niños y niñas en procedimientos de deportación, Wilfredo no cuenta con representación legal.  “Tenía miedo porque […]

Wilfredo, a 10-year-old child from Venezuela, appeared in immigration court on his own two weeks ago, forced to fight his deportation to Ecuador while his mother remained imprisoned in an ICE facility. Like thousands of children in removal proceedings, Wilfredo does not have an attorney. “I was afraid because it was my first time ever going […]