Author: Human Rights Watch

A new report prepared under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) documents a significant deterioration in human rights and democratic standards in Georgia and calls for urgent reforms to protect fundamental freedoms. Published on March 12, the report was prepared by an OSCE fact-finding mission after 23 participating states invoked […]

A ruling this week by Ukraine’s Supreme Court recognizing a same-sex couple as a de facto family marks a significant victory for equality. The case involves Zorian Kis, a Ukrainian diplomat, and his partner Tymur Levchuk. After years of legal struggle, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision recognizing that the couple constitutes a family under […]

While many Israelis are taking shelter from missile and drone attacks, armed settlers in the West Bank are taking advantage of the fog of war to seize land and advance Israel’s ongoing dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. On a daily basis, settlers are invading Palestinian communities, firing live ammunition, setting homes and cars on fire, and attacking families […]

(Paris) – Formula One (F1) and its governing federation, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), should address the risk of governments using upcoming 2026 Grand Prix events to whitewash human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. The Formula 1 Grand Prix season in 2026 includes races in 24 countries, including in Bahrain, China, Saudi Arabia, […]

The Australian government’s decision to grant asylum to five members of the Iranian women’s national football team and one official shows the importance of protecting courageous athletes who stand up for what they believe. The six Iranians sought protection in Australia after their final match of the Asian Women’s Cup on March 8. In their opening […]

Earlier this week the Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic (CAR) announced that Maturin Kombo, who was in the court’s custody charged with crimes committed in 2014, died in hospital in Bangui. Twelve years ago, as CAR was in the throes of a civil war, I arrived in the village of Guen, in the southwest of […]

(Washington, DC, March 12, 2026) – Ecuador’s Constitutional Court’s ruling, made public on March 10, 2026, that people under 18 cannot automatically be refused a request to modify their gender on identity documents is an important victory for the rights of transgender youth, Human Rights Watch said today. The ruling affirms that constitutional protection cannot […]

(Washington, DC) – Reported findings that the United States is responsible for the recent deadly school attack in Iran, and that it was based on outdated targeting data, highlight the need for reform and accountability within the US military to minimize civilian harm during conflict, Human Rights Watch said today. The New York Times reported on March 11 […]

(Tokyo) – The Vietnamese authorities should give priority to releasing political prisoners with urgent health problems, Human Rights Watch said today. Le Huu Minh Tuan, Can Thi Theu, and other unjustly imprisoned political activists should be urgently freed to obtain appropriate medical care in Vietnam or abroad. Le Huu Minh Tuan, a 37-year-old journalist who has been in […]

England’s National Health Service (NHS) has announced it will block new referrals for gender-affirming hormone therapy for transgender youth under 18, restricting access to evidence-based care and undermining young people’s rights to health, bodily autonomy, and nondiscrimination. The decision came into force on March 9 and will undergo a 90-day consultation period after which the NHS […]