Author: Human Rights Watch

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 […]

(Bangkok) – The Malaysian government began a refugee registration system in January 2026 that has raised protection, rights, and privacy concerns for the hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. The new initiative, Dokumen Pendaftaran Pelarian (Refugee Registration Document, DPP), aims to replace the current registration system […]

A 2021 Ministry of Education directive—the Children’s Speech Harmonization plan—mandates the use of standard Mandarin Chinese for all preschool instruction and care, including in ethnic minority areas. By severely limiting Tibetan-language education in early childhood, and imposing ideological indoctrination on kindergarten children, the Chinese government is speeding up its erasure of Tibetan language and culture. […]

(Johannesburg) – The Zambian government’s decision to postpone RightsCon 2026, effectively canceling the summit, raises concerns about the authorities’ commitment to free expression and assembly and about possible Chinese government interference, Human Rights Watch said today. The 14th edition of RightsCon was scheduled to be held in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, from May 5 to 8, […]

(Geneva) – Nepal’s recently elected Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) government, led by Prime Minister Balendra Shah, which came to power on a wave of popular demands for change, should use this opportunity to bring lasting protections for human rights and the rule of law, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Commission of Jurists said […]