Gig Workers in France Need Protection as Regulations Take Shape

Every day, food-delivery workers cross Paris and Bordeaux in all weather, working long hours for pay well below France’s minimum wage. For most, this work provides their only source of income. A new survey of around 1,000 workers in France who deliver food for companies such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo describes the consequences of […]

Continue Reading

Singapore: Halt Imminent Execution for Cannabis Trafficking

(London, April 15, 2026) – The Singaporean government should immediately halt the execution of Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj, scheduled for April 16, 2026, for trafficking cannabis, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Capital Punishment Justice Project (CPJP), and Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) said today. Singaporean authorities arrested Omar, a Singaporean national, now 41, on July 12, 2018, […]

Continue Reading

Sudan: World Leaders Need to Act on Ongoing Atrocities

(Berlin) – Leaders meeting in Berlin on April 15, 2026, the three-year mark of ongoing conflict in Sudan, should commit to concrete, time-bound measures to protect civilians and to hold those responsible for serious international crimes to account, Human Rights Watch said today. Germany, the African Union, France, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the […]

Continue Reading

Iran: Israel’s Oil Depot Strikes Endanger Environment, Health

Israeli attacks on four oil depots around Tehran on March 7, 2026, may cause long-term health and environmental harm for civilians. Strikes on primarily civilian infrastructure causing foreseeable civilian harm are violations of international humanitarian law and are likely war crimes.  Israeli forces don’t appear to have factored in the foreseeable long-term harm in the […]

Continue Reading

Hungary: New Government Needs to Restore Rule of Law

(Budapest, April 14, 2026) – Hungary’s incoming government should take immediate steps to restore fundamental rights, dismantle abusive laws and institutions, and strengthen democratic institutions, after years of backsliding, Human Rights Watch said today. The incoming government should in its first weeks in office demonstrate a clear commitment to restore for fundamental rights and reinstate democratic […]

Continue Reading

Kazakhstan Jails Activists for Peaceful Xinjiang Protest

A Kazakh court convicted today 19 Kazakhstan citizens for participating in a peaceful protest against human rights abuses in Xinjiang, China. During the protest, which took place in November 2025, activists from the Nagyz Atajurt Volunteers Group condemned Chinese government abuses, some of which amount to crimes against humanity. They called for the release of a […]

Continue Reading

International Force in Haiti Allegedly Responsible for Sexual Violence

A United Nations report has found that members of a UN-authorized force operating in Haiti, the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, were responsible for four cases of sexual violence in the country, including the rape of a 12 -year-old girl and two 16-year-olds. While Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi claims the allegations were investigated internally and […]

Continue Reading

South Sudan: Both Sides Blocking Aid, Displacing Civilians

(Nairobi) – South Sudan’s military and opposition forces are blocking humanitarian access and unjustifiably ordering civilians to evacuate populated areas, Human Rights Watch said today. Since late 2025, the military has issued multiple evacuation orders, at least three of them sweeping in nature and the opposition forces at least three, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians […]

Continue Reading

Bahrain: Sayed Mohamed Almosawi Dies in Custody

(Beirut) – A 32-year-old man who was forcibly disappeared in Bahrain on March 19, 2026, died in custody more than a week later and his body bore signs of torture, Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) said today.  After Sayed Mohamed Almosawi’s family lost contact with him for over […]

Continue Reading

Remembering a Steadfast Hong Kong Democracy Activist

Koo Sze-yiu was a fixture of Hong Kong’s protest scene. Standing out with his close-cropped hair and long gray beard, the gruffy activist and other leaders of the League of Social Democrats nevertheless fit right in marching next to lawyers and tens of thousands, sometimes millions, of ordinary Hong Kongers demanding democracy. Protesting in Hong […]

Continue Reading