Author: Human Rights Watch

(Bangkok) – Thai authorities should criminally investigate the alleged torture and ill-treatment of conscripts in the Royal Thai Navy’s Marine Division, Human Rights Watch said today. The Thai government and military should end the longstanding practice of hazing and other brutality against conscripts and prosecute wrongdoers according to the law, regardless of their rank. On […]

An Egyptian court sentenced doctor and filmmaker Omnia Suwydan on July 4 to a six-months suspended prison sentence and a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds (US$408) for alleging obstetric violence at an Alexandria public hospital. Obstetric violence, which includes physical and emotional abuse of pregnant people seeking sexual and reproductive health services, is a widespread but broadly ignored […]

Immigration is helping the US soccer team get the job done at the World Cup. Many of the players on the US squad, which faces Belgium in a World Cup elimination game on July 6, have roots to immigrant parents or grandparents. Another player, star striker Folarin Balogun—whose availability for today’s game is the subject of […]

At the current session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), a closed meeting about human rights in Tajikistan curiously appeared on the agenda. Held in response to a complaint submitted under an opaque procedure of the Human Rights Council, there is no public information about the meeting, which only compounds the grave human […]

Burkina Faso’s military junta has approved a law requiring every Burkinabè student wishing to pursue higher education abroad—whether funded by a government scholarship or through private means—to obtain prior authorization from the Ministry of Higher Education. The Council of Ministers adopted the decree on June 25, but it has yet to go into effect. The government […]

(Nairobi) – Regional authorities in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have been abducting and unlawfully recruiting civilians, including children as young as 15, for their forces since at least April 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. Communities in towns and cities across the region said that Tigrayan forces and officials were abducting former combatants and other […]

The UN Human Rights Council held an emergency session today on the imminent risk of atrocities in and around Sudan’s El Obeid, a city in North Kordofan. The session follows an appeal by rights groups for the Council to exercise its prevention mandate by meeting in anticipation, rather than the aftermath, of another round of […]

(Beirut) – The Israel-Lebanon framework agreement signed in Washington on June 26, 2026, threatens to betray war crimes victims in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch and five human rights and press freedom organizations said today. Parts of the text appear to be aimed at preventing victims of serious international crimes from seeking justice before international forums. […]

Khin Khin Soe, the spokesperson for Myanmar’s military-controlled parliament, urged the Japanese government on June 30 to resume development aid to the country. At a news conference in Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital, the spokesperson said “ordinary citizens will suffer” from Japan’s continued suspension of new aid. Japan suspended development assistance—support for long-term government projects, not urgent […]

Niger on June 18 and Burkina Faso and Mali on June 24 notified the United Nations secretary-general of their respective decisions to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The withdrawals take effect in one year. The three military juntas provided similar reasons for their withdrawal in their notifications to the UN. Niger […]