Author: Human Rights Watch

Air pollution is easy to ignore. It’s often hard to see, little more than an intense hue on the horizon at sunset or a disconcerting tint in the sky seen from a plane window when landing. It often harms or kills us via illnesses that take years to manifest: cardiovascular diseases, stroke, asthma, and lung […]

Inequities in birth and maternal health outcomes between Black and white people in the US state of Florida point to the need for range of efforts including greater support for doula care. Doulas of color are fighting for reproductive justice in the face of poor or no compensation and  lack of  respect in the state hospital […]

(Nairobi) – The Tanzanian government should take urgent steps to reverse the deteriorating human rights situation in the country ahead of forthcoming local elections in mainland Tanzania on November 27, 2024, Human Rights Watch said today. Since June, the authorities have arbitrarily arrested hundreds of opposition supporters, imposed restrictions on social media access, banned independent […]

(Beirut) – Iranian authorities have added new restrictions and imposed draconian new punishments for people violating the country’s compulsory dress laws, Human Rights Watch said today.  The “Protection of the Family through Promoting the Culture of Hijab and Chastity” law, approved by parliament on September 20, 2023, was approved by the Guardian Council, the legal body that has […]

“We stand at a crossroads,” the delegate of Sierra Leone, speaking on behalf of 75 states from all regions of the world, told the UN General Assembly’s Sixth (or “Legal”) Committee. “The time is now to act, and we must act in concert to end and prevent abhorrent acts fitting the definition of crimes against […]

(Washington) – A new report by international forensic experts commissioned by Human Rights Watch found significant flaws in the hospital care and later investigation into the death in custody of a former top security adviser to the El Salvador government. Security forces arrested Alejandro Muyshondt, then a national security adviser to President Nayib Bukele, on August […]

On October 10, Niger’s junta leader, Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani, signed a decree provisionally removing Nigerien nationality from nine people linked to former President Mohamed Bazoum, who was ousted in July 2023 and remains wrongfully detained. The decree is based upon an earlier order establishing a database of people suspected of terrorism.  All nine held senior positions in Bazoum’s government and […]

For decades, Rwandan authorities have subjected detainees, in both official and unofficial detention facilities, to ill-treatment and torture with no accountability. A landmark trial of prison officials for murder, torture, and assault, concluded in April, demonstrated that it is possible to begin to break through the entrenched practice of torture. The government should conduct a […]

This World Mental Health Day we need to confront a troubling reality: the mental health landscape is shifting in harmful ways in parts of Canada and the United States with the prospect of more coercive measures such as involuntary treatment and the elimination of vital support services. In Canada, some provinces such as British Columbia and Alberta […]

In a case that is disappointing but not surprising, the agreement between the government of Azerbaijan and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for hosting the climate conference COP29, is replete with significant shortcomings and ambiguities on the protections for participants’ rights. Human Rights Watch has obtained a copy of this host […]