Author: Human Rights Watch

(Johannesburg) – Vigilantes in South Africa have carried out violent xenophobic attacks targeting African and Asian foreign nationals in recent weeks, with little or insufficient apparent response from the police and other authorities, Human Rights Watch said today. In April and May 2026, a citizen-led movement, March and March, that advocates more stringent immigration enforcement in […]

The death of Armen Hovhannisyan by suicide on May 16, hours after Armenian police transferred him to a psychiatric institution, should prompt urgent scrutiny of how authorities respond to people in psychosocial distress.   Police in Artashat, about 30 kilometers from Yerevan, detained Hovhannisyan after he allegedly tore down an election campaign poster. Authorities opened criminal […]

(Beirut) – The humanitarian infrastructure sustaining life in Gaza remains in peril over six months after the ceasefire agreement in October 2025, Human Rights Watch said today. As the Board of Peace prepares to brief the United Nations Security Council on May 21 on its newly-issued six-month progress report, Israeli authorities are undermining humanitarian lifelines. Continuing […]

United Nations member states and civil society organizations met in New York City on Tuesday to renew their commitment to protecting health care in armed conflict. The event, part of Protection of Civilians Week, recognized a systemic failure to respect and uphold international laws and norms governing the use of force against health care. The […]

This week, a court in the Philippines dismissed terrorism financing charges against the Community Empowerment Resource Network (CERNET), a nongovernmental organization based in Cebu province that works with marginalized groups to promote economic, social, and cultural rights. Philippine authorities filed multiple cases under the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 against human rights activists […]

Leading UN human rights experts on issues of slavery, migration, and human trafficking worldwide have urged Saudi Arabia on April 29 to effectively abolish the kafala (sponsorship) system, an abusive system ties workers to their sponsors for their residency and work permits. Despite Saudi authorities’ Labor Reform Initiative in 2021 and the narrative Saudi leaders have cultivated […]

(Athens, May 19, 2026) – The decision by a Norwegian appeals court on May 15, 2026, to block the extradition of a human rights defender, Tommy Olsen, to Greece is a victory for human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. A district court had initially approved the extradition request on March 16, but Olsen filed an appeal. The Hålogaland Court […]

(Jakarta) – An Indonesian official announced on April 30, 2026, that the government would seek to amend the country’s 1999 Human Rights Law to allow authorities to determine who is a recognized human rights defender, Human Rights Watch said today. Adopting such revisions would violate fundamental rights to freedom of expression and association and put rights […]

Two years after the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group, killed and wounded hundreds of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and burned down their village, the survivors are still denied justice and cannot return to their homes. The Arakan Army, which denies having committed war crimes, deliberately fired on unarmed villagers who were seeking […]

On May 5, a Nigerian high court ordered the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a prominent local human rights organization, to pay 100 million naira (about US$72,000) in damages to two Department of State Services officials. The court also directed the organization to publish public apologies and pay litigation costs. The Department of State Services […]