Author: Human Rights Watch

(Johannesburg) – Islamist armed groups in Burkina Faso have escalated their attacks on civilians, massacring villagers, displaced people, and Christian worshipers, Human Rights Watch said today. Since February 2024, the armed groups have killed at least 128 civilians across the country in seven attacks that violated international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes. Government forces have […]

Police officials in Kyrgyzstan continue to evade accountability for inaction that may have contributed to the death of Aizada Kanatbekova at the hands of her “bride kidnapper” in April 2021. On September 13, the Bishkek City Court upheld a May 2024 district court acquittal of the then-Bishkek police chief, Bakyt Matmusaev, of negligence charges in […]

(New York) – Iranian authorities’ brutal repression against women has only continued in the two years since the death in morality police custody of Mahsa Jina Amini sparked nationwide protests, a dozen human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch said in a statement released today. Iranian authorities have continued their brutal repression of peaceful dissidents, civil society, […]

In recent days Israeli security forces in the West Bank have reportedly blocked medical workers from getting to people in need, dug up roads making them impassable, and used airstrikes and drones launching missiles to kill dozens of Palestinians, including children. Taken together, these moves represent a worrying escalation of the use of force in […]

Olaf Scholz will make history on September 17 as the first German chancellor to visit Central Asia for a summit with the region’s five heads of state. The summit aims to promote closer ties on economic, energy, and development issues. The initiative highlights the significance Germany attaches to relations with Central Asia, especially following Russia’s […]

The United Nations’ core human rights agency is mandated to produce a database, updated annually, of businesses involved in Israel’s unlawful policy of establishing Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. So far, this has been a political football, with some states like the United States rejecting the mandate and attempting to […]

(Washington, DC) – The Biden administration’s decision to waive all human rights conditions on military assistance to Egypt disregards the country’s long-running human rights crisis and the ongoing repression that undermines Egyptians’ political and economic rights, Human Rights Watch said today.  The Biden administration has partially withheld military assistance from Egypt for the past three years based […]

The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), affiliated with ISIS, has claimed responsibly for killing 14 men in Daikundi province this week, the latest attack on the Hazara community in Afghanistan. The killings took place in a remote border district between Daikundi, which has a predominantly Hazara population, and Ghor provinces, in central Afghanistan. The men were […]

(New York) – Indian authorities should urgently intervene to address renewed violence between ethnic groups in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, Human Rights Watch said today. Both the Manipur state and central governments should take prompt measures to resolve disputes, investigate abuses, and appropriately punish those responsible. Armed groups from the predominantly Christian Kuki-Zo community and […]

Global Witness released a report on Tuesday that again showed the alarming level of violence against land and environmental defenders in the Philippines. Of the 196 defenders reportedly killed or forcibly disappeared globally in 2023, 17 were in the Philippines, the highest toll in Asia. More environmental defenders have been killed in the country than anywhere […]