Author: Human Rights Watch

(Brussels, October 22, 2025) – Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will pay a high-level visit to Brussels on October 24, 2025, to sign a partnership deal with the EU setting out a new stage of closer relations and cooperation. While the new EU-Uzbekistan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement specifies respect for democratic principles and human rights and […]

(Beirut) – Saudi authorities should immediately release 10 Nubian Egyptians who have been unjustly detained for over 5 years, Human Rights Watch said today. On September 6, 2025, the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in Riyadh reduced the sentences of the prisoners on appeal, yet all 10 remain unjustly detained. Saudi authorities arrested the 10 men […]

(New York) – Developing an effective International Convention to Prevent and Punish Crimes against Humanity will require ambitious and forward-looking diplomacy, Human Rights Watch and Columbia Law School’s Prevention of Crimes Against Humanity Project said today in a new briefing paper outlining 25 recommendations for delegations at the United Nations to consider as they prepare for […]

(Bangkok) – An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad, Pakistan, is scheduled to indict Matiullah Jan, a journalist who has long reported on police abuse, on October 31, 2025, on apparent politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said today. The Pakistani authorities should immediately drop the baseless charges against Jan under several sections of the 1997 Anti-Terrorism Act and for narcotics’ […]

(Bangkok) – The Vietnamese authorities arrested a former political prisoner, Huynh Ngoc Tuan, on October 7, 2025, for his comments on social media, Human Rights Watch said today. Police in Dak Lak province charged him with “conducting propaganda against the state” under article 117 of the penal code. They should immediately release him. Vietnamese law permits […]

On October 14, news broke that Russian forces, using drones, had attacked a United Nations interagency convoy delivering humanitarian aid to Bilozerka in the region of Kherson, southern Ukraine. The next day, a Russian-military affiliated Telegram channel posted video evidence of the attack for the world to see. Having spent the better part of a year investigating similar Russian drone […]

(Beirut) – Saudi authorities on October 20, 2025, executed a man convicted of alleged crimes committed as a child, Human Rights Watch said today. Abdullah al-Derazi had been sentenced to death on terrorism charges related to participating in protests and funeral processions. He was the 300th person executed by Saudi authorities in 2025.  The authorities […]

(Bangkok) – The Malaysian government should press Myanmar’s junta for the immediate release of a refugee family abducted from Kuala Lumpur in July 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. More than two years after her disappearance, Myanmar junta authorities announced on October 17, 2025, that they were detaining Thuzar Maung, a Myanmar pro-democracy activist, along with her […]

(Nairobi) – Burkina Faso authorities should urgently investigate and publicly report on the whereabouts of six judges and prosecutors as well as one lawyer who are feared to have been forcibly disappeared, Human Rights Watch said today. The abductions of the judicial officers and lawyer since October 10, 2025, could amount to enforced disappearances and possible […]

The Taliban have gutted Afghan media since taking control of the country in August 2021 through the use of surveillance and censorship and by punishing media workers for perceived criticism. As the Taliban’s oppression of the media has increased, the need for independent news outlets in Afghanistan has become even greater. Journalists described both the […]