Author: Human Rights Watch

Liberia’s Prince Y. Johnson, who rose to prominence first as a warlord and then politician, was implicated in serious abuses during the country’s two civil wars between 1989 and 2003. His death on November 28, without ever being prosecuted, highlights the need to bring those responsible for international crimes to account and uphold the promise […]

(Nairobi) – Cameroon’s authorities should immediately reverse the suspension of a prominent human rights group, Human Rights Watch said today. The arbitrary suspension lacks a lawful basis and violates the right to freedom of association under both Cameroonian law and international human rights law.  On December 5, 2024, the minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, […]

(Washington, DC, December 18, 2024) – Guatemala’s attorney general is carrying out politically motivated prosecutions against members of President Bernardo Arévalo’s administration, Human Rights Watch said today.  Since President Arévalo took office in January 2024, the Attorney General’s Office has moved forward with criminal investigations against the Arévalo administration that appear to be based on […]

As many as 1,360 children have never been reunited with their parents six years after the United States government forcibly separated them at the US border to deter migrants. The program constituted enforced disappearance and may have constituted torture. US efforts to help separated families have not adequately reckoned with the severe harm inflicted on […]

(Seoul) – The South Korean National Assembly’s 204 to 85 vote to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol on December 14, 2024 after his rejected imposition of martial law has reinforced democratic rule and checks and balances in South Korea, Human Rights Watch said today.  All 300 National Assembly lawmakers participated in the vote, with 204 votes […]

(Beirut) – Saudi Arabia is hosting a major United Nations conference on internet governance while dozens of people remain imprisoned for peaceful online speech, Human Rights Watch said today. Many are charged under the country’s abusive counterterrorism law, and the authorities conduct invasive surveillance of civil society members at home and abroad.  The 19th annual […]

(Beirut) – Several recent cases confirm the continuation of Iran’s longstanding policy of denying political prisoners medical care as a tool to silence dissent, Human Rights Watch said today. This worsens the health conditions of detainees who should not have been imprisoned in the first place, causes unnecessary suffering, and leads to preventable deaths. Human Rights Watch […]

On December 6, I briefed the United Nations Security Council at its first informal meeting in five years on the protection of people with disabilities in armed conflict.  During the meeting, I shared evidence collected over a decade and a video from Ghazal, a 15-year-old girl with a disability from Gaza, to demonstrate that in conflict-affected […]

Afghan women artists are playing a vital role in the women’s movement resisting Taliban abuses, and their contributions—and art—should be recognized, Human Rights Watch said today in a new web feature. The feature, published at the end of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, is titled “A human being is more delicate than […]

(New York, December 9, 2024) – The United Nations Security Council should urgently authorize and rapidly deploy a full-fledged United Nations mission to Haiti, Human Rights Watch said today in publishing a briefing paper on the subject. The mission should ensure a human rights-based response to restore security, the rule of law, and democratic governance. Haiti’s crisis […]