Author: Human Rights Watch

(New York) – The Indian government should immediately withdraw rules that would allow greater executive control over online content and further undermine privacy in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. The Draft Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Second Amendment Rules, 2026, would allow the government to treat ordinary social media […]

(Beirut, April 17, 2026) – The Israeli military’s destruction of the Qasmieh bridge on April 16, 2026, which took place hours before a ceasefire was announced, threatens to cut off Lebanese territory south of the Litani River from the rest of the country, Human Rights Watch said today. As the deliberate attack destroyed the last […]

(London) – The Maldives government should withdraw plans to introduce a bill to end the longstanding moratorium on the death penalty in the country, 10 Maldivian and international human rights organizations said today. The authorities should also seek to repeal recent amendments to the Drugs Act of 2011 that allow capital punishment for drug-related offenses, maintain the […]

(Johannesburg) – Zambia should provide accountability for its failure to clean up a contaminated mine site that is responsible for the ongoing lead poisoning of children, Human Rights Watch said today in supporting a request for African Union action to require the government and others involved to clean up the site. The Institute for Human […]

A decade into President Xi Jinping’s “Sinicization” of religion campaign, Catholic communities across China face tightened ideological control, strict surveillance, and travel restrictions.  The 2018 Holy See-China agreement on bishops has helped the Chinese government to pressure underground Catholic communities to join the official church. The Holy See and other governments should press Beijing to […]

(Nairobi) – Congolese armed forces and armed groups in the South Kivu highlands are interfering with aid delivery and preventing civilians from fleeing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch said today. The United Nations Security Council, which will meet on Congo on April 15, 2026, should call on all warring parties […]

Every day, food-delivery workers cross Paris and Bordeaux in all weather, working long hours for pay well below France’s minimum wage. For most, this work provides their only source of income. A new survey of around 1,000 workers in France who deliver food for companies such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo describes the consequences of […]

(London, April 15, 2026) – The Singaporean government should immediately halt the execution of Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj, scheduled for April 16, 2026, for trafficking cannabis, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Capital Punishment Justice Project (CPJP), and Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) said today. Singaporean authorities arrested Omar, a Singaporean national, now 41, on July 12, 2018, […]

(Berlin) – Leaders meeting in Berlin on April 15, 2026, the three-year mark of ongoing conflict in Sudan, should commit to concrete, time-bound measures to protect civilians and to hold those responsible for serious international crimes to account, Human Rights Watch said today. Germany, the African Union, France, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the […]

Israeli attacks on four oil depots around Tehran on March 7, 2026, may cause long-term health and environmental harm for civilians. Strikes on primarily civilian infrastructure causing foreseeable civilian harm are violations of international humanitarian law and are likely war crimes.  Israeli forces don’t appear to have factored in the foreseeable long-term harm in the […]