Author: Human Rights Watch

A Cambodian government-controlled court sentenced two journalists to 14 years in prison for treason after they appeared in a photograph with Cambodian soldiers near the disputed Thai-Cambodian border. The journalists, Phorn Sopheap of the Battambang Post TV Online and Pheap Pheara of TSP 68 TV Online, were arrested last July and charged with “supplying a […]

More than a year after Ukrainian forces captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region, the men’s future remains undecided. Under the Third Geneva Convention applicable to the armed conflict in Ukraine, prisoners of war (POWs) may be held until the end of active hostilities, but they can be repatriated or transferred to a […]

On February 20, Indonesia and the United States agreed to a new trade deal, with US$15 billion specifically allocated for fossil fuel imports. This deal is part of a broader series of global fossil fuel agreements promoted under the US “Energy Dominance Agenda,” which aims to expand domestic fossil fuel production and boost exports. Key provisions of the […]

Mr. President, We thank the Special Rapporteur for his comprehensive report on the Taliban’s systematic violation of women’s rights, including the right to health. The Taliban have recently passed a new criminal procedure code that further deepens repression and discrimination in Afghanistan. The new law defines Muslims exclusively as adherents of the Hanafi jurisprudence and […]

Led by Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders Mary Lawlor, five United Nations experts have issued a damning critique of Greece’s latest attempt to criminalize human rights defenders working to support migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. In a letter to the Greek government, made public on February 24, the experts warn that a new migration law adopted on […]

Ethiopian authorities are resorting once again to the authoritarian playbook. On February 24, three months ahead of scheduled national elections, Ethiopia’s Media Authority announced the revocation of the Addis Standard’s operating license. The action risks silencing one of the last independent media outlets in the country. Since its establishment in 2011, the Addis Standard has been […]

The Trump administration is framing its new forthcoming online portal, freedom.gov, as a bold defense of free expression. According to Reuters, the goal is to help users bypass European content restrictions and “counter censorship” in Europe and “elsewhere.” But the European rules freedom.gov wants to help people circumvent are not about censorship at all. Europe’s regulatory framework is […]

Last February, Thai authorities in Bangkok loaded 40 Uyghur men into blacked-out trucks and forcibly returned them to China. Their fates remain unknown. The men had spent over a decade in Thai immigration detention after having fled repression in Xinjiang in northwest China. Because the men faced grave risks of torture and other abuses in China, Thailand’s […]

Syria is at a pivotal moment. After years of devastating conflict and decades of repression, the country’s transitional phase will determine whether it breaks with entrenched patterns of abuse or merely reproduces them. Decisions taken now about accountability and oversight will shape Syria’s human rights landscape and overall stability for generations. As the United Nations […]

Last week marked six years since Rwandan gospel singer and peace advocate Kizito Mihigo died in police custody. While his suspicious death remains unexplained, it clearly signaled the government’s deepening repression of free speech. A survivor of the 1994 genocide, Mihigo’s music centered on forgiveness and compassion. He was arrested in 2014 on charges of offenses against […]