Author: Human Rights Watch

The Cameroonian government in December suspended the activities of four nongovernmental organizations for three months, without any warning or legal basis, in a move that is harming victims of gender-based violence. As one of these organizations provides services to support gender-based violence survivors, its abrupt suspension affected survivors’ access to support and resulted in some survivors […]

On January 9, 2025, Lebanon’s parliament elected military commander Joseph Aoun as president, ending a two-year political deadlock in the country that resulted in a leadership and governance vacuum. In his first remarks to parliament, President Aoun said that “a new phase of Lebanon’s history has begun” and vowed to “protect the sanctity of individual […]

(Beirut) – The Lebanese government on January 8, 2025 unlawfully deported Abdulrahman Youssef al-Qardawi, an Egyptian-Turkish poet, to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he faces a near-certain unfair trial and serious risks of other abuses including torture, Human Rights Watch said today. Lebanese authorities initially arrested al-Qardawi on December 28, 2024 at the Masnaa […]

Rapid Support Forces fighters and allied militias have raped scores of women and girls, including in the context of sexual slavery, in Sudan’s South Kordofan state since September 2023. Conflict-related sexual violence is a serious violation of international humanitarian law, or the laws of war, and a war crime. Sexual violence may constitute crimes against humanity […]

United Nations member countries should take urgent steps to end the UN’s financial troubles, which are hindering human rights investigations in Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti, Israel/Palestine, and elsewhere. This difficult situation will get even worse if the incoming US administration follows through on threats to stop funding key UN agencies that provide lifesaving aid and protection. […]

Play Video (Beirut) – The state of a mass grave in Damascus and statements by people living in the surrounding area suggest that the area is a mass crime scene and may have been the site of other summary executions, Human Rights Watch said today.  Human Rights Watch visited the site in the southern Damascus neighborhood […]

Update: On December 17, Human Rights Watch received the following response from Mozilla: “Our initial decision to temporarily restrict these listings was made while we considered the regulatory environment in Russia and the potential risk to our community and staff. As outlined in our Manifesto, Mozilla’s core principles emphasize the importance of an internet that […]

Update: President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi signed the draft asylum bill into law and it was published in the Official Gazette on December 17, 2024. (Beirut) – Egypt’s draft asylum law, if enacted, risks violating the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said today. The law would hinder the work of United Nations agencies and […]

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention against Cybercrime on December 24, despite widespread concerns that the treaty will facilitate human rights violations. The convention, the first global treaty of its kind, extends far beyond addressing cybercrime – malicious attacks on computer networks, systems, and data. It obligates states to establish broad electronic surveillance powers to investigate and […]

This week, Egypt’s parliament rushed to approve, “in principle,” a government proposed draft bill to replace the country’s 1950 Criminal Procedure Code. The Lawyers’ Syndicate, the Journalists’ Syndicate, human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch, political parties, and United Nations independent experts have all expressed strong opposition to the draft. Rather than rushing the draft—discussed mostly secretively by a parliamentary subcommittee for months—through the overwhelmingly […]