Hungary: Pastor Supporting People in Poverty Faces Charges

Instead of supporting those who fill the gaps left by Hungary’s crumbling public services and social security system, the government is prosecuting them. On November 3, prosecutors charged Pastor Gábor Iványi, who has long defended the rights of people living in poverty, with “group-committed violence against an official person” in connection with a February 2022 raid […]

Continue Reading

China: Authorities Shut Down Film Festival in New York

Chinese authorities harassed several dozen Chinese film directors and producers, as well as their families in China, causing them to pull films from the inaugural IndieChina Film Festival in New York City, Human Rights Watch said today. On November 6, 2025, the festival’s organizer, Zhu Riku, announced that the film festival, scheduled for November 8-15, […]

Continue Reading

Australia Adopts First Treaty with Indigenous Peoples

The Australian state of Victoria on October 30 passed a landmark legislation to establish the nation’s first treaty with First Nations people. The Statewide Treaty Bill sets up a democratically elected body to represent First Nations people in Victoria and advise the state government on laws and policies impacting their rights and interests. Victoria’s treaty is the […]

Continue Reading

Kenya: New Cybercrime Amendments Threaten Online Expression

(Nairobi, November 6, 2025) – Kenya’s newly enacted Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendments) Act, 2025, risks criminalizing legitimate online speech and its overbroad provisions should be repealed, Human Rights Watch said today. The amendment was passed by Parliament and assented to by President William Ruto on October 15. The Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act was initially enacted in […]

Continue Reading

Rights chief warns ‘abominable atrocities’ likely continue in Sudan’s El Fasher

“Today, traumatised civilians are still trapped inside El Fasher and are being prevented from leaving,” said UN human rights chief Volker Türk in a statement released on Friday.  “I fear that the abominable atrocities such as summary executions, rape and ethnically motivated violence are continuing within the city.” The statement comes amid mounting reports from UN human rights watchdogs and other experts of widespread violence and war crimes after the city […]

Continue Reading

‘Worrying reports’ continue of abductions and disappearances in Syria

“Eleven months after the fall of the former government in Syria, we continue to receive worrying reports about dozens of abductions and enforced disappearances,” Spokesperson Thameen Al-Keetan said at a press briefing in Geneva. Syria is undergoing a political transition following the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024 and 13 years of brutal civil war. Families in distress In […]

Continue Reading

Grandi calls for greater refugee protection and funding

Filippo Grandi reported that for the first time in nearly a decade, the number of refugees and other people fleeing war, violence and persecution, has decreased – from 123 million at the end of 2024 to about 117 million today. “This may seem surprising. Because the world has not become safer – on the contrary,” he said, pointing to conflicts in places such as […]

Continue Reading

UN Experts Warn Peru’s Disability Law Amendment Risks Violating Human Rights Commitments

Proposed changes could reintroduce institutionalization and undermine independent living for persons with disabilities. Lima, Peru – November 6, 2025 — A group of United Nations human rights experts has issued a strong warning against a proposed amendment to Peru’s General Law on Persons with Disabilities, cautioning that it could reverse progress on deinstitutionalization and violate […]

Continue Reading

Cambodia Arrests 16 Over Political Social Media Posts, Rights Groups Condemn Crackdown

Activists, journalists, and opposition figures face incitement and treason charges amid rising censorship concerns. Phnom Penh, Cambodia – November 6, 2025 — Cambodian authorities have arrested 16 individuals for posting political content on social media, sparking international condemnation from Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other civil liberties organizations. The arrests, carried out between August and […]

Continue Reading