Category: Human Rights

(Abuja) – A bill before Gambia’s National Assembly to reverse a groundbreaking 2015 ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) jeopardizes the rights of women and girls in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. Gambia is among the 10 countries with the highest levels of FGM. In addition to the 2015 ban, which made all acts […]

(Amman) – Jordanian authorities should halt the imminent deportation of a Syrian communications student who faces a significant risk of persecution if forcibly returned to Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. The police arrested Atia Mohamad Abu Salem, 24, and a Jordanian friend on April 9, 2024, as they were on their way to film […]

Rakhine was the site of a brutal crackdown on the Rohingyas by the military in 2017, leading to the killing of some 10,000 men, women and newborns and the exodus of nearly 750,000 community members, many of whom continue to languish in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh. “Rakhine state has once again become a battleground […]

Germany’s economy is very dependent on China, so expectations were low that Chancellor Olaf Scholz would place human rights concerns prominently on the agenda of his April 13-16 trip to China. But his apparent unwillingness to publicly say the words “human rights” was deeply disappointing. The Chinese government’s long-egregious human rights record has become dramatically […]

Next week in Ottawa, countries will reconvene to continue negotiations on an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. A revised draft of the treaty published by the United Nations Environment Programme on December 28, 2023, contains certain positive measures to reduce plastic production. However, it lacks the necessary provisions to protect human rights and […]

Armenia’s parliament adopted amendments strengthening the country’s domestic violence law. The legislation was adopted last week as postwar Armenia both struggles to secure its border with neighboring Azerbaijan and deepen its relations with the European Union. Armenia’s 2017 domestic violence law was an important first step, but its accountability provisions were inadequate and protective measures […]

Last month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found the Peruvian government responsible for violating the right to a healthy environment, among other rights, of residents of La Oroya, a town exposed to toxic pollution from a mine and smelter complex, the first ruling of its kind before the Court. The town is so polluted […]

After a months-long, uneasy détente between Sudan’s two warring parties, hundreds of thousands of civilians sheltering in the city of El Fasher in Darfur are in the crosshairs.    In the past few days, several villages near El Fasher appear to have been burned to the ground. People in one camp for internally displaced people […]

As the recent spike in gang violence is making even more critical the humanitarian situation in Haiti, the European Union launched a new Humanitarian Air Bridge to provide essential supplies to the country’s population. A total of 5 flights have arrived to Cap Haïtien, in the north of the country, as the international airport of […]

“In these trying times – where peace is under severe threat, and dialogue and diplomacy are in dire need – let us be an example of constructive dialogue to honour our commitments to Indigenous Peoples,” Dennis Francis told world leaders and ambassadors meeting in the General Assembly Hall. Member States convened to commemorate the 10th […]