Category: Human Rights

On World Refugee Day, we will recognise the strength and resilience of the more than 117 million people displaced globally. Forced from their homes by conflict, persecution, violence and human rights violations, they continue to demonstrate extraordinary courage in rebuilding their lives and contributing to the communities that welcome them. As the world’s leading humanitarian […]

The Canadian government’s elimination of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), announced on June 11, marks a significant step backwards in the fight for accountability for human rights abuses by Canadian companies. The CORE, established in 2019, investigates rights abuses by Canadian companies operating abroad in the oil and gas, mining, and garment sectors. For example, […]

In the process leading toward a new international treaty to prevent and punish crimes against humanity, there is already growing, cross-regional support to ensure the final effort includes justice for crimes against children. In recent weeks, countries submitted formal proposals for amendments to the draft articles under consideration for the treaty. A civil society coalition, including […]

(Berlin, June 18, 2026) – Uzbek authorities should release a local human rights activist accused of extortion and investigate his allegations of abuse in police custody, Human Rights Watch said today. Javokhir Muminov, the activist, told his lawyer on June 10, 2026, that following his arrest, police officers had beaten and suffocated him. “This criminal […]

The Trump administration’s deployment of thousands of federal immigration agents to Minnesota led to widespread human rights violations, terrorized residents, and spotlighted the deeply abusive patterns in US immigration enforcement. In addition to unlawful killings, excessive force, racial profiling, and unlawful detentions, the abuses and resulting terror forced many people to stay at home, causing […]

© 2026 Glenn Harvey for Human Rights Watch     (Brussels, June 18, 2026) – The Bulgarian government between 2018 and 2023 licensed exports of surveillance equipment to countries that were likely to use it for internal repression or to commit serious human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch previously reviewed […]

China has pledged to strengthen protections for gig workers, and on June 12 the country voted for a landmark International Labour Organization (ILO) convention on “Decent Work in the Platform Economy.” These commitments could matter: an estimated 320 million people in China now rely on flexible, tasked-based gig work for employment, according to a new […]

Preliminary data indicates that some 950 human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists were killed or forcibly disappeared worldwide in 2025, more than double the number a decade ago.   These and other alarming trends are highlighted in Human Rights Count 2026, OHCHR’s latest global dataset documenting attacks on defenders, civilian deaths in conflicts, patterns of discrimination worldwide […]

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), along with its coalition partner Japan Innovation Party and the opposition Democratic Party for the People, and Sanseito, jointly submitted a bill on June 16 that would criminalize “publicly damaging, removing, or defacing” Japan’s national flag in a “way or situation that evokes significant discomfort or disgust in people.” The […]

French police issue on-the-spot fines for alleged public disturbance offenses to harass boys and young men perceived as Black, Arab, or North African and evict them from public space in their own neighborhoods. Children and young men have received fines that can grow to tens of thousands of euros, causing immense economic hardship, and social […]