Category: Human Rights

On October 9, Human Rights Watch with Tokyo-based Human Rights Now and Peace Boat held an event at the Japanese Diet to press the Japanese government to step up its efforts to defend the International Criminal Court(ICC). The ICC, a court of last resort for victims of serious crimes around the world, has been under extreme pressure from the […]

Last week, the country’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) submitted formal charges in two cases connected to alleged abuses at the Task Force for Interrogation Cell and the Joint Interrogation Cell, including charges of crimes against humanity. Officers and officials charged As part of the action, arrest warrants were issued for several former military officers, including […]

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 — The Pentagon press corps staged a mass walkout on Wednesday after refusing to comply with new Department of Defense reporting requirements introduced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The rules, unveiled earlier this week, require journalists to seek prior authorization before publishing any Pentagon-related information, including unclassified material. Hegseth defended the policy […]

ISTANBUL, Oct. 17 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Türkiye to thoroughly investigate the recent armed attack on Nafiz Koca, a prominent journalist and publisher in the eastern city of Elazığ. Koca, who owns the local newspapers Günışığı Gazetesi and Yeni Ufuk Gazetesi, was shot in the leg with a shotgun […]

ABIDJAN, Oct. 17 — Human rights group Amnesty International has called on Ivorian authorities to halt the repression of peaceful demonstrations in the run-up to the country’s presidential elections, after security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters in Abidjan on October 11 and arrested 255 people. Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty’s regional director for West and […]

As European Union leaders and foreign ministers prepare for meetings to discuss the situation in Israel and Palestine, some of their representatives in Brussels, and Israel’s new ambassador to the EU, have been pushing for the European Commission to amend or withdraw its proposals to sanction “extremist” Israeli ministers and suspend the EU-Israel trade deal. […]

In presenting his annual report to the Third Committee of the General Assembly, Volker Türk highlighted that surveys consistently show that people worldwide overwhelmingly support the values that underpin human rights, namely dignity, equality and justice. He urged the international community to “build on this energy, at a time when disquiet, disenfranchisement, disillusionment, and disarray […]

On 15 October 2025, HRW issued a statement denouncing the violent dispersal of protests that have swept Morocco since late September. The demonstrations, led by the youth movement GenZ212, have called for sweeping reforms in healthcare, education, employment, and anti‑corruption measures. According to HRW, security forces, including the Royal Gendarmerie, used water cannons, physical force, […]

Istanbul, 16 October 2025 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Turkish authorities to thoroughly investigate the death of Hakan Tosun, a freelance reporter and documentary filmmaker, who died on 13 October after being assaulted in Istanbul. Tosun, 50, was attacked on 11 October in the city’s Esenyurt district by two men […]

Vienna, 16 October 2025 — The OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference (WHDC), held from 6 to 17 October, convened representatives from 57 participating States, civil society, and media experts to assess the state of human rights and democratic commitments across the region. A central theme was the protection of journalists and the integrity of information […]