Category: Human Rights

The Vietnamese government has a poor record of dealing with allegations of sexual harassment by senior officials. In the latest reported incident, a South Korean civil servant accused Deputy Defense Minister Hoang Xuan Chien of “inappropriate touching” at a banquet on September 11 during the Vietnam–Republic of Korea Defense Dialogue in Seoul. South Korea’s defense ministry summoned the Vietnamese […]

In a damning report published last week, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child concluded France is responsible for grave and systematic violations of the rights of unaccompanied migrant children. The committee noted that due to flawed and arbitrary age assessment procedures many unaccompanied children find themselves homeless, deprived of healthcare, and forced […]

(New York) – Governments attending upcoming regional summits in Malaysia should reject the Myanmar military junta’s plans to hold “elections” in December 2025, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to all countries sending delegates. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and ASEAN partner summits will take place in Kuala Lumpur on October 26-28, with […]

Sudan stands at the epicentre of one of the world’s “most severe” humanitarian crises, according to the UN. Over 30 million people now need urgent humanitarian assistance, among them 9.6 million displaced from their homes and nearly 15 million children caught in a struggle for daily survival. “This is one of the worst protection crises […]

(The Hague) – Israel should comply with its obligation to cooperate with the United Nations by ensuring the unhindered provision of essential aid to Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in an October 22, 2025 advisory opinion, Human Rights Watch said today.  The court concluded that Israel’s […]

The tragedy came amid concerns that worsening conditions for refugees and asylum-seekers in North Africa are pushing more families to embark on perilous journeys. The boat, which had departed from the Tunisian village of Salakta, capsized shortly after setting off, killing nine women, 19 men and 12 children under the age of five, according to […]

TUNIS, Oct. 23, 2025 — The imprisonment of Sonia Dahmani, a Tunisian lawyer, writer, and outspoken media commentator, has become a defining case in the country’s democratic backsliding. Convicted on multiple anti-state charges for her televised and radio commentary, Dahmani is serving a five-year sentence while facing two additional trials that could extend her imprisonment […]

Last week, German federal, state, and local authorities adopted Common Guidelines on the handling of cultural assets and human remains from colonial contexts. Despite the welcome efforts to regulate the returns cultural belongings and ancestral remains from colonial contexts, the guidelines appear to go out of the way to distance such returns from international human rights […]

Federal law enforcement agents have since mid-September used excessive force against peaceful protesters, legal observers, volunteer street medics, and journalists during demonstrations outside a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in suburban Chicago. This is not crowd control but a campaign of intimidation and a clear message that dissent will be punished. It […]

This week Brazil is hosting the 4th National Conference on the Rights of LGBTQIA+ People, an ambitious effort to chart new directions for public policy on equality and inclusion. Beyond its national scope, the conference underscores Brazil’s reemergence as a key voice in global equality debates. And as many countries, including in the Global North, roll back support of LGBTQIA+ rights, the conference shows […]