Category: Human Rights

Sheffield Hallam University in England terminated a project about Uyghur forced labor after Chinese state security officers reportedly interrogated a staff member in Beijing and a Chinese company named in a report filed a defamation lawsuit in the United Kingdom. The project was led by Laura Murphy, a professor of human rights and modern slavery […]

Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that first responders from the UN agency were already “on the ground” to support care for the injured. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) also highlighted its support for affected communities and the emergency response as needs appraisals began. Reports indicate that the earthquake […]

The Human Rights Program (HRP) and the Program on Law and Society in the Muslim World (PLSMW) at Harvard Law School are pleased to announce that we are accepting applications for the Neelan Tiruchelvam Memorial Fellowship for the 2026-2027 academic year. The Tiruchelvam Fellowship will provide opportunities for outstanding legal scholars and practitioners of Sri Lankan background to undertake […]

(Berlin, November 3, 2025) – Governments attending the Central Asia-US summit on November 6, 2025, should focus on improving their human rights records amid discussions of economic and security cooperation, Human Rights Watch said today. The summit is taking place while all participating governments have increased efforts to stifle dissent, silence the media, and retaliate against […]

The EU is releasing €21.5 million in humanitarian aid as Venezuela and Haiti face worsening humanitarian crises and as the Caribbean reels from the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa. The funding will help partners provide essential assistance such as food, healthcare, protection and emergency relief to those most in need. Up to €14.5 million will […]

Speaking in Geneva, she said the world was facing “declining respect for human rights and multilateralism”, with conflicts, debt, and shrinking development assistance threatening to reverse hard-won gains. The 38-member economic cooperation organization, OECD, projects a nine to 17 per cent fall in aid next year, and up to 25 per cent for the least-developed […]

Women giving birth in public hospitals in Sierra Leone who are unable to pay informal fees face dangerous neglect and abuse by health care providers, in some cases leading to the deaths of women or their newborns. Sierra Leone’s progress on maternal healthcare is being undermined by a lack of resources in public hospitals and […]

The Russian military’s actions amount to two crimes against humanity, the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine’s report states – firstly of “murder and of forcible transfer of population” and secondly, “deportations and transfers of civilians” from areas occupied by Russian forces, some of whom were tortured. Systematic and coordinated The attacks – which have struck […]

On Monday, Mali’s national cybercrime court convicted former Prime Minister Moussa Mara for posting a message online expressing solidarity with political prisoners in the country. The prosecution represents the military junta’s starkest expansion yet of its campaign against free expression. Authorities arrested Mara in August for expressing his “unwavering solidarity with prisoners of conscience” after he visited jailed […]

Richard Bennett, the Special Rapporteur monitoring human rights in Afghanistan – who serves independently under a mandate of the Human Rights Council and is not a UN staff member – told the General Assembly the human rights situation in the country “continues to deteriorate with few grounds for optimism.” He warned of intensifying gender persecution, […]