Category: Human Rights

A United Nations torture expert has raised urgent concerns over the detention conditions of Bushra Bibi Khan, just days after a Pakistani court sentenced her and former Prime Minister Imran Khan to 17 years in prison in a high‑profile corruption case. Alice Jill Edwards, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, warned that Bushra Bibi is […]

United Nations human rights experts have issued a stark warning to Peru after lawmakers approved a bill that would remove the concept of gender from national legislation and public policy—an overhaul they say could roll back decades of progress on equality and non‑discrimination. The measure, Bill 8731/2024, endorsed by Congress on 19 November 2025, seeks to replace […]

A United Nations human rights expert is urging Togo to immediately release Abdoul Aziz Goma, a Togolese‑Irish human rights defender who has spent seven years in detention and is now in critical condition after more than 40 days on hunger strike. The appeal comes as international concern intensifies over his deteriorating health and the legality of his […]

Last week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) sentenced Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (also known as Ali Kosheib), a former leader of Sudan’s “Janjaweed” militias, to 20 years in prison. It follows his conviction in October for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sudan’s Darfur region between 2003-2004. The long-awaited, landmark sentence is an important moment for victims and […]

Each year, Human Rights Watch reflects on progress in children’s rights worldwide. From better access to education to stronger protections in wartime, these are some highlights from 2025. New data from the International Labour Organization and UNICEF found 20 million fewer children involved in child labor than in 2020. Malawi and Japan both abolished school fees […]

(New York) – The Hong Kong High Court’s conviction of Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, is the latest marker of Hong Kong’s dramatic shift from respecting press freedoms to endorsing outright hostility toward the media, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should quash the baseless conviction and immediately release Lai. On December […]

On December 13, Belarusian authorities released 123 prisoners following negotiations led by the US administration, which had agreed to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash. The majority were sent to Ukraine, and a group of nine to Lithuania. Most of those released had been prosecuted and imprisoned for the peaceful exercise of their human rights. Among […]

In the latest crackdown on media freedom in Ethiopia, Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s international public broadcaster, said in a December 12 statement that the Ethiopian Media Authority had permanently suspended two of its journalists. The Ethiopian Media Authority, a government agency that has the power to sanction news outlets operating inside the country, sent DW a […]

(Nairobi) – Militia fighters killed at least 22 civilians and injured many more in an attack in late November 2025 on a village in Kwamouth territory in western Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch said today. Witnesses from the village of Nkana, about 75 kilometers northeast of Kinshasa, the national capital, said that militiamen […]

Last week, President Trump signed an executive order that proposes to challenge and dismantle a range of “cumbersome” artificial intelligence (AI) laws at state and city level in the US and replace them with a not yet defined national AI regulatory framework. The move is supposedly an effort to “sustain and enhance the United States’ global […]