Category: Human Rights

In its annual report released on Tuesday, the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) said it had made “important progress” documenting crimes and identifying those responsible, including commanders of security forces overseeing detention facilities. Myanmar descended into civil war following the military coup of February 2021 and the detention of civilian leaders, including President Win […]

(Nairobi) – The guilty verdict and 20-year sentence imposed on August 9, 2025, on Succès Masra, leader of Chad’s main opposition party, is the culmination of a trial based on politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said today. Masra, the former prime minister, is an ardent critic of President Mahamat Idriss Déby. The criminal court in […]

On August 5, Cameroon’s Constitutional Council backed the electoral commission’s decision to bar Maurice Kamto, a key opposition leader and challenger to incumbent President Paul Biya, from the country’s upcoming presidential elections. The move threatens the credibility of the electoral process and has triggered yet another crackdown on political opposition. Cameroon’s electoral commission rejected Kamto’s candidacy last month, […]

Four years after Taliban fighters retook the capital Kabul on 15 August 2021, gender equality agency UN Women is warning that the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan is increasingly untenable.   And without urgent action, this untenable reality will become normalised and women and girls will be fully excluded. “The Taliban is closer […]

(Sydney, August 11, 2025) – Australia should press the Vietnamese government on human rights by seeking clear, concrete, and measurable benchmarks for progress, Human Rights Watch said today in a recent submission to the Australian government. The 20th Australia-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue will take place tomorrow on August 12, 2025, in Vietnam. Vietnam has incarcerated more […]

(Beirut) – Saudi authorities have been carrying out an unprecedented surge in executions in 2025 without apparent due process, Human Rights Watch and the Middle East Democracy Center said today. The June 14 execution of Turki al-Jasser, a journalist known for exposing corruption within the Saudi royal family, raises concerns that the Saudi government is using […]

The governments of Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom have issued a joint condemnation of the Belarusian authorities for what they describe as persistent repression and serious human rights violations. The statement accuses the Belarusian government of conducting a systematic campaign aimed at dismantling civil society, silencing independent media, and suppressing all forms of political […]

Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Anas Al Sharif was among five Palestinians Staff killed in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday, August 10, 2025 targeting a tented area in Gaza City, according to local reports. The incident occurred amid ongoing military operations in the region, which have intensified following the October 7 Hamas-led attack. Al Sharif, known […]

In recent days, two Palestinian armed groups have released videos of hostages that underscore the horrendous conditions they are facing.  On August 1, Hamas’ armed wing published two videos showing an emaciated 24-year-old Evyatar David in a tunnel, first sitting next to a chart that he says tracks his extremely limited food intake and then […]

(Nairobi) – The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group killed more than 40 people, including several children, with guns and machetes during a nighttime church gathering on July 26-27, 2025, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch said today. Several other children were abducted and remain missing. The Ugandan-led ADF pledged allegiance to the […]