Category: Human Rights

(Nairobi) – Chad’s new constitutional amendment abolishing presidential term limits is a serious setback for the rule of law and democracy, Human Rights Watch said today. The change paves the way for President Mahamat Idriss Déby to remain in power indefinitely, further weakening the prospects for a meaningful, democratic change of government in line with international norms, […]

The Trump administration is poised to mount a two-pronged attack on refugee resettlement. The first prong is quantitative: refugee admissions would be slashed from 125,000 in the fiscal year that just ended to 7,500. The second is qualitative: selecting who among the world’s 42.7 million refugees would be chosen for rescue. The US refugee resettlement […]

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has concluded that France has systematically failed to uphold its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, leaving thousands of unaccompanied migrant children exposed to neglect, discrimination, and harm. The findings follow an on-the-ground inquiry in October 2023, during which the CRC […]

NEW YORK, Oct. 17, 2025 — Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, has urged governments to end the repression of climate activists and instead recognize them as essential partners in addressing the climate emergency. Presenting her latest report to the UN General Assembly, Lawlor said that states are silencing […]

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. […]