Category: Human Rights

(Beirut) – Drone strikes on five oil fields in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) by unknown groups between July 14 and 16, 2025, significantly damaged the region’s energy production, Human Rights Watch said today. The drone strikes mark a dangerous escalation in a long-running dispute between Baghdad and Erbil over the control and distribution […]

Under cooler skies after days of intense heat, the run ended where it all began, at the original UN Charter – the document that launched the Organization and reshaped the modern international order – now on display at UN Headquarters. Inside the General Assembly Hall, delegates gathered to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its signing. […]

(Washington, DC) – Venezuelan authorities are carrying out widespread abuses against critics through politically motivated arrests, a year after the presidential election, Human Rights Watch said today. Hours after polls closed on July 28, 2024, the Electoral Council declared that Nicolás Maduro had been re-elected. International observers criticized the process for lacking transparency and integrity, and questioned the announced […]

Israeli authorities have stepped up measures to transfer large numbers of people from long-standing Palestinian towns and communities, according to OHCHR’s office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. On 18 June, the High Planning Council in the Israeli Civil Administration issued a directive to reject all building and planning permits submitted by Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, […]

(Nairobi) – The African Union’s (AU) appointment of Burundi’s president as its special envoy for the Sahel region strengthens the AU’s capacity to address the most pressing human rights challenges facing Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Evariste Ndayishimiye.  The appointment of Ndayishimiye on July 17, […]

Recalling his own experience living under dictatorship in Portugal, Mr. Guterres told participants at the Global Assembly of the international rights charity Amnesty International on Friday that the fight for human rights is “more important than ever”. He called on States to uphold international law and defend human rights “consistently and universally, even or especially […]

The United States government has strongly condemned the Hong Kong authorities’ July 25 announcement of arrest warrants and bounties targeting 15 additional overseas pro-democracy activists, including individuals residing in the U.S. The move marks the largest single round of extraterritorial warrants issued under Hong Kong’s national security law to date. In a press statement issued […]

“The thousands of people seeking to return home are driven by hope, resilience and an enduring connection to their country,” said Othman Belbeisi, regional director of the International Organization of Migration (IOM).   While this development does offer hope, many of these people are returning to states and cities whose resources have been devastated by […]

(Bangkok) – Escalating border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia involving explosive weapons have killed and injured civilians since fighting began on July 24, 2025, Human Rights Watch said today. The two countries have longstanding border disputes, but there has been no serious military engagement since 2011. Cambodia and Thailand have each accused the other of […]

Following a major fire in the Limassol district of Cyprus, the authorities have requested firefighting assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. In response, the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre has mobilised 2 Canadair airplanes from the EU’s joint firefighting fleet, rescEU, stationed in Spain. This wildfire season, in addition to supporting Cyprus, the EU […]