Category: Human Rights

High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk deplored the sentence imposed on Mr. Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, following his conviction on charges brought under security-related laws in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. On 15 December 2025, the High Court found Mr. Lai guilty of conspiracy […]

(Sydney) New South Wales police used apparent excessive force against people protesting Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia, Human Rights Watch said today. Video footage verified by Human Rights Watch from a rally in Sydney on February 9, 2026, shows police punching protesters lying on the ground, violently dispersing people kneeling in prayer, and […]

As heavy fighting continues between former allies the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and their allies, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that in parts of North Darfur more than half of all children are acutely malnourished. The warning follows the release of new data from the IPC, a UN-backed global food […]

For the second time in less than a year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has referred an EU member to its oversight body, the Assembly of States Parties, for failing to cooperate with the court. On January 26, ICC judges asked the court’s member countries to hold Italy to account for refusing to surrender Osama Elmasry Njeem, […]

In a year of shrinking global aid, the EU is choosing solidarity, delivering life-saving aid and standing by international humanitarian law. This year, it will provide €123,3 million in humanitarian aid to deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people in Latin America and the Caribbean. Part of this aid will also bolster disaster […]

Georgia’s ruling party proposed on January 28 a new package of legislation that would criminalize core civic activity and erect sweeping barriers to political participation. If adopted, the draft laws would make it a criminal offense to receive foreign funding without prior government authorization, punishable by up to six years in prison. The bill defines a […]

(Nairobi) – An apparent Nigerien military drone strike killed at least 17 civilians, including 4 children, and injured at least 13 others at a crowded market in western Niger on January 6, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. The strike, which also killed three Islamist fighters, violated laws-of-war prohibitions against indiscriminate attacks and might amount to […]

(Beirut) – Houthi authorities have arbitrarily arrested over 20 Christians in Yemen over the last three months, Human Rights Watch said today. The Houthis should immediately release them, along with the hundreds of others they are arbitrarily detaining across the areas of Yemen under their control. “Rather than addressing the alarming rates of hunger that […]

(Brussels, February 4, 2026) – European Union institutions and member states’ failure to prioritize human rights undermines the rule of law, democratic space, and rights protection at home and abroad, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2026. A focus on deterring migration, combined with the normalization of anti-gender, anti-migrant, and anti-democratic narratives, inconsistent enforcement of […]