Category: Human Rights

(Beirut) – The Israeli military has carried out repeated attacks harming United Nations peacekeeping operations in southwestern Lebanon in apparent violation of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said today. Israeli forces should cease unlawful attacks and allow the UN mission to fulfill its civilian protection and humanitarian duties as mandated by the UN […]

This week, member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) from all regions overwhelmingly voted to renew the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) for the Sudan, established in 2023. The move was widely backed by Sudanese activists. The fact-finding mission is mandated to investigate crimes committed by Sudan’s warring parties and advance accountability […]

(Geneva) –The United Nations Human Rights Council, in extending its Venezuela probe, has sent a clear message to those responsible for ongoing abuses, including in the context of post-electoral repression, that they will be held to account, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 11, 2024, the council adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the Independent International […]

(New York) – Chinese authorities should immediately release the man who unfurled banners critical of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the draconian “Zero-Covid” policy on Beijing’s Sitong Bridge two years ago, Human Rights Watch said today.  The authorities have not released information about the protester’s identity, though many in China believe that his name is Peng Lifa (彭立发, also known as […]

The awarding of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo acknowledges the central role of hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki) in working to eradicate nuclear weapons. Their resilience and determination have ensured the work to ban nuclear weapons will continue. The 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear […]

During the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the United States worked closely with UN Member States to highlight and address pressing human rights concerns and to uphold the universal values, aspirations, and principles that have underpinned the UN system since its founding.  Our statements and positions underscored the U.S. commitment to promoting the […]

(Brussels) – European Union and member states’ leaders should urge their Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) counterparts to release unjustly jailed critics and commit to substantive human rights reforms at an October 16, 2024 summit, Human Rights Watch said today. The EU should also push for structural reforms on freedom of expression, freedom of association, labor […]

The mandate of Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia, established by the 47-member Council in October 2022, was extended last October. The Special Rapporteur is tasked with monitoring, assessing and reporting on the rights situation in the country. The current mandate holder, Mariana Katzarova, is not a UN staff member and […]

Media discussions in Cameroon about the health of its president, Paul Biya, 91, are now outlawed.  On October 9, the territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji, issued a communique saying that the health of President Biya is a “security issue,” that any media debate on the state of the president is “formally forbidden,” and that “offenders” will […]

The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reported that ambulances and relief centres had been “targeted or hit in Lebanon, causing further casualties”, adding that the UN health agency WHO and health partners have continued to deliver life-saving surgical supplies to frontline health workers. International humanitarian law provides special protection for ambulances, healthcare workers and their […]