Category: Human Rights

The production of 12 amphibious firefighting planes to make up the permanent rescEU fleet has been launched following agreements signed by a number of EU Member States with the Canadian Commercial Corporation. The planes will be financed by the European Commission and will become the new backbone of the EU’s crisis response to tackle forest […]

Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, sent a “delegation” to the UN human rights office in the Yemeni capital on 3 August, and national staff were forced to handover documents, furniture and vehicles, as well as the office’s keys. They remain in control of the premises. A ‘serious attack’ “Ansar Allah forces must leave […]

In a video circulated on social media on July 21, Steve Akam, alias Ramon Cotta, a Cameroonian social media activist, stands before a barrier in an outdoor space, handcuffed and surrounded by members of the Cameroonian police. It was the last time he was seen. Human Rights Watch contacted sources in Cameroon, and geolocated and analyzed […]

The Commission is mobilising emergency support to Greece and Albania, both of which have activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in response to severe wildfires. The European Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) has immediately mobilised both aerial and ground firefighting resources from several European countries that are part of the Civil Protection Mechanism to assist Greece.  This […]

(New York) – The Taliban have created the world’s most serious women’s rights crisis since taking power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. Afghanistan is also experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with aid severely underfunded, thousands of Afghans forced back into Afghanistan from Pakistan, and thousands of others expecting to emigrate to […]

The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission also urged the authorities to thoroughly investigate a spate of grave rights violations that are currently occurring in the South American country. Venezuelans went to the polls on 28 July and President Nicolás Maduro was formally declared the winner the following day, securing a third term in office. Fierce repression, […]

When veteran journalist Elyes Gharbi announced on June 28 that he was leaving the “Midi Show” on Tunisia’s leading radio station, Mosaïque FM, after nine years, he did not explain why. However, Gharbi’s decision came just months after he acknowledged “unbelievable threats” against journalism in the country and a year after police investigated him for comments made […]

(London, August 9, 2024) – The Turkish authorities’ arbitrary decision on August 2, 2024, to impose a blanket block on access to Instagram violates the rights to freedom of expression and of access to information for millions of users, Human Rights Watch and the Freedom of Expression Association (İfade Özgürlüğü Derneği, İFÖD) said today. The […]

OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk “is shocked and appalled” by comments made by Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who suggested that letting two million Palestinians in Gaza starve to death could be “justified and moral” in order to free hostages. The High Commissioner condemned these words in the […]

The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom, and the European Union. Four years on from the fraudulent 2020 presidential election and the appalling human rights crackdown in Belarus, the United States of America, Canada, the European Union, and the United […]