Category: Human Rights

On the night of 2 August 1944, the last 4,300 Roma and Sinti in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp were murdered by the Nazi forces, despite their fierce resistance. That marked the killing of more than 500,000 members of the community, representing at least a quarter of their total population at the time. The Nazis’s genocidal […]

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism was activated this week for the wildfires burning across southeastern Europe.  Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said: “In the constant fight against wildfires, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism responded immediately. I am grateful to the Member States that sent assistance – this is EU solidarity in practice!” Following a […]

The Supreme Court of Nepal has ruled that Rukshana Kapali, a transgender woman, should be legally recognized on all documents as a woman without having to submit to medical verification. The judgment is the latest in the court’s history of progressive rulings on sexual orientation and gender identity, which has earned Nepal a positive global reputation on […]

A standoff at Israel’s Sde Teiman military base this week has thrown longstanding abuses against Palestinian detainees and the Israeli military’s history of impunity for torture into stark relief. On July 29, Israeli military police arrested nine Israeli soldiers at the base on suspicion of “severe abuse” of a Palestinian detainee. News reports said the […]

(Brussels) – A Guinean court on July 31, 2024, convicted Guinea’s former self-declared president Moussa Dadis Camara, and seven others, in a landmark trial for rapes and killings of protesters in 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. The court also decided to reclassify all of the charges from ordinary crimes to crimes against humanity, based […]

(London) – The Indian government has not restored freedom of speech and association to Jammu and Kashmir five years after revoking the region’s special autonomous status on August 5, 2019, Human Rights Watch said today. The Indian security forces continue to carry out repressive policies including arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, and other serious abuses. Indian authorities seek to […]

On Wednesday, a court in Conakry found former President Moussa Dadis Camara and several other military leaders guilty of crimes against humanity. Four other men were acquitted. Those convicted were also ordered to provide reparations to the victims and their families. Right to justice “After nearly 15 years, the victims, survivors and their families have […]

(Brussels, August 1, 2024) – The European Commission’s 2024 Rule of Law Report, published on July 24, 2024, misleads readers about the state of the rule of law in Greece at a time when media freedom and civic space face dire threats and attacks, 14 human rights and media freedom organizations said today. The overly positive account in the […]

Returnees have headed for several locations in the city, including central and eastern neighbourhoods as well as the adjacent area of Bani Suhaila.  Medical evacuations  Separately, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 85 sick and severely injured patients from Gaza were evacuated to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.  The patients, […]

(Sydney) – Australia should press the Vietnamese government on human rights by seeking clear, concrete, and measurable benchmarks for progress in upcoming meetings, Human Rights Watch said in a recent submission to the Australian government. The 19th Australia-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue will take place on July 30, 2024, in Canberra. Vietnam’s abysmal human rights situation continues to deteriorate as […]