Category: Human Rights

(Berlin) – Lithuania’s parliament should reject a government proposal to withdraw from the 2008 treaty banning cluster munitions, Human Rights Watch said today. If approved, Lithuania would be the first country to leave the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which 112 countries have ratified.   “Lithuania’s lawmakers should reject this ill-considered proposal and reaffirm their support for […]

(New York) – A man who served 30 years in a Bhutanese prison for distributing political pamphlets has said that political detainees like him are surviving on meager rations and are reduced to using rice sacks for clothing and bedding, Human Rights Watch said today. The Bhutanese government should immediately free its remaining political prisoners, […]

(Kyiv) – Russian forces’ strikes on multiple cities in Ukraine on July 8, 2024, killed at least 42 civilians, including five children, and injured at least 190, according to Ukrainian authorities. The attacks also caused significant damage to vital infrastructure, including the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, the country’s largest children’s hospital. The hospital’s director […]

The incident was the largest massacre in Europe since the Holocaust during World War Two. It left deep emotional scars on the survivors, families of victims and society of Bosnia and Herzegovina overall, following the wars and ethnic cleansing that marked the breakup of the former Yugoslavia which began in 1992.   Among those who […]

Today we reflect upon the courage and resilience of the Cuban people who, on July 11, 2021 and the days that followed, bravely took to the streets to demand respect for their human rights and fundamental freedoms.  Tens of thousands of voices rose in unison, echoing a profound call for change, justice, and a government […]

Malawi’s Constitutional Court on June 28 rejected a legal challenge to the penal code that makes same-sex conduct a criminal offense. The decision contradicts fundamental rights, including the rights to equality and nondiscrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, protected under international human rights law. The three-member judicial panel dismissed an application from […]

In a resolution adopted without a vote, the Council strongly condemned all violations and abuses of human rights in Myanmar, particularly following the military coup in February 2021.   It called upon Myanmar “to end immediately all violence and violations of international law in the country, to ensure full protection of the human rights and […]

(Brussels) – The EU and its member states should safeguard the right to territorial asylum in Europe, Human Rights Watch and more than 94 other organizations said in a statement released today. The recent and increasing attempts by several European Union member states to outsource asylum processing and refugee protection to countries outside the EU – such […]

(Beirut) – A Saudi court has sentenced a man to 20 years in prison on charges related to his peaceful social media activity, Human Rights Watch said today. The conviction is the latest example of Saudi Arabia’s likely transnational repression due to his family member’s activities abroad and yet another escalation in the country’s ever-worsening crackdown […]

Amid the widespread civilian suffering in Sudan, the fate of over one million refugees living in Sudan when the conflict erupted is often overlooked. In recent weeks, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked towns across Sennar state, which neighbors Gedaref state and where more than 40,000 refugees from Ethiopia are currently hosted. In Kassala state, further […]