Doctor’s Rape, Murder in India Sparks Protests

Thousands of Indians have taken to the streets to protest the rape and murder of a doctor in a government hospital in Kolkata city last week. They are demanding justice and better security and facilities at medical campuses and hospitals. The attack has cast a spotlight on how millions of Indian women remain exposed to abuse in the […]

Continue Reading

Disinformation About US Elections Targets Communities of Color

Bad actors are flooding the information landscape with false and misleading information ahead of US elections in November, disproportionately targeting communities of color. The torrent of misinformation is sparking concerns it could alter voting patterns and even affect the outcomes of the presidential and other elections. Misinformation is the inadvertent spread of false information with no […]

Continue Reading

Afghanistan: 20 years of steady education progress ‘almost wiped out’

Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is strictly forbidden to women and girls over age 12. The Taliban swept back into power on 15 August 2021 and swiftly began curtailing women’s rights. Three years to the day after the fall of Kabul, the nation’s capital, at least […]

Continue Reading

Tanzanian Arrests Bad Omen for Upcoming Elections

Over the past week, Tanzanian police have arbitrarily arrested 375 members and supporters of the country’s main opposition party, the Party for Democracy and Progress (Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo, or Chadema). Among them are former presidential candidate Tundu Lissu, party chairman Freeman Mbowe, party youth wing leader John Pambalu, and several journalists. The arrests took place ahead […]

Continue Reading

Vietnam: Free Democracy Activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen

(Bangkok) – The Vietnamese authorities should immediately drop all charges and release the prominent rights activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen, Human Rights Watch said today. Hanoi police arrested Nguyen Chi Tuyen on February 29, 2024, for criticizing the government on social media. He was charged under article 117 of the penal code, which criminalizes “making, storing, disseminating, […]

Continue Reading

India: Hate Speech Fueled Modi’s Election Campaign

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2024 electoral campaign frequently used hate speech against Muslims and other minorities, inciting discrimination, hostility, and violence. Inflammatory speeches, amid a decade of attacks and discrimination against minorities under the Modi administration, have normalized abuses against Muslims, Christians, and others. The new Modi government needs to reverse its discriminatory policies, […]

Continue Reading

US: Los Angeles Criminalizes Unhoused People

Play Video Los Angeles systematically criminalizes unhoused people through arrests and citations for violations arising out of their unhoused status and by destroying their property through sanitation sweeps. Criminalization drives unhoused people out of public spaces but does nothing to solve their lack of housing. City government should stop its practice of criminalization and destructive […]

Continue Reading

Renewed Hope for Justice for Burundi Massacre

Survivors and relatives of victims of a 2004 attack on the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi have filed criminal cases against alleged perpetrators in their home countries of Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The complaints, which allege genocide and crimes against humanity, are an effort to secure justice two decades later. The lawyer involved […]

Continue Reading

UN chief calls for inclusive elections in Bangladesh

In a statement issued by his Deputy Spokesperson late on Monday (New York time), the UN chief also called for full respect of the human rights across the country. “The Secretary-General welcomes efforts to restore calm and organize parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, with the support of an interim government,” UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said. […]

Continue Reading

Myanmar: Armies Target Ethnic Rohingya, Rakhine

(Bangkok) – Myanmar junta forces and the opposition Arakan Army have committed extrajudicial killings and widespread arson against Rohingya, Rakhine, and other civilians in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State in recent months, Human Rights Watch said today. The military’s unlawful recruitment of Rohingya men and boys has stoked communal tensions between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist […]

Continue Reading