Category: Human Rights

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 […]

(London) – Nepal’s new government should seize opportunities for progress on human rights, including transitional justice and social security, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli on August 6, 2024. The government should also act to protect the rights of migrant workers and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) […]

As wildfires continue to affect multiple European countries, the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre is working 24/7 to channel assistance to help tackle the blazes. Currently, both Bulgaria and North Macedonia are receiving EU assistance following requests to activate the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in recent weeks. In Bulgaria, a total of 10 airplanes and […]

Here are five things to know: 1. What does ‘voluntary isolation and initial contact’ mean? The focus of the International Day this year is on the approximately 200 groups of Indigenous Peoples currently living in voluntary isolation and initial contact. They live detached from the rest of the world, surviving by gathering and hunting. These […]

(Jerusalem, August 8, 2024) – Israeli forces stormed a Gaza City home on December 21, 2023, throwing grenades inside and opening fire on a room where a civilian family was sheltering, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack killed seven people, including a pregnant woman, and severely injured two, including a 5-year-old. Witnesses also allege […]

At least 20 civilians were reportedly killed, and 15 others injured, in recent days, while water stations and other civilian facilities were reportedly damaged or affected, including a UN-supported centre on rural livelihoods. The fighting has also resulted in power cuts that affected hospitals and water stations. People living in Deir-ez-Zor continue to experience severe […]

On July 26, a court in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, sentenced 31-year-old Alexandr Merkul, a stand-up comedian, to 10-days detention on charges of “petty hooliganism” allegedly for using obscene language during a performance in June. It’s yet another instance of the extent of Kazakh authorities’ crackdown on freedom of expression. Merkul, who pleaded guilty, often touches […]