Category: Human Rights

This call follows an update from OHCHR which analysed the human rights situation in Ethiopia between January 2023 and January 2024. Mr. Türk urged parties involved in the conflict to “halt” their actions and resolve their differences peacefully.  A bloody civil war between Government forces and northern rebels erupted in late 2020 leading to major […]

Alice Nderitu, Special Adviser of the Secretary on the Prevention of Genocide, emphasized that in addition to violence, hate speech also reinforces discrimination, stigma, dehumanization, and marginalization. “Violence does not start when physical attacks are launched. Violence often starts with words. Words of hatred spread intolerance, divide societies, promote and endorse discrimination and incite violence,” […]

Angola has officially become the first African Union member state to ratify the statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, known as the Malabo Protocol. Fourteen other AU countries still need to ratify the statute before it enters into force. The Malabo Protocol aims to add criminal jurisdiction over certain international crimes […]

On Thursday, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) spokesperson Liz Throssell revealed that in its latest act of disempowerment, de facto authorities have told women civil servants prohibited from working that despite qualifications or experience, their salaries will now be cut to the lowest level. The Taliban overtook Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, in August 2021, […]

Niger’s highest court on June 14 may decide to lift the immunity from prosecution of former President Mohamed Bazoum following proceedings that failed to meet basic due process standards. The Nigerien authorities should drop this problematic case and respect Bazoum’s fair trial rights. Bazoum has been arbitrarily detained in the presidential residence since last July, […]

(Bangkok) – The Thai government should immediately release Y Quynh Bdap, a Montagnard religious freedom activist and refugee, and ensure that he is not sent back to Vietnam, Human Rights Watch said today. If returned, he faces a real risk of an unfair trial and ill-treatment by Vietnamese authorities. On June 11, 2024, Thai Immigration […]

On June 14, 2023, an overcrowded, unseaworthy boat capsized off the coast of Pylos, Greece. Only 104 of the estimated 750 passengers survived. A year later, despite many independent reports and investigations revealing the failings of Greek authorities, the nightmare for survivors continues. I recently spoke to Hamza, a 25-year-old survivor from Pakistan who first […]

(Nairobi) – The authorities in Rwanda have cracked down on the opposition, media, and civil society ahead of general elections scheduled for July 15, 2024, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should ensure that all Rwandans are able to freely express their views and exercise their vote fairly and peacefully and release people arbitrarily detained, […]

(Almaty, June 12, 2024) – The Kyrgyzstan prosecutors’ request for 20-year sentences for a group of government critics in the so-called Kempir-Abad case compounds an already shocking miscarriage of justice, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, International Partnership for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, People in Need, Civil Rights Defenders, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Freedom Now, […]

(Milan, June 12, 2024) – Little progress has been made in investigating the shipwreck of an overcrowded trawler, the Adriana, off the coast of Pylos, Greece on June 14, 2023, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. The boat was carrying an estimated 750 people, mainly from Syria, Pakistan, and Egypt. Only 104 survived; 82 […]