Category: Human Rights

(New York) – The Chinese government is further suppressing any discussion and commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, Human Rights Watch said today. Leading up to the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre on June 4, 2024, Chinese authorities have again preempted commemorations. The government has imprisoned those in China and Hong Kong who have sought […]

The EU has released €1.2 million in humanitarian aid to respond to the impact of tropical cyclone Remal in Bangladesh and India. The cyclone has particularly hit communities in Bangladesh, mainly those in the South-West of the country, as well as refugees and host communities in the Cox’s Bazar district in the southeast of the […]

Every June, the United States celebrates Pride Month, commemorating the uprising at the Stonewall Inn that catalyzed a global movement toward LGBTQI+ equality and the inception of Pride as many of us know it today.  Despite great strides for equality around the world, LGBTQI+ persons in many countries continue to face grave danger, including laws […]

On May 30, the US government announced travel sanctions against five former and current Ugandan government officials, including Peter Elwelu, the former deputy chief of the Ugandan Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF). The US State Department announced that Elwelu was sanctioned due to “extrajudicial killings that were committed by members of the UPDF” while he was commanding Ugandan […]

Allegations of responsibility point to both armed groups and State actors. “While armed groups are presumed responsible for the vast majority of incidents and victims and should be held accountable, I am also deeply disturbed that security and defence forces and their auxiliaries, the Volontaires pour la défense de la patrie, allegedly carried out wanton […]

(Bonn) – Governments attending UN climate talks in Bonn from June 3 to June 13, 2024, should push for rights-respecting and ambitious climate action, Human Rights Watch said today. The Bonn Climate Change conference will lay the groundwork for negotiations at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) from November 11 to November 22, 2024. At COP28, governments […]

(Brussels, May 31, 2024) – The European Commission should include independent civil society groups in ongoing key talks with Malaysia and Indonesia over its anti-deforestation rules, a delegation of Indigenous, human rights, and environmental organizations said today. In June 2023, the two Southeast Asian countries formed a task force with the European Commission to resolve tensions […]

(New York) – The Hong Kong government should immediately quash a court’s groundless national security law convictions of prominent pro-democracy activists, Human Rights Watch said today. On May 30, 2024, three judges handpicked by the Beijing-controlled Hong Kong chief executive convicted 14 activists and former elected lawmakers under the draconian National Security Law. Two were acquitted. […]

In a historic decision last week, a longstanding United Nations body recognized that the international human rights system doesn’t fully protect older people’s rights, and it recommended a new human rights treaty to help correct this. Chaired by Argentina and following negotiations facilitated by Brazil and Portugal, the UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing reached […]

The experts highlighted recent incidents targeting the Persian language news service Iran International, its journalists and staff and its owner, Volant Media UK Limited. Death threats and intimidation against the staff escalated into the stabbing of journalist Pouria Zeraati outside his home in London on 29 March. Since 2017, Iran International has faced ongoing threats […]