Category: Human Rights

People in the United States are more reliant than ever on using the internet for all aspects of their lives. But one in six US households may lose internet access by June when current federal funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) ends. This puts millions of underserved people in the US, including people of color, older people, and […]

Despite Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s pledge last February to “appropriately handle” the flow of government aid to Myanmar’s abusive military, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official told the Diet this week that Japan’s construction giant, Yokogawa Bridge Corp., will make further payments to the military-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) for an aid project. In March […]

(Washington, DC) – The decision by Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa to announce that the country is in an “internal armed conflict” has contributed to serious human rights violations by security forces, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Noboa. The violations include at least one apparent extrajudicial killing and multiple cases of arbitrary […]

Iranians woke up on Monday to the news that President Ebrahim Raeesi, Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian, and several other government officials were killed in a helicopter crash in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. How Raeesi’s death will affect human rights in the country is already the subject of much commentary. Since the early years after the […]

High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, have issued the following statement: “Since the start of the conflict in Gaza, following the brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas on 7 October, 31 out of 36 hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. Among the destroyed is the Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, which […]

“Our team on the ground is deeply alarmed by the latest reports of further escalating violence and destruction taking place in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing reporters at UN Headquarters on Monday. Renewed violence and the destruction of property in Buthidaung has resulted in the displacement of potentially tens of thousands […]

(Beirut) – The Iraqi government should immediately reverse the recently passed law that punishes same-sex conduct and transgender expression with imprisonment, Human Rights Watch said today. The law violates fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, privacy, equality, and nondiscrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Iraq.  On April […]

Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Liz Allen met today with Kosovan Prime Minister Albin Kurti in Pristina, Kosovo. They discussed the U.S.-Kosovo bilateral relationship, including our shared commitment to strengthening Kosovo’s security, prosperity, and multiethnic democracy. The Under Secretary underscored the United States’ continued strong support for the EU-facilitated Dialogue’s efforts to achieve a comprehensive […]

This week marked ten years since the death of Camille Lepage, a French photojournalist who was killed while working in western Central African Republic (CAR). She was a true friend to a country in need of people to bear witness to abuse. Camille was 26. Months before her arrival in CAR in 2013, an alliance of rebel […]

Hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk of again becoming victims of atrocities, this time in the North Darfur city of El Fasher, amid fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), as well as allied militias. Fighting began in April, and the last week has seen fierce clashes in […]