Category: Human Rights

On July 9, in an interview with a French newspaper about her relationship with another woman, Brenda Biya, 27, daughter of Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, called for the decriminalization of consensual same-sex conduct in her country. Biya’s coming out is courageous since Cameroon’s penal code punishes same-sex conduct with up to five years’ imprisonment and a […]

(Washington, DC, July 18, 2024) – The United States government has, since May 2024, approved the return of 27 Cameroonian asylum seekers who experienced serious harm in Cameroon after their deportation from the US in 2020, a coalition of human rights groups said today. While the returns were permitted on humanitarian grounds, in part based on US […]

This month, a court in Eswatini sentenced two former members of parliament (MPs), Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, to prison terms of 25 and 18 years, respectively. Both were initially arrested in 2021 for participating in and supporting pro-democracy protests. Mabuza and Dube’s trial concluded in January 2023 and the pair have been kept in custody ever since. […]

The report highlights torture of inmates, ill-treatment, arbitrary and illegal arrest and detention, malnutrition and poor healthcare. Thousands are being held in overcrowded facilities across CAR with little access to basics like food, water, sanitation and healthcare. This alarming situation is detailed in the report by the UN human rights office (OHCHR) and the UN Stabilisation Mission in the […]

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Iran-backed Hizballah bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  We honor the memory of the 85 Argentines – Jews and non-Jews – killed in the attack and recall the scores who were injured.  We also remember the five Israelis and a Bulgarian […]

(Beirut) – The Syrian Ministry of Finance has targeted, since early 2024, hundreds of people and their families from a town south of Damascus with unlawful asset freezes, Human Rights Watch said today. The en masse asset freezes constitute collective punishment and a violation of the right to property. These decisions are based on a 2012 […]

Hamas-led armed groups committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians during the October 7 assault on southern Israel. Palestinian fighters committed summary killings, hostage-taking and other war crimes, and the crimes against humanity of murder and wrongful imprisonment. Governments with influence over the Palestinian armed groups should press for the urgent release of […]

Last week, the Congolese government’s Communication and Broadcasting Board (Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel et de la communication, CSAC) suspended journalist Jessy Kabasele for an indefinite period, following his interview with one of the country’s most famous singers, Koffi Olomide, on Le Panier The Morning Show. During the interview, aired by the state-run broadcasting company, Olomide criticized the army’s […]

The Nelson Mandela Rules, which are named after the former South African president who was unjustly incarcerated for 27 years, are playing a key part in prison and penal reform in the Philippines. Ahead of Nelson Mandela International Day marked annually on 18 July, here’s what you need to know about the Rules and what is being done […]

Thousands of people are being deported every year for drug offenses that in many cases no longer exist under state laws, harming and separating immigrant families. Punitive federal immigration laws separate families, destabilize communities, and terrorize non-citizens, all while overdose deaths have risen and drugs have become more potent and available. Congress should reform immigration […]