Category: Human Rights

(New York) –  The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion on July 19, 2024, with significant consequences for human rights protections in Palestine under Israel’s 57-year occupation. The opinion stems from a December 2022 request by the United Nations General Assembly to the court to consider the legal consequences of Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. […]

The initiative supported by the UN office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the Philippines is also expected to help ease chronic overcrowding in detention centres across the Southeast Asian nation. Dave*, who is one month into a six-month sentence, spends up to eight hours a day in the library of the Iligan City Jail. […]

(Jakarta) – The Indonesian police and military should investigate the deadly arson attack against a journalist and three members of his family in Kabanjahe, a small town in North Sumatra, Human Rights Watch said today. While three men have been arrested, the authorities should also question other possible conspirators. Rico Sempurna Pasaribu, 47, of the Medan-based […]

“Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a beacon of courage, compassion, and conviction in a world of total moral collapse,” said Mr. Guterres in a video message to inaugurate the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum in the town of Carregal do Sal. Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat based in Bordeaux, France, who defied his […]

“Kharkiv holds a special place in our efforts to support the people of Ukraine. I have seen firsthand the impact of the continued attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and the consequences on millions of civilians. But I have also witnessed tireless reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts, further proof of the strength and resilience of the Government of […]

(Beirut) – Iran’s Revolutionary Court has sentenced a labor activist to death on a charge of “armed rebellion against the state,” based on an allegation of membership in an opposition group, Human Rights Watch said today. The court on July 4, 2024, communicated the verdict against Sharifeh Mohammedi to her husband, Sirous Fathi, Human Rights Activists […]

(Paris) – The Olympic and Paralympic Games in France should usher in reforms to ensure tolerance, nondiscrimination, and the defense of fundamental human rights, Human Rights Watch said today in a new guide published for reporters covering the Games. The Paris 2024 Summer Games will hold its opening ceremony on the Seine River on July 26, […]

(Beirut) – Forces linked with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), which governs the southern Yemen city of Aden, seized an independent women’s shelter on May 26, 2024, Human Rights Watch said today. The STC and its affiliated Southern Women’s Union threatened the independent Yemen Women’s Union staff and women sheltering there. Yemeni Archive also released an […]

This week, a Philippine court convicted 2 prominent activists – 1 of them a sitting member of congress – and 11 teachers at an Indigenous school on charges related to child abuse after they allegedly exposed several children to danger during what the defendants called a “rescue mission” in 2018. The case may be one of several […]

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 […]