Category: Human Rights

(Washington DC) – The Trump administration has issued sweeping new rules that use foreign aid as a cudgel to force recipients to abandon work on reproductive rights, transgender rights, and diversity initiatives, Human Rights Watch said today. The rules, set to take effect in 30 days, will undermine important work to uphold the rights of […]

EU reacts swiftly after the tragic fire in the bar during the New Year’s celebrations at the ski resort Crans-Montana, the Swiss canton Valais. In response to Switzerland´s request for emergency assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, efforts are underway to evacuate severely injured patients for specialised treatment. To that end, experts, known as […]

Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr. Türk said that although the “killing on the streets of Iran may have subsided…the brutality continues”. He said that violent repression did not solve any of Iran’s problems but instead created conditions for further violations, instability and bloodshed. “We have indications that the security forces made mass […]

On January 25, South Sudan’s military called on civilians, aid workers, and United Nations personnel to evacuate from opposition-controlled areas in Jonglei state. Key army officials and allied forces have ramped up incendiary rhetoric amid ethnic based mobilization by all sides, elevating the risks of new atrocities.  The army’s evacuation directives came ahead of a new […]

The European Commission is announcing €153 million in emergency aid to Ukraine and refugee-hosting Moldova, as millions Ukrainians face freezing temperatures without power under sustained Russian bombardment of energy infrastructure. Responding to the urgent needs, the EU is allocating an initial €145 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine to provide protection assistance, shelter, food, cash […]

In a news release on Friday, High Commissioner Volker Türk said individuals suspected of being undocumented migrants are being surveilled, arrested and detained – sometimes violently – in locations ranging from hospitals and places of worship to courthouses, schools, markets and private homes. The UN rights chief said he was “astounded by the now-routine abuse […]

The war, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has devastated civilian infrastructure, collapsed basic services and triggered one of the world’s largest displacement crises. A nutrition survey conducted this month in Um Baru locality in Sudan’s North Darfur state – one of the […]

This week, prosecutors filed criminal charges against Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony for organizing the city’s 2025 Pride march. They are seeking a criminal fine and proposing the case be decided without a trial. The mayor’s prosecution is another example of the erosion of the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hungary. The charges […]

High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, and Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, issued the following statement:   The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to worsen. As winter sets in, Palestinians are left exposed to heavy rain and falling temperatures, without safe shelter. […]

Tuesday’s solemn commemoration marks the day 81 years ago that the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp – where over a million people were murdered – was liberated by Allied forces towards the end of World War Two.  Commenting on the disturbing rise of antisemitism in recent years – including the “heinous attacks” targeting Jewish communities […]