Category: Human Rights

Malawi’s Constitutional Court on June 28 rejected a legal challenge to the penal code that makes same-sex conduct a criminal offense. The decision contradicts fundamental rights, including the rights to equality and nondiscrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, protected under international human rights law. The three-member judicial panel dismissed an application from […]

In a resolution adopted without a vote, the Council strongly condemned all violations and abuses of human rights in Myanmar, particularly following the military coup in February 2021.   It called upon Myanmar “to end immediately all violence and violations of international law in the country, to ensure full protection of the human rights and […]

(Brussels) – The EU and its member states should safeguard the right to territorial asylum in Europe, Human Rights Watch and more than 94 other organizations said in a statement released today. The recent and increasing attempts by several European Union member states to outsource asylum processing and refugee protection to countries outside the EU – such […]

(Beirut) – A Saudi court has sentenced a man to 20 years in prison on charges related to his peaceful social media activity, Human Rights Watch said today. The conviction is the latest example of Saudi Arabia’s likely transnational repression due to his family member’s activities abroad and yet another escalation in the country’s ever-worsening crackdown […]

Amid the widespread civilian suffering in Sudan, the fate of over one million refugees living in Sudan when the conflict erupted is often overlooked. In recent weeks, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked towns across Sennar state, which neighbors Gedaref state and where more than 40,000 refugees from Ethiopia are currently hosted. In Kassala state, further […]

(Nairobi) – Burkina Faso authorities should urgently investigate and publicly report on the whereabouts of a journalist and two prominent critics of the country’s military junta, Human Rights Watch said today. The abductions since June 18 of Serge Oulon, director of an investigative newspaper, Adama Bayala, and Kalifara Séré, both working as television commentators, raise concerns […]

(Johannesburg) – Zimbabwe’s army commander has openly stated that the country’s security forces intend to play a partisan political role, threatening future elections and those participating in them, Human Rights Watch said today. On June 29, 2024, the Zimbabwe National Army commander, Lt. General Anselem Sanyatwe, was quoted as saying that people would be marched to […]

On Tuesday, the United States government added aluminum to its list of priority sectors for the enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The law aims to block any good made in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region tainted by state-imposed forced labor from entering the US market. The US decision aligns with the findings […]

(Beirut) – The convictions of at least 44 defendants in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) mass trial of at least 84 human rights defenders and political dissidents were based on a fundamentally unfair trial, a coalition of human rights groups said today. On July 10, 2024, the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court meted out sentences ranging […]

Following a request for assistance from Albania through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, Greece has sent 4 planes to help fight wildfires in the Dropull municipality. Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said: “Wildfires know no borders. The EU has mobilised firefighting airplanes from Greece to support the local first responders in Albania in their […]