Category: Human Rights

“You’re speaking about the greatest crime against humanity ever committed,” said renowned historian Sir Hilary Beckles, who also chairs the Caribbean Community’s Reparations Commission, reflecting on the transatlantic trade that enslaved more than 10 million Africans over four centuries. “One could say it was an institution that was abolished 200 years ago, but let me […]

(Nairobi) – Human Rights Watch announced today that it is releasing a series of archives highlighting the extraordinary efforts of human rights defenders in Rwanda and abroad, to warn about the planned 1994 genocide and attempt to stop the killings. The documents painfully illustrate leading international actors’ refusal to acknowledge the slaughter of more than […]

The United States is deeply concerned by ongoing convictions of Vietnamese ethnic minority and religious freedom advocates, including five convictions since January 2024. We are particularly troubled by the recent 13-year sentence of Y Krec Bya, who has been a peaceful voice for freedom of religion or belief in Vietnam. We also continue to be […]

Iranian authorities’ decades-long systematic repression of Baha’is simply because they belong to a faith group amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution. Government agencies arrest and imprison Baha’is arbitrarily, confiscate their property, restrict their school and job opportunities, and even deny them dignified burials. UN member states should support national prosecutions under the principle […]

Gangs reportedly control up to 90 per cent of Port-au-Prince, raising concerns that hunger is being used as a weapon to coerce local populations and hold sway over rival armed groups. They control key routes to farming areas to the north and south and have disrupted the supply of goods, including food.  This in a […]

Rokaya needed time to recover after illness forced her to quit as a live-in maid in Malaysia and return home to Indramayu, West Java. However, under pressure from her agent who claimed two million Rupiah for her initial placement, she accepted an offer of work in Erbil, Iraq. There, Ms. Rokaya found herself responsible for […]

(Nairobi) – Somalia’s parliament should reject any proposed constitutional amendments that would weaken rights protections for children, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 30, 2024, both houses of parliament are expected to vote on the proposed amendments, which would reduce the age of majority – increasing the risk of child marriage and lowered juvenile […]

(New York) – The United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) should release the findings of its investigation into two Israeli strikes on a group of journalists in south Lebanon on October 13, 2023, 16 NGOs and journalist groups said today in a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, force commander Lieutenant General Aroldo Lázaro […]

(Berlin, March 29, 2024) – Russian authorities tortured, recorded, and shared recordings of the torture, of at least two men held as suspects for the monstrous March 22, 2024 attack on a concert hall, Human Rights Watch said today. Photographs and videos of the arrests and torture of suspects, presumably taken by law enforcement officials, […]

During a Diet session last week, Japan’s Ministry of Justice announced it had broadened a directive initially sent to all penal institutions in 2014 that effectively bans the use of restraints on imprisoned pregnant women inside delivery rooms. The reform is a much-needed step in protecting the rights of women in Japan’s prisons. The new […]