Category: Human Rights

Two years ago, London announced the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP), now referred to as the UK-Rwanda Asylum Partnership, which stated that asylum seekers in the UK would be sent to Rwanda before their cases could be heard. The national Rwandan asylum system would then consider their need for international protection.  In November 2023, […]

AMBASSADOR GILCHRIST:  Good afternoon to you all, and I express my thanks to Secretary Blinken and to Spokesperson Matt Miller for their great remarks and for the introduction.  My name is Robert Gilchrist, Ambassador Robert Gilchrist, and I am the Senior Bureau Official in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.  I am honored to […]

Intersectionality and Standing in Climate-Related Human Rights Cases A climate demonstration in Bern, Switzerland, in 2019. Photo credit: Hadi. On 9th April 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Europe’s regional human rights court, decided its first three climate cases seeking to compel governments to limit greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris […]

This Earth Day is an opportunity to celebrate the work of the courageous people who put themselves at risk fighting for a world in which people and the planet can thrive. I personally would like to honor Osvalinda Marcelino Alves Pereira. Sadly, she passed away from a long-standing illness just over a week ago. I […]

From April 22 – 26, Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons Jessica Stern will visit Nadi, Fiji, to speak at the 3rd Pacific Human Rights Conference on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression and Sex Characteristics. Special Envoy Stern will address the unique opportunities and challenges that LGBTQI+ persons in all […]

(Abuja) – A bill before Gambia’s National Assembly to reverse a groundbreaking 2015 ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) jeopardizes the rights of women and girls in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. Gambia is among the 10 countries with the highest levels of FGM. In addition to the 2015 ban, which made all acts […]

(Amman) – Jordanian authorities should halt the imminent deportation of a Syrian communications student who faces a significant risk of persecution if forcibly returned to Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. The police arrested Atia Mohamad Abu Salem, 24, and a Jordanian friend on April 9, 2024, as they were on their way to film […]

Rakhine was the site of a brutal crackdown on the Rohingyas by the military in 2017, leading to the killing of some 10,000 men, women and newborns and the exodus of nearly 750,000 community members, many of whom continue to languish in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh. “Rakhine state has once again become a battleground […]

Germany’s economy is very dependent on China, so expectations were low that Chancellor Olaf Scholz would place human rights concerns prominently on the agenda of his April 13-16 trip to China. But his apparent unwillingness to publicly say the words “human rights” was deeply disappointing. The Chinese government’s long-egregious human rights record has become dramatically […]

Next week in Ottawa, countries will reconvene to continue negotiations on an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. A revised draft of the treaty published by the United Nations Environment Programme on December 28, 2023, contains certain positive measures to reduce plastic production. However, it lacks the necessary provisions to protect human rights and […]