Category: Human Rights

(Bangkok) – The Thai government’s decision not to forcibly return 19 children to Myanmar should be expanded to include all refugees from Myanmar, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 12, 2024, officials from Thai immigration and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security took 19 Myanmar children, ages 5 to 17, from Wat […]

India’s Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to the activist Shoma Sen nearly six years after she was arrested in 2018 on politically motivated allegations of supporting a Maoist insurgency. “We do not find prima facie commission or attempt to commit any terrorist act,” the judge said. Sen is among 16 activists, lawyers, and academics arrested […]

Greece’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, has declared unconstitutional a 2021 amendment that barred the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE), an independent body which oversees surveillance powers, from informing citizens of state surveillance on “national security” grounds. Until March 2021, those under government surveillance could request information from ADAE about […]

2023-24 Satter Fellow: Aizhan Tilenbaeva HRP is delighted to announce the 2023-24 Satter Fellow Aizhan Tilenbaeva LLM ’22. Aizhan is a human rights and international humanitarian lawyer from Kyrgyzstan. During her Satter fellowship, she will begin with a six-month placement at Global Rights Compliance in Ukraine, concentrating her efforts on promoting justice and accountability as […]

(Bangkok) – Thailand’s Constitutional Court will rule on a petition that could result in dissolving the country’s main opposition party and banning its leaders from politics, Human Rights Watch said today. The Move Forward Party (MFP), which won the largest number of seats in the May 2023 general elections, faces politically motivated allegations of high […]

On Saturday, Zambian police summoned a Catholic priest, Fr. Andrew Chewe Mukosa, for “interviews” at the Copperbelt Police Headquarters on April 9. The summons, which was posted online, indicated that the priest was being sought for “the purpose of investigations,” but provided no information regarding the subject of the investigation. Several media reports suggest the […]

(New York) – Voters in India will cast their ballots in a six-week general election beginning April 19, 2024, amid concerns that Indian authorities exert considerable control over the digital ecosystem that can make for an uneven playing field, Human Rights Watch said in a question-and-answer document released today. The party or coalition of parties […]

Following a series of targeted missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure by Russia over the past weeks, Ukraine’s power supply has suffered significant damage. Responding to this crisis, the EU has swiftly mobilised emergency energy assistance which is on its way to Ukraine. In response to Ukraine’s call for assistance, Austria, Germany, Sweden […]

(Beirut, April 9, 2024) – Children in Gaza have been dying from starvation-related complications since the Israeli government began using starvation as a weapon of war, a war crime, Human Rights Watch said today. Doctors and families in Gaza described children, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, suffering from severe malnutrition and dehydration, and […]

(Manila) – The mayor of Davao City in the Philippines, Sebastian Duterte, recently declared a new “war on drugs,” suggestive of the abusive campaign of his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, Human Rights Watch said today. Local authorities killed five people in the 24 hours after he made the declaration and at least seven within […]