Category: Human Rights

In a scheduled update to the UN’s top rights forum, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights explained that the humanitarian emergency there linked to the 2021 coup had worsened in recent months.  “Three years of military rule have inflicted – and continue to inflict – unbearable levels of suffering and cruelty on people in […]

Last week, a prominent rights defender, Mahamat Nour Ahmat Ibédou, was removed from his post as president of the National Human Rights Commission. His departure is a blow for a country facing presidential elections. On October 20, 2022, security forces in Chad fired live ammunition at protesters, killing and injuring scores. Hundreds of men and […]

​​​​A major carbon offsetting project in Cambodia shows that such initiatives can harm Indigenous people when communities’ effective participation and consent are not ensured. Conservation strategies that sideline and punish Indigenous peoples to address the global environmental crisis are unacceptable, and counterproductive. Verra, the standard-setting organization that enabled the project to issue carbon credits, should […]

(Jakarta) – The Indonesian government should better enforce a revised state school uniform regulation to protect girls and women from being required to wear the hijab, Human Rights Watch said today. The Education Ministry in September 2022 adopted a regulation providing for personal choice in school uniforms that covers about 150,000 state schools nationwide. However, […]

Türkiye bears responsibility for the serious abuses and potential war crimes committed by members of its own forces and local armed groups it supports in Turkish-occupied territories of northern Syria. Turkish officials are not merely bystanders to abuses, but bear responsibility as the occupying power and, in some cases, have been directly involved in apparent […]

Today, the Commission has decided to allocate an additional €68 million to support the Palestinian population across the region to be implemented through international partners like the Red Cross and the Red Crescent. This comes in addition to the foreseen €82 million of aid to be implemented through UNRWA in 2024, bringing the total to […]

Maryam al-Khawaja has spent nearly 13 years relentlessly campaigning for the release of her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a Danish-Bahraini human rights defender wrongfully serving a life sentence in Bahrain for his peaceful human rights work. In a heartbreaking message on February 19, Maryam announced she’s now also fighting cancer. Those who know Maryam know that […]

To respond to life-threatening outbreaks of infectious diseases in Yemen and the subsequent health emergency among the affected population, the EU organised 13 Humanitarian Air Bridge flights to deliver vital assistance to civilians. These flights have enabled humanitarian partners to cover the immediate needs of the population and support Yemen’s preparedness for potential future outbreaks […]

(New York) – Indian authorities are using threats, excessive force, and internet shutdowns to stop farmers from holding peaceful protests, Human Rights Watch said today. Since mid-February 2024, farmers from Punjab and Haryana states seeking higher prices for their produce have congregated outside India’s capital, New Delhi, to raise their demands. The protests revive a year-long […]

(Beirut) – Representatives of two construction companies in Saudi Arabia announced recently that migrant workers will get their long overdue unpaid wages, but gaps in the repayment scheme puts the payments at risk, Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi authorities should ensure all former workers of these companies receive the full amount they are owed. […]