Category: Human Rights

An ongoing court case in the Maldives sheds light on why it is so hard to get the government to enforce the country’s environmental laws. The Maldives is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the consequences of climate change, with 80 percent of the archipelago’s islands less than a meter above […]

VOICEOVER: Do you have a car?   If so, then parts of your car could be made with forced labor from China.  Let’s explain how.  The first thing you need to know is that factories in China make the most cars in the world. Major brands such as General Motors, Tesla, BYD, Toyota, and Volkswagen manufacture […]

With initial funding of €6 million in 2024, the EU will help civil protection authorities of EU Member States, EU Civil Protection Mechanism Participating States, and Georgia and Kosovo* to bolster their capacity to achieve the Disaster Resilience Goals. Today, the European Commission launches a new financial support instrument targeting national civil protection authorities to […]

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should focus on human rights concerns and democratic backsliding at the upcoming summit with Southeast Asian leaders. Human rights conditions have worsened in ASEAN countries in recent years, and ASEAN as an organization has done little to address key crises among its members. Key concerns include the need for stronger […]

Australian lawmakers attending Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s address before a joint sitting of parliament in Canberra on Wednesday should take his human rights rhetoric with a grain of salt. Australian-Philippine relations have improved since President Marcos took office in 2022, replacing Rodrigo Duterte, whose abusive “war on drugs” killed thousands and amounted to crimes […]

Civil aviation organization ICAO said that the numbers for the first quarter of 2024 indicate that airlines will sustain the return to profitability recorded in 2023. “The commitment of Member States to aligning their pandemic responses with the guidance developed by the ICAO Council has been crucial to the recovery of their air services,” said […]

(New York) – The Chinese authorities should immediately release hundreds of Tibetan monks and villagers who were detained while peacefully protesting the construction of a hydroelectric dam in China’s western Sichuan province, Human Rights Watch said today. The dam, which will generate electricity for eastern China, will submerge historic monasteries and numerous Tibetan villages. “The […]

Five years ago last week, people filled the streets of Algiers to protest then President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s plan to run for a fifth term, in a march that launched the Hirak, Algeria’s biggest proreform movement in decades. When the Hirak forced Bouteflika’s resignation six weeks later, the protest didn’t fizzle. These peaceful Friday marches continued, […]

(Nairobi) – The Burkina Faso military junta is increasingly abducting civil society activists and political opponents as part of its crackdown on peaceful dissent, Human Rights Watch said today. Since late November 2023, unidentified men have abducted at least six activists and opposition party members in the capital, Ouagadougou, raising concerns of enforced disappearances. The […]

(Moscow) – A Russian court sentenced one of the country’s top human rights leaders, Oleg Orlov, to 2 years and 6 months in prison, on charges of “discrediting” Russia’s armed forces in what was clearly a farcical trial, Human Rights Watch said today. Orlov, 70, is the co-chair of Memorial, one of Russia’s leading human […]