Category: Human Rights

(Beirut) – The Houthis say they have recruited thousands of people to their armed forces since October 7, 2023, and activists report the armed group recruiting children as young as 13, Human Rights Watch said today. Recruiting children younger than 15 is a war crime. On October 10, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the […]

The Human Rights Council-appointed experts’ call follows on from the election victory of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier this month, who secured a controversial fourth term with the main opposition party deciding to boycott the poll. Ms. Hasina and her Awami League party won 223 of the 300 parliamentary seats being contested amid violent protests […]

The Hungarian government’s interference with media freedom obstructs journalists from holding the authorities to account and keeps the public from accessing information. The government’s increased control over the media market is linked to its broader assault on rule of law in Hungary, including undermining judicial independence. The EU needs to recognize the attack on media as […]

“You cannot legislate facts out of existence,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, calling on the UK Government to reconsider the bill in light of recent reports raising a range of concerns. “It is deeply concerning to carve out one group of people, or people in one particular situation, from the equal protection […]

Last May, a large fire engulfed the La Esperanza gold mine in southern Peru, trapping workers underground. The blaze, the cause of which has yet to be definitively proven, tragically killed 27 workers. The mine had received certification from the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), an industry body which requires companies to demonstrate safeguards in order […]

“Amid all of the crises around the world, it is important no one is forgotten. The people of Myanmar have been suffering for too long,” Volker Türk said ahead of the anniversary of the coup on 1 February. He explained that fighting between the military and armed opposition groups has resulted in mass displacement and […]

Pregnant or parenting adolescent girls and women drop out of school in Mozambique because they don’t get adequate support from schools. Girls who become parents often experience discrimination, stigma, and a lack of support and accommodation that makes juggling school and childcare responsibilities impossible. The lack of free education pushes many girls from the poorest […]

“There is scarcely any empty space in the yard or classrooms of the Deir Al-Balah Preparatory School, one of more than 700 that are run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees. The yard where children used to take part in sports, have fun and play is now full of tents. Ayman Ibrahim Jouda […]

On February 14, 2020, Cameroonian soldiers and armed ethnic Fulani raided Ngarbuh, a village in Cameroon’s North-West province, killing at least 21 civilians, including 13 children and a pregnant woman, and burning and looting homes. It was a brutal day that shocked even those who had long become numb to increasing violence in the region. […]

At least 170,000 children are now displaced – double the number from last year – amid a surge in gang-led killings and kidnappings, sexual violence and a severe food crisis. “In Haiti, children and families are enduring relentless waves of brutal violence, with each day bringing new horrors, the loss of loved ones, homes being […]