Category: Human Rights

On October 13, Israeli authorities ordered more than a million people in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes. Two months later, almost 1.9 million people – 85 percent of Gaza’s population – are displaced, nearly half crammed inside Rafah, the enclave’s southernmost governorate with a prewar population of 280,000. People have told me it is […]

 France’s lawmakers have adopted an immigration bill that may have a devastating impact on the rights of asylum seekers and migrants in France. Under pressure from the right and the far right, the government made an already flawed bill even worse in a bid to get the votes needed to pass the legislation. The bill, […]

For 2 years – between November 2020 and November 2022 – northern Ethiopia saw a devastating conflict that brought widespread suffering, hardship, and trauma amongst the civilian population. Unlawful killings and atrocities, horrific sexual- and gender-based violence, and millions forced into displacement and destitution. Tens of thousands sought refuge in neighbouring Sudan – from where […]

The report, published on Tuesday by the UN human rights office (OHCHR) and the UN political mission in Haiti (BINUH), calls for the urgent deployment of the multinational security support mission authorized by the UN Security Council in October. But alongside that, greater efforts will need to be made to strengthen the institutions of the […]

For the first time in years, Iranian female football fans were allowed to cheer for their favorite teams at the Tehran Football Derby – a match between famous rivals Esteghlal and Persepolis –on December 14 at the Azadi Stadium. “Azadi” means freedom in Persian, but for nearly four decades, women and girls were banned from […]

Christian Ritscher, head of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh – otherwise known as the Islamic State group or ISIL – outlined to ambassadors in the Security Council on Monday a comprehensive assessment detailing heinous crimes of sexual violence perpetrated by ISIL fighters during their reign. The report was […]

Countries hostile toward United Nations human rights bodies have in recent years sought to hijack negotiations at the UN General Assembly’s Fifth Committee, which oversees the organization’s budget. Their evident goal is to deny funding to investigations of human rights abuses and laws-of-war violations mandated by UN legislative bodies. Those efforts surged this year. A […]

The event, organized by the UN human rights office (OHCHR) and the New York City Commission on Human Rights, was a call to action to youth. “Positive change is possible when we unite in action. By being here, you’re responding to the call for action,” Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, told more […]

(Kyiv, December 20, 2023) – Russian authorities continue to conscript Ukrainian civilians in occupied areas or otherwise try to forcibly enlist them, including those in detention, into the Russian military, Human Rights Watch said today. Russia’s practice of compelling Ukrainian residents in occupied areas to serve in its armed forces is a war crime. “Russian […]

Soon after becoming a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1988, she went on a mission to Ethiopia, where years of drought and civil strife had caused terrible famine. After visiting UNICEF emergency operations, she talked about the projects to media in the United States, Canada and Europe over several weeks, giving as many as 15 interviews […]