Category: Human Rights

Women and children are bearing the brunt in terms of deaths and injuries as Israeli troops battle Palestinian militants across the enclave, with nowhere safe to go, and aid distribution stymied by war, insufficient access and insufficient supplies crossing into the Strip. Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said […]

The Taliban’s abusive educational policies in Afghanistan are harming boys as well as girls and women, with the departure of qualified teachers and regressive curriculum changes. These changes have led to increased fears about attending school, falling attendance, and a loss of hope for the future; with this, the Taliban risk creating a lost generation. […]

On the eve of International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime, 9 December, we looked at the origin of the word. Mr. Lemkin developed the term partly in response to the Nazi policies of systematic murder of Jewish people during the Holocaust, but […]

(Brussels) – European Union leaders should take firm public stands on human rights concerns while meeting with their counterparts in China, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing a letter to the EU leadership. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel will travel to Beijing to attend the European […]

OHCHR issued a statement deploring the latest strike – the fourth since 2017 – which took place in Kaduna state in the north on Tuesday and left at least 80 civilians dead and more than 60 injured. “While we note that the authorities have termed the civilian deaths as accidental, we call on them to […]

(Goma) – A mob lynched a military officer in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Goma in an apparent case of ethnic hatred, Human Rights Watch said today. The Congolese government should appropriately prosecute all those involved and take broader steps to curtail ethnic violence in the country. On November 9, 2023, a […]

The region has been under the control of opposition Houthi forces since the internationally recognized Government were driven out of the city in 2015. WFP said that despite negotiating with the authorities for nearly a year to provide a more limited aid programme that would reach around 6.5 million in need, versus the current 9.5 […]

(Beirut, November 30, 2023) – Participants attending the 28th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai, will be under extensive surveillance by Emirati authorities, violating human rights and threatening the conference’s success, Human Rights Watch said today. Government representatives, civil society groups, and climate activists from […]

“Silence the guns and return to dialogue – the suffering inflicted on civilians is too much to bear. More violence is not the answer. It will bring neither peace nor security,” Volker Türk said in a statement, voicing deep concern that negotiations towards a continuation of last week’s pause had reportedly stalled. Fighting resumed on […]

(New York) – Pakistani authorities have committed widespread abuses against Afghans living in Pakistan to compel their return to Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said today. Police and other officials have carried out mass detentions, seized property and livestock, and destroyed identity documents to expel thousands of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers. Since mid-September 2023, Pakistani […]