Category: Human Rights

Japan is overly reliant on imprisonment as it lacks sufficient options for alternatives, such as community service. Once imprisoned, many women suffer serious human rights abuses such as being restrained when pregnant, inadequate access to healthcare including mental healthcare, arbitrarily being put into solitary confinement, and verbal abuse by prison guards. While Japan should improve […]

(Beirut) – An unlawful Israeli strike on a family in a car on November 5, 2023, should be investigated as an apparent war crime, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack killed three girls and their grandmother and wounded their mother. The family had been traveling from south Lebanon to Beirut in the late afternoon, […]

The Israeli military’s repeated, apparently unlawful attacks on medical facilities, personnel, and transport are further destroying Gaza’s healthcare system and should be investigated as war crimes. Concerns about disproportionate attacks are magnified for hospitals. Even the threat of an attack or minor damage can have massive life-or-death implications for patients and caregivers. The Israeli government […]

Russia, Myanmar, and Ukraine have used antipersonnel landmines in the past year, and armed groups used them in at least five countries, according to the annual report Landmine Monitor 2023.   Antipersonnel mines are victim-activated explosive devices that kill and maim people both during and long after conflicts.  Countries that have yet to prohibit antipersonnel landmines […]

(Nairobi) – Uganda’s new surveillance system, which allows the government to track the real time location of all vehicles in the country, undermines privacy rights, and creates serious risks to the rights to freedom of association and expression, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should scrap the system. On November 1, 2023, the government initiated […]

Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa met with her Israeli counterpart on November 3 and condemned the “brutal killing and kidnapping by Hamas and others,” while expressing “Japan’s solidarity with the people of Israel.” Kamikawa called for all parties to follow international law. A few hours later, Kamikawa met with her Palestinian counterpart, expressing her “sincerest […]

Will European Union institutions allow corporations to spy on children online, enable abusers by allowing partners or family members to use stalker ware, or sell spyware to abusive governments to crackdown on human rights defenders? The answers hinge on how forthcoming EU legislation on corporate sustainability due diligence will define value chains. The proposed legislation […]

Newly released information paints a grim picture of life for many in the United Kingdom: food bank use, homelessness, and destitution are on the rise, putting people’s rights at risk. The Trussell Trust, the largest UK-wide food bank network, reported it is giving out 16 percent more emergency food parcels than last year, and 116 […]

The last month has been a nightmare for Israeli and Palestinian civilians, including older people. About 1,400 people in Israel have been killed and more than 240 taken hostage since October 7, according to the Israeli government. Old Lives Matter, a University of Haifa project, reports that over 110 older people were killed in the […]

(Jerusalem) – The practice by Hamas and Islamic Jihad of publicly releasing videos of Israeli hostages is a form of inhumane treatment that amounts to a war crime, Human Rights Watch said today. On November 9, 2023, Islamic Jihad released a video showing two Israeli hostages, including a child, asking to be released. It is […]