Category: Human Rights

Last month, the European Council proclaimed itself as “the global leader in climate action”. The November 13 EU Foreign Ministers meeting with COP28 President Sultan Al-Jaber of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the global climate conference is set to begin later this month, is the first real test of that claim. In a letter […]

(Berlin, November 9, 2023) – Russian authorities have failed to respond adequately to a series of antisemitic acts, some of them violent, in several republics in Russia’s North Caucasus region in late October 2023 that left the region’s small Jewish population in fear, Human Rights Watch said today. These acts included an attack on an […]

 In a landmark decision on Wednesday, Australia’s high court ruled that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful. The decision overturns a 2004 ruling that held that noncitizens without visas could be detained indefinitely, so long as the government intended to remove them as soon as “reasonably practicable.” The current case centered around a stateless Rohingya refugee […]

Fainting, dehydration, nausea—a new report documents in excruciating detail the increasing challenges faced by pregnant and postpartum women enduring extreme heat in Pakistan. The White Ribbon Alliance, a nongovernmental organization that advocates for maternal health, conducted interviews in Sindh Province that adds to a growing body of research showing the unique vulnerability of this population […]

A warm gust of wind kicks up a cloud of sand as children play outside the flimsy makeshift dwellings that make up Dadaab, one of the world’s largest refugee camps. The camp was established near Kenya’s border with Somalia over 30 years ago. It continues to expand as thousands of Somali refugees flee drought and […]

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has devastated schools and kindergartens throughout the country. Since February 2022, over 3,790 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed. Ukrainian children have paid a high price in this war because attacks on education are attacks on their future. International donors and aid agencies should support the Ukrainian government to […]

Movement restrictions, often promoted by the United States, have pushed migrants and asylum seekers to cross the Darién Gap, exposing them to abuse and empowering organized crime. The devastating stories of abuses of people who try to cross the Darién Gap are the result of failed immigration policies that push people into danger. Governments in […]

(San Francisco, November 8, 2023) – United States and foreign leaders who meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his upcoming visit to the United States should confront him about his government’s intensifying assault on human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Xi is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San […]

In its review of the United States’ record on civil and political rights, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) condemned a flood of discriminatory state legislation restricting the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The United States ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1992. Every […]

(Nairobi, November 8, 2023) – Burkina Faso’s military junta is using a sweeping emergency law against perceived dissidents to expand its crackdown on dissent, Human Rights Watch said today. Between November 4 and 5, 2023, the Burkinabe security forces notified in writing or by telephone at least a dozen journalists, civil society activists, and opposition […]