Category: Human Rights

“For a year, I felt homeless. I am so grateful to these people for repairing my roof and windows,” says Oksana, resident of the Obukhovychi village in Northern Ukraine. In March 2022, Russian troops were stationed in her yard. When they retreated from the region, Oksana’s house was burned to the ground. When we visited […]

The Israeli government is deliberately deepening the suffering of civilians in Gaza by refusing to restore the flow of water and electricity and blocking fuel shipments. Willfully impeding relief supplies is a war crime, as is collectively punishing civilians for the actions of armed groups. On October 7, Hamas-led fighters crossed into southern Israel and […]

Fifty-one United Nations member countries have issued a joint declaration condemning the Chinese government’s crimes against humanity committed against Uyghurs and other Turkic communities, and calling on Beijing to end its systematic human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. The cross-regional statement, delivered to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee by Britain’s Deputy Permanent Representative […]

Last Thursday, a 16-year-old First Nations boy died after self-harming in pretrial detention in a West Australian prison. Even though he was under 18, the authorities held him at Unit 18 in Casuarina Prison—a maximum security prison for adult men. Two weeks before his death, his lawyers wrote to the Western Australian government begging he […]

The report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, published on Friday, follows a study issued in March.   It documents additional indiscriminate attacks with explosive weapons, resulting in deaths, injuries and the destruction and damage of civilian objects. For example, 24 people, mostly women and children, were killed in an attack on […]

  (Nairobi) – Chadian authorities have failed to carry out prompt, effective, and independent criminal investigations into serious human rights violations linked to massive protests across the country on October 20, 2022, and to hold those found responsible to account, Human Rights Watch said today. Security forces fired live ammunition at protesters, killed and injured […]

For the first time in France, the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, has recognized the existence of racial profiling by the police during identity checks. This is historic. But the court failed to order French authorities to take the necessary measures to end this long-standing, abusive practice. On October 11, the Council […]

The Government of Pakistan, which has hosted millions of Afghans for decades, recently announced that all “undocumented” foreign nationals must leave the country by 1 November or face deportation to their countries of origin. These plans would impact many Afghans who fled to Pakistan seeking safety and protection due to serious human rights concerns and […]

But, what exactly are the rules of war and what happens when they are broken? To find out more about international humanitarian law, known by its acronym IHL, UN News spoke with Eric Mongelard at the UN human rights office, OHCHR. Here’s what you need to know: Rules of war International humanitarian law is as […]

California Governor Gavin Newsom is heading on a weeklong trip to China, including Hong Kong, beginning October 23. The trip aims to focus on actions to address climate change. According to a media report, Newsom’s office was quick to assert he would “steer clear” of “human rights issues in Hong Kong and China’s Xinjiang province,” […]