Category: Human Rights

(Amman) – Libyan authorities are failing to provide adequate compensation and reconstruction support a year after devastating floods wrecked the eastern Libyan city of Derna and left thousands dead or missing, Human Rights Watch said today. Armed groups have yet to face accountability for emergency response failures that prevented people from seeking safety.  The slow […]

(Johannesburg) – Angolan President João Lourenco has signed into law two bills that fail to meet international human rights standards and will severely restrict freedoms of the media, expression, and association, Human Rights Watch said today. Angola’s National Assembly approved the Bill on the Crimes of Vandalism of Public Goods and Services on July 18, […]

(Beirut) – Iranian authorities have reportedly arrested on false charges, threatened, or harassed the family members of dozens of people killed, executed, or imprisoned during the protests over the last two years, Human Rights Watch said today. Two years after the outbreak of the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, Iranian authorities continue to silence and punish family […]

Last week, the United Kingdom home secretary convened a summit with ministers, intelligence agencies, and law enforcement bodies to discuss small boat crossings, focused on stopping “smuggling gangs.” This followed the deaths of at least 12 people, including a pregnant woman and six children, attempting to reach the UK by boat, in what is believed to be […]

Limited and, at times, poor regularization and integration policies in Latin American countries have forced many migrants and asylum seekers into the dangerous Darién Gap. Over the last year and a half, over 700,000 migrants and asylum seekers have crossed the Darién Gap, where they are exposed to abuses, including sexual violence. As the crises […]

(Budapest) – The Hungarian government has issued a draconian decree in breach of EU law that cancels state funded shelter for refugees from western Ukraine,  leaving many homeless, Human Rights Watch said today.  Approximately 3,000 refugees from Ukraine are affected, the majority women and children, according to the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, which has been monitoring the situation […]

Addressing the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, Nicholas Koumjian, the head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), said that in many instances, civilians were “not just collateral damage but rather the target of attacks”. “Just last week, airstrikes near a night market in northern Shan state reportedly killed about a dozen people, including a […]

(Quito) – The government of Ecuador has an obligation to decriminalize abortion in all circumstances, and to remove all barriers that prevent access to this essential healthcare service, Human Rights Watch said today in an amicus brief submitted to the Constitutional Court of Ecuador. The Human Rights Watch brief supports a lawsuit filed by Justa Libertad, an Ecuadorian […]

He emphasised the damage that war leaves on young learners’ bodies, minds and spirits, “from injuries and loss of life to abduction, forced displacement, sexual violence, recruitment to the fighting, and lost opportunities”. From 2022 to 2023, there were 6,000 attacks against students, professionals and educational institutions, including 1,000 cases of military use – an […]

The funding will support critical response and prevention efforts for 9.9 million refugees and host communities in 35 countries across the continent. Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can be transmitted through physical contact with an infected person, animal or contaminated objects. Read our explainer here. New virus strain The disease […]