Category: Human Rights

(Bangkok) – Foreign governments should reject the Myanmar junta’s plans to hold elections from late December 2025 through January 2026 because they will not be free, fair, or inclusive, Human Rights Watch said today. Since the February 2021 military coup, the junta has systematically dismantled the rule of law and the country’s nascent democratic systems, and […]

(Berlin, November 11, 2025) – Lawmakers in Kazakhstan should reject a draft law with amendments that would ban “propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation,” seven international human rights groups said today. The groups are Access Now, Civil Rights Defenders; Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity; Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights; Human Rights Watch; International […]

(Nairobi) – The authorities in Cameroon responded to widespread opposition-led protests following the October 12, 2025 elections with lethal force and mass arrests of protesters and other citizens, Human Rights Watch said today. The Constitutional Council announced on October 27 that the incumbent President Paul Biya, 92, had won the election with 53.66 percent of […]

The US government suspended funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for the first time on November 1, amid what became the longest-ever US government shutdown. While Congress has voted to reopen the government and restore SNAP funding, those who rely on the program have faced fear and uncertainty. Continued failures by the US government […]

Summary: Meta’s Oversight Board has overturned Facebook’s decision to leave up a post targeting a Peruvian human rights defender, ruling that the content constituted a veiled threat. The case underscores how digital platforms’ choices can either safeguard or endanger defenders working in fragile democracies. Earlier this year, the Oversight Board reviewed a Facebook post published […]

Summary: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Chinese authorities to release veteran journalist Dong Yuyu, after the Beijing High Court upheld his seven-year prison sentence for espionage. The ruling, delivered without explanation, is final under China’s judicial system. The CPJ issued a statement on Thursday condemning the decision, stressing that “speaking with […]

At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) is pressing negotiators to make climate mobility a core part of adaptation plans. “People and communities who choose to stay must be safe, and those who decide to move must have the option to do so with dignity,” Ugochi Daniels, IOM’s Deputy Director […]

(Beirut) – A Tunisian Court on November 17, 2025, is scheduled to hear the appeal of 37 people unjustly sentenced to heavy prison terms in a politically motivated “Conspiracy Case” from April, Human Rights Watch said today. Four of those detained are on hunger strike, including one who, according to his lawyers, was subjected to physical […]

The European Union is tomorrow, 15 November, organising the 9th edition of the ‘Day of Dialogue’, which will be held for the first time in the Syrian capital, Damascus. This event reflects the EU’s longstanding commitment to support the Syrian people. This year’s edition focuses on Syrian civil society in the country and has been […]

That ordeal reduced people to eating peanut shells and animal feed, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Friday, before condemning the reported mass killings of civilians, executions based on ethnicity and other atrocities, which are likely continuing. At the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr. Türk told Member States that bloodstains on the […]