Category: Human Rights

In the United States of that period, laws in many states enforced separate schools, transportation and bathrooms based solely on race. The military was still segregated, laws prohibiting interracial marriage remained in place and many housing developments enforced “whites-only” policies.  One early resident and later UN staff member, Carlos Figueroa, remembered being friends with children […]

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women between January 1, 2025, and February 16, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in response to a request from US senators. These figures reveal part of the mounting human toll of the administration’s immigration crackdown. The response said that “(a)s of” […]

He wasted no time getting out into the field. Within days of taking office on 1 January, he had already left the conference rooms of his Geneva headquarters for the dust of refugee camps in Kenya and Chad, a signal of how he intends to lead an agency stretched by crises that are multiplying faster […]

(Brussels) – Hungarian authorities should arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters Hungarian territory, Human Rights Watch said today. Netanyahu is expected to travel to Hungary on March 21, 2026, to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference Hungary, an official source reported. The visit comes shortly before Hungary’s national elections, scheduled for […]

(Athens) – The arrest of a human rights activist, Tommy Olsen, by Norwegian authorities on March 16, 2026, is based on a groundless extradition request by Greece, Human Rights Watch said today. Olsen, a Norwegian national and the founder of the nongovernmental organization Aegean Boat Report, was arrested at his home in Tromsø under a […]

Tomorrow, the 1st session of the European Citizens’ Panel on Preparedness will start in Brussels and run until Sunday. 150 randomly selected citizens from across Europe will discuss recommendations on how to implement the Preparedness Union Strategy, which emphasises active citizen engagement for effective crisis preparedness. Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis management, Hadja Lahbib, […]

(Beirut) – Bahraini authorities have arrested dozens of people for exercising their right to peaceful expression, seeking the death penalty in some cases, amid the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran, Human Rights Watch said today. “At this critical moment, Bahrain authorities should be expanding their efforts to protect people, not arresting them for […]

Tanzanian security forces cracking down on protests during and after the country’s 2025 general elections killed and injured people who were not participating in demonstrations. Based on initial research into the killings, Human Rights Watch believes that hundreds of people across the country may have been killed.  The Tanzanian authorities should recognize that impunity for […]

While breaking news stories capture our attention—North Korea’s recent launching of 10 ballistic missiles grabbed headlines—there’s a tendency to ignore long running but dire issues such as North Korea’s ongoing human rights crisis.  On March 13, the United Nations special rapporteur on North Korea, Elizabeth Salmón, reminded us of the latter’s importance. She told the UN […]