Category: Human Rights

Today, the European Commission is establishing the PreparEU Advisory Group, tasked with providing strategic advice to President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib on how to best address accelerating disaster risks, including extreme weather events and wildfires.  The exceptional is no longer exceptional. We […]

Six months after their abductions, Mountaga Tall, an outspoken critic of Mali’s junta, and his son, Cheick Mamadou Tall, remain missing, their fate unknown, and the Malian authorities silent. Every day that passes without news raises fears for their safety and deepens their family’s anguish. Unidentified gunmen abducted Tall in Bamako, Mali’s capital, on May 2. Tall’s […]

An incarcerated Indigenous woman was reportedly shackled during a hospital stay earlier this month to deliver her baby by caesarean section in a Queensland hospital in Australia. Queensland Corrective Services promised an internal review but did not confirm the shackling. Shackling a woman during childbirth contravenes international human rights standards. The incident happened days before Australia’s two […]

This week a Chinese sports forum unearthed an April 2026 interview with Real Madrid football star Kylian Mbappé jokingly likening himself to a “Chinese dictator” (dictateur chinois). While Mbappé, known for dictating terms on the pitch, did not name names, the broadcaster added art showing him as Chinese Communist Party founder Mao Zedong. Beijing’s reaction […]

A UN Commission of Inquiry concluded on October 14 that Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of persecution against Palestinian children. Their findings recognize an important dimension that has not been given enough attention: children in the West Bank have been deliberately targeted—not just because of their nationality, race or ethnicity but also […]

More than three months have passed since plainclothes security officers arrested pro-democracy activist Clovis Kakule Mutsuva on July 18 in North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Mutsuva, 32, is awaiting trial before a military court on several charges. The Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan-origin armed group active in eastern Congo, has been carrying out deadly […]

(London) – The Indonesian Constitutional Court’s ruling requiring reform of the military justice system so that military personnel accused of ordinary crimes can be tried in civilian courts is a major step for justice in Indonesia, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should immediately revise the 1997 Military Justice Law, which has long prevented civilian […]

(Nairobi) – Niger’s authorities should urgently disclose the whereabouts of the prominent journalist Moussa Kaka, who was forcibly disappeared two months ago, Human Rights Watch said today. They should ensure his safety and release him unless he has been charged with a valid criminal offense. On August 31, 2026, Kaka, the director-general of Radio Télévision Saraounia and […]

The Indian authorities’ removal of over 130 million names from the country’s electoral rolls was arbitrary and deeply flawed. Indian authorities first stripped millions of citizens of their right to vote and are now beating and jailing them for peacefully protesting these rights violations. The authorities should immediately scrap the voter roll revision process that has […]

(Beirut) – A long-running humanitarian crisis in Taizz, Yemen’s third-largest city, has drastically worsened since October 2026, when the Houthi armed group forces fully encircled the city and blocked and attacked the remaining major supply route, Human Rights Watch said today. Since then, there have been severe shortages of fuel, food, water, medicine, cooking gas, and access […]