Category: Human Rights

The experts sounded the alarm on the lack of information provided by Chinese authorities – deeming it a deliberate attempt to “make the world forget” about the individuals who are spending year after year in isolation.  Between 2010 and 2019, nine environmental human rights defenders were arrested and imprisoned after they protested against allegedly illegal mining activities and hunting of […]

(New York) – Taliban authorities have tightened their extreme restrictions on the rights of women and girls and on the media since taking took control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. Over the past two years, Taliban authorities have denied women and girls their rights to education, work, movement, and […]

(Sydney) – The Australian government should introduce a national Human Rights Act to better protect the fundamental rights of everyone in Australia, Human Rights Watch said in a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. “Existing laws in Australia protect against discrimination and other human rights violations, but many rights protections are inadequate,” […]

Years of violent unrest and armed conflict in Ethiopia have resulted in countless abuses in regions across the country. The last few weeks show there is no end in sight. Since April, the Ethiopian military and militias known as Fano have clashed in towns throughout the Amhara region after the government announced plans to dismantle […]

On August 8, 2022, videos and photographs circulated on social media that appeared to show South Sudan government forces executing captured fighters from an armed opposition group in Mayom county. Despite public outrage over the reported killings, no one has been held to account one year later. One video shows uniformed South Sudanese soldiers and […]

(New York) – Delays in establishing a UN-administered aid fund for Venezuela are exacerbating the humanitarian emergency there, Human Rights Watch said today. On November 26, 2022, after months of stalled negotiations, representatives of the government of Nicolas Maduro and the opposition signed an agreement to increase humanitarian aid for the Venezuelan people. The fund, […]

“My dream is to finish my studies and join the navy so I can travel the world,” says Harold, 15, leafing through the pages of an atlas he received as part of an EU-funded project in Guaviare, Colombia. He belongs to the Piratapuyo tribe and lives in an area historically affected by conflict, where several […]

It’s that time of the year again: when the asphalt flickers, grass turns from lush green to dry yellow, and air conditioning is put on maximum. It’s another long, hot summer in Spain, and people with disabilities are facing particular challenges yet again. Extreme heat, worsening every year because of the climate crisis, is a […]

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission: A Champion of Transitional Justice? Tigrayans stand in line to receive food donated by local residents at a reception center for the internally displaced in Mekele, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, on May 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) Since the signing of the Pretoria agreement which ended […]

(Beirut) – The Egyptian government is limiting electricity use with daily power cutbacks nationwide, putting people’s economic and social rights at risk, Human Rights Watch said today. The cuts appear to last longer in rural areas, which have higher poverty rates, and have left many people without power amid soaring temperatures, hindering their ability to […]