Category: Human Rights

(Kinshasa) – The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are increasingly harassing and arbitrarily detaining journalists, activists, and political opposition members, Human Rights Watch said today. The clampdown on critical voices has occurred amid the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group’s occupation in eastern Congo and political tensions surrounding a potential constitutional amendment through which President Félix […]

The European Commission is taking action to coordinate and support national authorities’ responses to the Hantavirus outbreak. At present, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control assesses the risk to the general population in Europe as very low, given that appropriate infection prevention and control measures are being implemented and that hantaviruses are not […]

This week was supposed to be a step forward for Brazil: Resolution 310—a crucial resolution requiring that prosecutors lead investigations into police killings and that those investigations comply with international standards—was scheduled to take effect.  Instead, the resolution is on ice.  After years of advocacy by Human Rights Watch and other organizations, the National Council of […]

Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, will visit Cyprus on 6-7 May 2026, where she will participate in the 3rd Euro-Mediterranean Workshop on Fire Risks, co-organised by the European Commission, Cyprus, on behalf of the Council of the EU, and the Union for the Mediterranean.  The workshop will focus on fire risk […]

(Sydney) – Australian authorities should ensure that criminal proceedings against three Australian women who were charged on May 7 and 8, 2026, with serious alleged crimes linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) fully respect due process rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The accused are among thirteen Australians—four women and nine children—who returned to Australia […]

Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, is in Lebanon this Friday and Saturday to welcome the 7th humanitarian flight landing in Beirut.  This Humanitarian Air Bridge will deliver essential health and shelter items – from the EU’s own stock and its partners – to the most vulnerable, reaffirming the European Union’s solidarity […]

Deadly new strikes reported across the Middle East overnight and Thursday rattled energy markets and pushed crude oil prices up to $107 in early trading. Hopes dwindled of a quick end to the conflict as President Trump spoke of another “two to three weeks” of attacks, alongside “ongoing” discussions with Tehran. Civilians across the region […]

HRP Associate Director Abadir Ibrahim Co-Authors Amicus Brief on Climate Obligations Before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights On March 30, 2026, Abadir Ibrahim, Associate Director of the Harvard Human Rights Program—with Salma Waheedi, Executive Director of the Program on Law and Society in the Muslim World, and Angela Hefti, Assistant Professor of Law at Florida International University—co-led an interdisciplinary coalition of 16 amici curiae in the […]

(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 […]

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” […]