Category: Human Rights

(Berlin, May 5, 2023) – Russia’s adoption on April 28, 2023, of a law criminalizing assistance to foreign and international bodies is an affront to victims of serious crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. The law prohibits cooperation with international bodies, “to which Russia is not a party,” such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) […]

(Beirut) – The Egyptian authorities should immediately release Salah Soltan, the arbitrarily detained father of a prominent US human rights defender, 51 human rights organizations said today. The authorities should ensure his immediate and urgent access to life-saving health care and conduct effective and transparent investigations into reports that he has been tortured and otherwise ill-treated. […]

Last week, civil society in Burundi breathed a collective sigh of relief at the announcement that five human rights defenders charged with state security crimes had been released from prison. But as is often the case in Burundi, their relief was short-lived. Four days later, an appeals court in Bujumbura confirmed the conviction of journalist […]

Correction: Reports received from multiple sources that Anousa “Jack” Luangsuphom died on the way to the hospital on April 29, 2023, proved to be false. On the evening of May 3, Anousa’s family and other sources provided Human Rights Watch verbal confirmation and photographic evidence that Anousa survived the shooting and is now receiving medical treatment […]

(New York) – The increasing attacks in Bangladesh on journalists and others exercising their right to freely criticize government policies and practices, is alarming, eight independent organizations said today on World Press Freedom Day. The widespread restrictions on freedom of expression undermine the conditions for open political debate ahead of elections, scheduled for January 2024. […]

Andriy, a Ukranian firefighter from Chernihiv. © Andriy Evmenenko With the start of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, Andriy and his fellow firefighters found themselves on their own battlefield. Every day, they fight for the people whose homes have been destroyed by Russian troops. To help Ukrainian firefighters and rescuers save lives, the EU works […]

Burkina Faso authorities should ensure an independent inquiry into the summary execution of at least 156 civilians by alleged military forces on April 20, 2023, in the village of Karma. The African Union and the United Nations should ensure that the government’s promised investigation is credible and independent and that all those responsible are brought […]

(Nairobi, May 4, 2023) – The two warring armed forces in Sudan have repeatedly used explosive weapons in urban areas that have caused loss of civilian life and property, damaged critical infrastructure, and left millions without access to basic necessities, Human Rights Watch said today. The United Nations Security Council should urgently adopt measures to […]

Ali Hussein Jaloud, an Iraqi man barely in his 20s, died April 21 of leukemia, a disease Ali and his family attributed to the pollution from the oil production and constant gas flares that surround their community in the southern Iraqi town of Rumaila, about 50 kilometers from the port city of Basra. Many of […]

(New York) – Police in the Xinjiang region of China rely on a master list of 50,000 multimedia files they deem “violent and terrorist” to flag Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim residents for interrogation, Human Rights Watch said today. A Human Rights Watch forensic investigation into the metadata of this list found that during 9 […]