Category: Human Rights

An initial month-long crackdown on gangs was introduced on 27 March 2022 and has been regularly renewed, with the latest extension announced last week. At least 65,000 people, including children, have been detained since then.  OHCHR underlined that the right to life, the absolute prohibition against torture, the principles of fair trial, and the procedural […]

A new report by the UN human rights office (OHCHR) details enforced disappearances and abductions dating back to 1950. Heart-breaking testimony from some 80 victims shows how the crimes have caused long-lasting trauma, said UN rights chief Türk, who added that “entire generations of families have lived with the grief of not knowing the fate of […]

(New York) – Tirana Hassan, a lawyer and veteran human rights investigator who has documented human rights abuses throughout crises and conflicts globally, has been named the next executive director of Human Rights Watch, the organization announced today. Hassan was previously the Human Rights Watch chief programs officer and had been serving as acting executive director […]

Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch released a report exposing how Egyptian authorities are refusing to provide identity documents including passports, birth certificates, and national IDs to critics living abroad. The goal appears to be to disrupt their lives so much that they have to choose between effectively becoming undocumented or returning to Egypt, where […]

(Brussels, March 28, 2023) – A European Union regulation under consideration will improve public scrutiny of paid political messaging and limit the circulation of political ads based on people’s personal characteristics and sensitivities, Human Rights Watch said today. But changes are needed to strengthen its protections and to prevent capturing unpaid political discourse. The European […]

Some 13 months of often brutal fighting and attacks on civilians since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine began, have left millions displaced, with key civilian infrastructure in need of urgent protection. Ensuring nuclear safety Touring the area around Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) met with […]

(Bangkok) – Vietnamese authorities should immediately release land rights activist Truong Van Dung and drop all charges against him, Human Rights Watch said today. Police in Hanoi arrested Truong Van Dung in May 2022 on charges of “conducting propaganda against the state.” A Hanoi court is scheduled to hear his case on March 28, 2023. […]

Rehman* was married off to an abusive man at age 15. “During our year of marriage, I lived a very hard life full of violence and abuse,” she says now living as a displaced person in the governorate of Hajjah. She learned about a safe space for women and girls at her displacement camp supported […]

Tomorrow, the start of the school year in Afghanistan, is a day of grief for Afghan teenage girls and the world. The girls grieve both their right to education and the world’s failure to take action to stop the ban. Today marks day 550 that teenage girls are denied their right to education. The Taliban’s […]

On March 16, a bipartisan group of United States senators introduced the Transnational Repression Policy Act, which aims “to hold foreign governments and individuals accountable when they stalk, intimidate, or assault people across borders, including in the United States.” The bill also establishes countering transnational repression as a foreign policy priority, including in government efforts […]