Category: Human Rights

On February 22, Myanmar’s junta announced martial law orders for three additional townships in Sagaing Region, after expanding martial law in 37 townships elsewhere in the country earlier this month. A total of 50 townships are now under martial law in Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, and Mon States, as well as in Yangon and Mandalay […]

Nigeria’s presidential and federal legislative elections, which took place over the past weekend, were a mix of experiences for voters. While many voted safely despite delays, some experienced logistical failures and problems with voting materials. More disturbingly, others that we spoke to, like Bina Jennifer Efidi, who lives in the battleground state of Lagos, faced […]

In a historic first this past week, a UK court ruled in favor of three families whose relatives were victims of the 2020 explosion at Beirut’s port. The civil lawsuit was brought against Savaro Limited, a chemical trading company in the United Kingdom which owned the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that was stored in […]

(Washington, DC) – Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal decision to bar candidates from running in the 2023 presidential elections on dubious grounds threatens political rights and damages the credibility of the electoral process, Human Rights Watch and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) said today. In recent weeks, the electoral tribunal that oversees elections has effectively […]

(Tunis) –  Tunisian authorities should immediately reinstate judges and prosecutors President Kais Saied arbitrarily dismissed as part of what he called an anti-corruption campaign, and reverse all measures taken to crush judicial independence, Human Rights Watch said today. The Justice Ministry has refused to reinstate 49 magistrates – a term that includes both judges and prosecutors […]

(Nairobi) Somalia’s president should withhold his signature from a bill that will expand the powers of the country’s repressive intelligence agency. The draft law, which the Senate passed on February 22, 2023, grants the National Security and Intelligence Agency (NISA) sweeping powers of arrest, detention, and surveillance with minimal independent oversight. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud […]

(New York) – Nepal’s new government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal should focus on upholding Nepalis’ rights and strengthening the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said in a letter released on February 25, 2023. Dahal is leading a new coalition government after elections in November. The Covid-19 pandemic set back progress in […]

This year, for the first time, three countries from Central Asia will be members of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the UN’s most important intergovernmental human rights body. Kyrgyzstan will join Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the other 44 members at this year’s opening session on February 27. The council’s founding resolution expects members to “uphold […]

During a televised parliamentary budget session on Wednesday, February 22, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his government will “appropriately handle” a development aid project in Myanmar that is benefiting the country’s abusive military. Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Japanese foreign minister, echoed the prime minister’s public pledge to take appropriate action. The leaders’ comments came in […]

(Jakarta) – The Indonesian authorities should immediately release Robison Saul, a fisherman and activist on Sangihe Island in North Sulawesi province, and quash his politically motivated conviction, Human Rights Watch said today. A court on January 17, 2023, convicted Saul under an emergency law of possessing a knife at a protest and sentenced him to […]