Category: Human Rights

(Tunis) – Tunisian authorities have arrested two critics of President Kais Saied on February 22, bringing the number of public figures deemed critical of Saied behind bars to at least 11, Human Rights Watch said today. The president has denounced them as “terrorists” and “traitors” and threatened those who would defend them. The roundup is […]

by Claudia Diaz, Intern, Disability Rights Division Manuel (a pseudonym) is a 27-year-old man with a mental health condition living in Chihuahua state, Mexico. Because of his condition coupled with a lack of support for employment and stigma, he needs to use a government pension to pay for his daily living costs and medical treatment. But […]

Although she was only 15 years old when she left the UK for Syria to join the Islamic State (ISIS), and despite finding there was “credible suspicion” that she was groomed and trafficked to Syria for sexual exploitation, yesterday the UK justice system upheld the government’s decision to strip Shamima Begum of her citizenship. When […]

More than 4,300 people participated in the Internet for Trust Conference, organized by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which will launch the guidelines in September.  The three-day event marked the latest phase in the global dialogue to develop regulatory solutions for social media to improve the reliability of information and promote human […]

The UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ilze Brands Kehris, concluding a 10-day visit to the country on Wednesday, reported a resurgence of attacks by armed groups and the devastating toll on communities alongside the need for action. “The violence must stop,” she said, encouraging authorities to redouble their efforts to counter rising hatred and […]

(New York) – El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly has brazenly ignored the one-year deadline that the Supreme Court gave it to create a legal gender recognition procedure that would prevent discrimination against transgender people, Human Rights Watch and COMCAVIS TRANS said today. In February 2022, the constitutional chamber of El Salvador’s Supreme Court ruled that the […]

The name ‘Lajas Blancas’ might not ring a bell when thinking about famous locations to visit in Panama, but for people crossing the Darién Gap, reaching this place means being finally safe. Here, reception centres funded by EU humanitarian aid provide migrants and refugees with the essential services they need. The Darién Gap is infamously […]

(Beirut) – Iraq’s environmental activists are facing threats, harassment, and arbitrary detention by government officials and armed groups, Human Rights Watch said today. On February 16, 2023, leading Iraqi environmentalist Jassim al-Asadi was released after being abducted on February 1 by an unidentified armed group and held for more than two weeks. Al-Asadi said in a […]

This week a South Korean court ruled that a same-sex couple should receive the same benefits as different-sex couples through the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS). It is the first time a court has recognized the rights of a same-sex couple in South Korea. The Seoul High Court found that the NHIS recognized de facto […]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk raised a range of concerns that several sets of proposed legislative changes that Israel’s parliament is considering would pose serious risks to the effectiveness of the judiciary to defend the rule of law, human rights, and judicial independence. Human rights at risk “If passed, these changes risk […]