Category: Human Rights

Keenan Anderson died in Los Angeles after being repeatedly tased by police following a chase resulting from a traffic stop, according to news reports, and Tyre Nichols in Memphis, died after being severely beaten as he lay on the ground, by five officers in Memphis, Tennessee, who have since been charged with murder and other […]

(Miami) – Judges in the US state of Florida often deny people under age 18 their right to access abortion care, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The state’s harmful law forcing anyone under 18 to obtain parental consent for an abortion pushes young people without a supportive parent or guardian to […]

(Johannesburg) – Mozambique authorities should withdraw a draft law on nonprofit organizations that would undermine the work of civil society groups and the right to freedom of association in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. The government says the Draft Law on the Creation, Organization, and Operation of Nonprofit Organizations is intended to counter money […]

The details of Martinez Zogo’s death are gruesome. His body was found in Soa, a suburb of the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, on January 22, 2023. It showed signs consistent with severe torture, including electric shocks. The government released a statement saying he had “endured significant bodily harm.” When an investigative journalist is violently murdered anywhere, […]

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival, now in its 27th year in London, presents a lineup of 10 award-winning, international documentary films in partnership with Barbican Cinema, and generously supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The festival program, presented in person at the Barbican from March 16-24, includes in-depth Q&As and panel discussions with […]

The complex humanitarian crisis keeps deteriorating in Mali. An estimated 8.8 million people (over 1 in 3 Malians) required humanitarian assistance in 2023 – a 17% increase since 2022. The conflict triggers large-scale population displacements, particularly affecting children. In a June 2022 report on Children and armed conflict, the United Nations Secretary General verified 994 […]

In the latest blow to trans people in Hungary, the country’s Constitutional Court issued a ruling that will continue to block new applications from transgender people for legal gender recognition. The judgment effectively creates two categories of trans people in Hungary: those who applied early enough to pursue gender recognition and those who did not. […]

Three weeks after the suspicious death of John Williams Ntwali, one of Rwanda’s last remaining independent investigative journalists, Rwandan authorities have failed to ensure a credible, transparent investigation into the circumstances of his death. Instead, they have followed their well-honed strategy of obstructing investigations, evading questions, and deflecting attention. On Tuesday, journalists were called to […]

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last week dismissed one of his aides for making disparaging remarks about same-sex relationships. The official, Masayoshi Arai, had said that he “doesn’t even want to look” at same-sex couples and would “not want to live next door” to them. Kishida apologized for his aide’s comments, saying, “The remarks are […]

(London) – The UK government and European Union should investigate and appropriately sanction rather than meet with a visiting top Chinese official from Xinjiang, where crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims are rampant, Human Rights Watch said today. Erkin Tuniyaz, the Chinese Communist Party deputy secretary in Xinjiang and chairman of the […]