Category: Human Rights

In the last weeks, Polish students and activists regularly gathered in front of Warsaw’s Presidential Palace and across the country to demand respect for their rights. They called on President Andrzej Duda to veto a controversial bill that would further limit access to comprehensive sexuality education and anti-discrimination classes in schools. Despite naysayers, these protests […]

In his last news conference before the 2022 World Cup finale, FIFA president Gianni Infantino declared that the football governing body is set to earn US$7.5 billion in revenue. FIFA then failed to commit to compensate migrant workers who built $220 billion in stadiums and tournament infrastructure in harsh and at times deadly conditions – even when […]

Human Rights Watch is deeply saddened by the passing of Aleh Hulak, chair of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) and a longtime leader of the Belarus human rights movement. Hulak, 55, led the Helsinki Committee with courage and unwavering commitment, including through the country’s recent, vicious crackdown on rights and the entrenchment of President Aliaksandr […]

Twitter has suspended several journalists from its social media platform, threatening media freedom. It is yet another worrying step for the company under new owner Elon Musk, whose changes can perhaps best be described as a bowl of chaos with a side order of human rights concerns. Decisions about content moderation and account suspension have […]

United Nations member countries need to overhaul the budgetary approval process for UN human rights work. The current system, overseen by the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee, is inefficient and overly politicized. It unnecessarily exposes UN human rights mechanisms – teams of independent experts established to investigate serious international crimes – to attempts by hostile governments to […]

(Beirut) – The 2022 World Cup is ending with no commitment from FIFA or Qatari authorities to remedy abuses, including unexplained deaths, that migrant workers suffered to make the tournament possible over the past 12 years, Human Rights Watch said today. The tournament’s final match will be held in the glittering Lusail stadium on December […]

The corruption scandal known as “Qatargate,” which has recently culminated in police raids on European politicians over alleged corruption involving Qatari influence, is shaking European institutions. But as policymakers investigate possible advantages secured by Qatar through illegal means, they should look at the broader picture and seriously reassess the European Union’s reluctance to meaningfully address […]

Earlier this month, December 2022, the Dutch government signaled it was set to issue an official apology for 250 years of slavery in former colonies in South America’s Suriname and Caribbean islands. However, following criticism about the timing of the apology and lack of consultations of formerly enslaved communities, it’s now unclear whether the government […]

(New York) – More than 42,400 foreigners accused of Islamic State (ISIS) links remain abandoned by their countries in camps and prisons in northeast Syria despite increased repatriations of women and children in recent months, Human Rights Watch said today. Kurdish-led authorities are holding the detainees, most of them children, along with 23,200 Syrians in […]

(Budapest) – The Polish government’s ongoing attacks on the rule of law are harming the rights of women and LGBT people and require stronger action from the European Union, Human Rights Watch said today. Since the Law and Justice (PiS) party came to power in Poland in 2015, the government has persistently attacked the rights […]