Category: Human Rights

December 15 marks the anniversary of South Sudan’s descent into a brutal civil war, a conflict in which all parties have committed abuses amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The conflict which started as a political dispute in December 2013, took ethnic undertones with  civilians being targeted on the basis of ethnicity and […]

(New York) – The policies of the Kathmandu Municipal Government toward street vendors, landless people, and begging are threatening the human rights of thousands of city residents, Human Rights Watch said today. They include the rights to work, to housing, and to an adequate standard of living. Recent campaigns by the city administration under Mayor […]

(Istanbul, December 14, 2022) – The conviction of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and the ban on him holding elected political office imposed on the basis of a comment to the media should be seen for the violation of rights that it is and as an unjustified and politically calculated assault on Turkey’s political opposition in […]

New survey data released last week by the United States Census Bureau found that housing payments for about half of all US renters were unaffordable in 2021 under guidelines set by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The American Community Survey (ACS), an annual survey sent to more than 3.5 million households […]

December 14, 2022 At only 34 years, María Cecilia Ercole has already established herself as a seasoned human rights practitioner with over eight years of experience at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) under her belt. With postings in Geneva, Beirut and La Paz, Ercole’s time at OHCHR has […]

The South African government has finally moved to decriminalize sex work as part of its efforts to combat increased reports of abuse against women, including gender based violence against sex workers. The step by South Africa’s cabinet to publish and seek public comment on a bill that would end criminalization of sex work brings achievement […]

Under pressure to tackle what the media calls a “winter of discontent,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised “tough” new laws to limit proposed worker strikes. Although unclear what form these laws will take, if enacted they risk joining a roster of legislation aimed at criminalizing people’s right to protest. Britain finds itself in […]

On December 13, 2022, US President Joe Biden welcomed 50 delegations from 49 countries across the African continent, plus the African Union, to the US-African Leaders Summit. The Summit aimed to demonstrate US commitment to US-Africa relations, but the official agenda lacked a significant role for African human rights defenders. So Human Rights Watch and […]

(Stockholm) – A new investment in technology supported by the Swedish Postcode Lottery has helped document possible war crimes and serious human rights abuses in Ukraine and elsewhere, Human Rights Watch said today. Digital tools are strengthening the organization’s work for accountability and long-term change in war-torn Ukraine and in other ongoing crises. Thanks to […]

In a landmark judgement, yesterday the Barbados High Court issued an oral ruling that decriminalized consensual same-sex relations. The written judgement will be handed down at a later date. Barbados becomes the third Eastern Caribbean country in 2022 to strike down discriminatory legal provisions and decriminalize gay sex, after Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts […]