Category: Human Rights

Tomorrow and Friday, Commissioner for Equality; Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, is visiting Czechia. She will meet with Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and exchange with government officials on the EU Preparedness Union Strategy, including the importance of a whole-of-society approach to anticipate, prevent, and respond to crises, involving public authorities, businesses, civil society and […]

The Vietnamese government is systematically suppressing the rights of workers to organize independent unions despite trade agreements that require it to support labor rights. Officials have repeatedly made false, misleading, and deceptive claims about supporting independent unions while making clear that they would target anyone who tried to exercise labor rights. The government routinely used […]

“The Houthis’ closure of the only supply route linking Taiz to Aden is placing civilians at grave risk, blocking humanitarian aid and cutting off essential supplies,” said UN human rights chief Volker Türk. In an appeal to Houthi fighters who he said had encircled Taiz City to allow aid in immediately, the High Commissioner for […]

(Washington, DC) – The United States government should order federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers not to operate in the vicinity of polling places, early voting locations, or drop boxes during the midterm electoral period, Human Rights Watch said today. The presence of these federal agents could deter people from voting.  “ICE officers’ abuses have […]

The European Union is carrying out the 2026 edition of its crisis management exercise – EU integrated resolve (EU IR26) from 19 October to 20 November 2026. In line with the preparedness Union strategy, the EU IR26 aims to strengthen the EU’s capacity to respond to a complex crisis of a hybrid nature with crisis […]

(Washington, DC) – Guatemalan authorities should carry out a thorough, prompt, and credible investigation into the killing of Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa, a prominent anti-corruption lawyer, former prosecutor, and former head of Guatemala’s tax agency, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 17, 2026, armed assailants shot and killed Solórzano Foppa at the Campo Marte sports complex […]

Addressing the UN-hosted Committee on World Food Security in Rome, the High Commissioner said that while the right to food has found its way into treaties and laws, “for too many people, it has yet to find its way onto their dinner plates”.  Global food supply now exceeds 3,000 calories per person per day – […]

(Beirut) – Saudi authorities announced on October 17, 2026, that they had executed Hassan Zaki al-Faraj, who was convicted of crimes allegedly committed when he was a 14-year-old boy, Human Rights Watch said today.  The Supreme Court has also apparently upheld the death sentence of another man, Yousef al-Manasif, who was convicted of crimes allegedly […]

WASHINGTON — Legal advocacy group the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has announced a major international legal initiative targeting the Iranian government, in lodging formal submissions with the United Nations and the U.S. Congress over escalating state-sponsored persecution of Christians and religious minorities in Iran. The Washington-based organization confirmed it is deploying its […]

(Brussels) – Leaders of the European Union, Belgium, and Denmark should urge Vietnam to make concrete progress in improving its human rights record during Vietnamese President To Lam’s visit to Copenhagen and Brussels the week of October 19-24, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch wrote to the prime ministers of Denmark and […]