Category: Human Rights

On Monday evening, Myanmar military paramotors, or motorized paragliders, dropped munitions on a candlelit Buddhist festival in Sagaing Region, killing at least 21 people, including three children as young as 2. Hundreds of villagers had gathered in a primary school compound to celebrate the Thadingyut holiday and demonstrate against military abuses in the embattled region. […]

Fifteen organizations including Human Rights Watch sent letters to European Union officials and lawmakers this week pressing the European Commission to follow through on its commitments to stop the export of pesticides that are banned in the EU. EU regulators have banned these pesticides within the EU after reviewing evidence that they pose unacceptable risks either to […]

This follows reports that at least 53 civilians were killed and more than 60 injured by members of the Rapid Support Forces militia, the RSF, between 5 and 8 October alone. Preliminary information from the area – the last government-controlled city in North Darfur – suggests the number may be even higher, the UN human […]

Burkina Faso authorities on October 6 released Rasmané Zinaba and Bassirou Badjo, two members of the civil society group Balai Citoyen, who had been unlawfully conscripted into military service after criticizing the country’s military junta.  Their release is an encouraging if not unprecedented development in a country where the government has increasingly violated human rights since the 2022 military […]

“We congratulate Maria Corina Machado on being announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize,” said OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan. “This recognition reflects the clear aspirations of the people of Venezuela for free and fair elections, for civil and political rights and for the rule of law. The High Commissioner has consistently spoken out […]

Austin, 10 October 2025 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday issued a stay of execution for Robert Leslie Roberson III, who was due to be executed on October 16 for the 2002 death of his daughter, Nikki. The ruling pauses what would have been the first U.S. execution based on a shaken […]

On October 9, the Bangladesh authorities filed charges against 28 people  for enforced disappearances, secret detention, and torture. It was a long time coming. A “smear campaign,” the home minister had scoffed in 2017, after Human Rights Watch released a report on secret detentions and enforced disappearances in Bangladesh. When I had met with him, the minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, […]

“There is a very positive, jubilant mood in Gaza this morning and there was overnight,” said Olga Cherevko from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. “There were people whistling and partying and celebrating.” Speaking to UN News from the devastated enclave, Ms. Cherevko stressed that immediate humanitarian priorities remain unchanged: “to reach the most vulnerable […]

El-Fasher, Sudan — In the besieged city of El-Fasher, journalists remain trapped alongside civilians, enduring hunger, relentless bombardment, and targeted violence as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) tighten their grip on North Darfur’s last government-held stronghold. Reporting Amid Violence According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), media workers in El-Fasher face systematic persecution. […]

Cairo, 9 October 2025 — Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire agreement as part of a U.S.-brokered initiative aimed at ending the two-year war in Gaza. The deal, negotiated in Egypt, marks the beginning of a phased peace process but leaves key territorial and governance issues unresolved. Terms of the Agreement Under the initial […]