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April 23, 2024 News

Statement on Assisting Conflict-Affected Communities to the First International Follow-Up Conference to the Adoption of the Political Declaration on the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas

Delivered by Bonnie Docherty, Senior Arms Adviser

Thank you, Chair. Over the past year, the bombing and shelling of cities and towns has had devastating humanitarian consequences, which highlights the urgency of implementing the Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons. The Declaration adopts a…
Civil society gather for a photo at the conclusion of the first international follow-up conference to the adoption of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas in Oslo on April 23rd, 2024. 
April 23, 2024 News

UK’s Harmful Rwanda Bill to Become Law

Government Should Abandon Cruel Scheme and Protect Asylum Seekers

It is a dark day in the United Kingdom as the Safety of Rwanda Bill will soon become law after passing its final stages in parliament yesterday. This will have a devastating impact on human rights and the rule of law, risking the lives of people who…
Protesters hold a banner on a red double decker bus
April 23, 2024 News

Can New African Union Genocide Envoy Curb Atrocities in Africa?

Adama Dieng has Mandate to ‘Combat the Ideology of Hate’

Adama Dieng has been appointed as the first African Union (AU) special envoy for the prevention of the crime of genocide and other mass atrocities. Dieng will drive the organization’s agenda to “combat the ideology of hate and genocide on the…
Adama Dieng, then-UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, New York, June 2019.
April 23, 2024 News

The UK Again Attempts to Bend Truth on Rwanda

Government Official Touts Misinformation

In an interview on the BBC’s Today Program this week, Deputy Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell sang the praises of Rwanda’s “remarkable regime.” But as the debate over the government’s Safety of Rwanda bill came to a close, he left out some important…
President of Rwanda Paul Kagame and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London, UK, May 4, 2023.
April 23, 2024 News

Kazakhstan: New Law to Protect Women Improved, but Incomplete

Increases Protections, But More Reforms Needed

(Berlin, April 23, 2024) – Kazakhstan’s President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev signed a new law on April,15, 2024, to strengthen protections from violence for women and children, including domestic violence survivors, but it falls short in key areas, Human…
Activists hold a rally to support women's rights on International Women's Day in Almaty, Kazakhstan, March 8, 2023.
April 23, 2024 News

Angola: Proposed Security Law Threatens Rights

Revise or Reject Bill Undermining Freedom of Media, Expression, Association

(Johannesburg) – Angola’s parliament should significantly revise or withdraw a proposed national security law that fails to meet international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said today. The draft National Security Law passed a first vote…
The National Assembly building in Luanda, Angola, February 13, 2013.
April 22, 2024 News

On Earth Day, a Homage to a Beloved Forest Defender

Osvalinda Pereira Spent Many Years Defending the Amazon

This Earth Day is an opportunity to celebrate the work of the courageous people who put themselves at risk fighting for a world in which people and the planet can thrive. I personally would like to honor Osvalinda Marcelino Alves Pereira. Sadly,…
Osvalinda Marcelino Alves Pereira.
April 22, 2024 News

In Sickness and in Debt: The Right to Health

50% of Pakistanis Do Not Have Access to Basic Primary Healthcare Services, and Approximately 42% Have No Access to Health Coverage

Muhammad Boota, a domestic worker in Lahore, requires an insulin injection every 10 days to help manage his diabetes. But just one of these injections costs about one-third of his meagre monthly salary. As with millions of Pakistanis with health…
Pakistani women wearing face masks leave the Aga Khan hospital where a patient suspected of having contracted coronavirus was admitted, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020.
April 22, 2024 News

Vietnam: UN Review Should Call for Urgent Reform

Countries Need to Highlight Lack of Free Speech, Religious Freedom, Fair Trials

(Geneva) – United Nations member countries should use the upcoming review of Vietnam’s rights record at the UN Human Rights Council to press the government to end its crackdown on dissent and other fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said in its…
Twelve Vietnamese rights activists and bloggers currently detained for exercising their basic rights. Top row from left to right: Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Hoang Duc Binh, Dinh Van Hai, Nguyen Tuong Thuy. Center row: Pham Doan Trang, Le Trong Hung, Pham Chi Thanh, Pham Chi Dung. Bottom row: Nguyen Lan Thang, Can Thi Theu, Dang Dinh Bach, Hoang Thi Minh Hong.
April 22, 2024 News

Iran: Security Forces Rape, Torture, Detainees

Kurdish, Baluch, Azeri, and Other Ethnic Communities Apparently Targeted

(Beirut) – Iran's security forces raped, tortured, and sexually assaulted detainees while repressing widespread protests in 2022 and 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. The grave abuses are part of a broader pattern of serious human rights violations…
Silhouette of a woman (representation). 
April 21, 2024 News

Qatar, Nepal, Bangladesh: Emir’s Visits Should Prioritize Migrant Worker Protections

Public Commitments to Worker Protections and Compensation Needed

(Beirut) – The upcoming visits of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, to Bangladesh and Nepal should prioritize labor protections for migrant workers, Human Rights Watch said today. Both are key countries for Qatar’s migrant workforce…
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, emir of Qatar, in Doha, November 29, 2023. 
April 19, 2024 News

Jordan: Syrian Student Faces Imminent Deportation

(Amman) – Jordanian authorities should halt the imminent deportation of a Syrian communications student who faces a significant risk of persecution if forcibly returned to Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. The police arrested Atia Mohamad Abu…
Atia Mohamad Abu Salem, 24.
April 19, 2024 News

Gambia: Bill Threatens Female Genital Mutilation Ban

Reject Proposed Law That Would Reverse Critical Gains for Women’s, Girls’ Rights

(Abuja) – A bill before Gambia’s National Assembly to reverse a groundbreaking 2015 ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) jeopardizes the rights of women and girls in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. Gambia is among the 10…
Protesters against female genital mutilation (FGM) demonstrate outside the National Assembly in Banjul, Gambia, on March 18, 2024. 
April 18, 2024 News

Civilians at Risk as Large-Scale Fighting Looms in Darfur

Civilian Casualties, Threat of Atrocities Mount Following Fighting in El Fasher Vicinity

After a months-long, uneasy détente between Sudan’s two warring parties, hundreds of thousands of civilians sheltering in the city of El Fasher in Darfur are in the crosshairs.    In the past few days, several villages near El Fasher…
Destruction in a market area in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan's North Darfur state, September 1, 2023.
April 18, 2024 News

Landmark Court Ruling Upholds Right to Healthy Environment

Ahead of Earth Day, Peru Mine Case Offers Key Lessons

Last month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found the Peruvian government responsible for violating the right to a healthy environment, among other rights, of residents of La Oroya, a town exposed to toxic pollution from a mine and smelter…
The Metalurgia Business Peru metallurgical complex in the city of La Oroya, in the department of Junín, east of Lima, November 9, 2022. 
April 18, 2024 News

Armenia Strengthens Domestic Violence Law

New Amendments Address Gaps in Protection, Accountability Measures

Armenia’s parliament adopted amendments strengthening the country’s domestic violence law. The legislation was adopted last week as postwar Armenia both struggles to secure its border with neighboring Azerbaijan and deepen its relations with the…
Taguhi shows scars on her neck and shoulder.
April 18, 2024 News

UN Plastics Treaty Should Mandate Protection of Human Rights and Health

Draft Text Overlooks Human Rights Harm of Fossil Fuels and Petrochemicals

Next week in Ottawa, countries will reconvene to continue negotiations on an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. A revised draft of the treaty published by the United Nations Environment Programme on December 28, 2023,…
A boy sits on a bicycle in front of a plastic recycling facility in Adana, Turkey.

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