Washington, August 25, 2023 – A fire erupted on August 25, 2023, at an oil refinery in St. John the Baptist Parish, in the heart of Louisiana’s Cancer Alley. Human Rights Watch has been investigating the threats to human rights associated with the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry in Cancer Alley, which local residents call an “environmental and public […]
Human Rights Watch
Posted inOp-Ed
Margaret Wurth: US Lawmakers Move to Protect Child Farmworkers
June 12, 2023 – United States Congress members are introducing legislation today to help address the longstanding problem of child labor on US farms. Their move, on World Day Against Child Labor, comes as the US grapples with a rise in child labor. I’ve interviewed many children involved in hazardous child labor on US farms over the last […]
Posted inWorld
Saudi Arabia: Pro Golf Merger “Sportswashes” Abuses
(Beirut, June 7, 2023) – Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Professional Golf Association (PGA) have effectively enabled the Saudi government’s efforts to “sportswash” its egregious human rights record through the announced merger of its LIV Golf and the PGA, Human Rights Watch said today. The merger will place the Saudi government in […]
Posted inWorld
Investigation Launches into Forcible Transfer of Children in Ukraine
April 6, 2023 – Yesterday, the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) initiated an investigation into the forcible transfer of children within parts of Ukraine temporarily controlled by Russia, and deportations to the Russian Federation. Thousands of Ukrainian children may be in Russian hands, including children from residential institutions that fell under Russian occupation, and children who […]
Posted inWorld
Lebanon: Victims’ Families Despair as Blast Suspects Freed
Beirut, January 25, 2023 – Lebanon’s general prosecutor on January 25, 2022, ordered the release of all suspects detained in connection with the catastrophic explosion in Beirut’s port on August 4, 2020, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. The unprecedented move amid rampant political interference bypasses the ongoing criminal investigation into the explosion. […]
Posted inWorld
West Bank: New Entry Rules Further Isolate Palestinians
Jerusalem, January 23, 2023 – New Israeli guidelines on access to the West Bank for foreigners threaten to further isolate Palestinians from loved ones and global civil society, Human Rights Watch said today. The guidelines, which came into force in October 2022 and were amended in December 2022, set out detailed procedures for West Bank […]
Posted inWorld
Attack on Democratic Institutions in Brazil: Statement by Human Rights Watch
January 8, 2023 – The acts of violence and vandalism that took place in Brasilia on January 8, 2023, constitute an abhorrent attack on Brazil’s democratic institutions by people who are seeking to deny the right of Brazilians to vote for and elect the leaders of their choice, including by urging military intervention, Human Rights […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Sahar Fetrat and Fereshta Abbasi: In Afghanistan, Resistance Means Women
The September 30 suicide attack on ethnic Hazara students at Kaaj Educational Center in Kabul has sparked protests by women and girls in provinces across Afghanistan. The attack, which took place as female students sat for a practice university entrance exam, claimed 53 lives, most of them girls and young women, and injured 110. The […]
Posted inWorld
Israel: Free French-Palestinian Rights Worker, Says Human Rights Watch
Jerusalem, August 16, 2022 – Israeli authorities should immediately release the French-Palestinian human rights worker Salah Hamouri from administrative detention and reverse the decision to revoke his residency status in his native Jerusalem, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 7, Israeli authorities detained Hamouri, a lawyer who works with the Palestinian prisoner rights group […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Fereshta Abbasi: Afghans Dying from Lack of Medicine
May 9, 2022 – “We just buried Mom. Can you believe it? She was too young to die. I can’t take her place for my younger siblings.” These are the painful words of my 17-year-old cousin, Sima, who had just lost her mother a few hours before we spoke. My Aunt Bibi was only 40 […]
Posted inWorld
Russia: Respect the Rights of Prisoners of War
Berlin, April 28, 2022 – Russian authorities should stop broadcasting programs featuring images of and interviews with captured Ukrainian soldiers that expose them to public curiosity, Human Rights Watch said today. Such treatment of prisoners of war, or POWs, violates protections under the Geneva Conventions intended to ensure dignified treatment of captured combatants on all sides. “Russian […]
Posted inWorld
Iran: Women Blocked from Entering Football Stadium
Beirut, March 31, 2022 – Iranian authorities prevented dozens of Iranian women from entering Imam Reza football stadium in the city of Mashhad on March 29, 2022, possibly using excessive force, Human Rights Watch said today. FIFA should use its leverage with Iranian authorities to demand that they urgently overturn Iran’s discriminatory stadium ban on […]
Posted inUS
Failure to Pass Build Back Better Act Imperils Rights
Washington, DC, December 20, 2021 – The Build Back Better Act would bring the United States closer to meeting international human rights standards and begin to repair a badly broken social safety net, Human Rights Watch said today. The Senate should strengthen components of the bill and promptly pass this legislation, or lose a critical […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Minky Worden: Chinese Tennis Star’s Disappearance Is Warning for Olympics
November 18, 2021 – Three-time Olympian Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai is missing. The hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai is trending globally, and world tennis champions Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, and Novak Djokovic voiced fears about the 35-year-old star’s whereabouts. On November 2, Peng said on social media that she had been sexually assaulted, forced into a sexual […]
Posted inWorld
Israel/Palestine: Designation of Palestinian Rights Groups as Terrorists Is an Attack on the Human Rights Movement
New York, October 22, 2021 – The Israeli Defense Ministry on October 19, 2021, issued a military order declaring six Palestinian civil society organizations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to be “terrorist organizations.” The groups are Addameer, al-Haq, Defense for Children Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Bisan Center for Research and Development, and the Union of Palestinian […]
Posted inWorld
Africa: Covid-19 Aid Falling Short
Nairobi, October 12, 2021 – The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for African governments to strengthen social protection systems and fulfill people’s rights to social security and an adequate standard of living, Human Rights Watch said today. Many African governments introduced measures like cash transfers and food assistance in response to the rising poverty and hunger […]
Posted inUS
Advance Human Right to Safe, Affordable Water, Says Human Rights Watch
The United States Congress should support programs that ensure everyone in the US has access to safe and affordable water, Human Rights Watch said in a video released today. To advance this crucial goal, the US government should recognize that access to clean water is a fundamental human right. The Human Rights Watch video, which […]
Posted inWorld
Lebanon: UN Should Set Probe into Beirut Blast, Says Human Rights Watch
Beirut, June 15, 2021 – Member states at the United Nations’ Human Rights Council should establish an international, independent, and impartial investigative mission, such as a one-year fact-finding mission, into the Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020, 53 Lebanese, regional, and international rights groups and individuals, as well as 62 survivors and families of […]
Posted inWorld
Afghanistan: UN Should Ensure Women’s Full Role in Talks
New York, April 7, 2021 – Women should have full participation in the talks between Afghan government officials, opposition political leaders, and the Taliban under United Nations auspices, Human Rights Watch said today. Human rights advocates in Afghanistan have raised concerns that women and victims’ organizations will be sidelined in the talks, tentatively scheduled for April 16, […]
Posted inWorld
Jordan: Widespread Imprisonment for Debt
Amman, March 16, 2021 – An alarming number of Jordanians end up in prison each year solely for failing to repay their loans, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Imprisonment for debt is a clear violation of international human rights law which few countries impose. In the 47-page report, “‘We Lost Everything’: Debt Imprisonment in Jordan,” Human Rights Watch documents […]