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 […]
Human Rights Watch
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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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, […]
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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 […]
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‘New’ Dream Act Not Full Reform, Says Human Rights Watch
Washington, DC, March 4, 2021 – Congress should make significant changes to a version of the Dream Act introduced on March 3, 2021 in the United States House of Representatives, Human Rights Watch said today. The bill, the American Dream and Promise Act, or H.R. 6, was introduced by Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard and other lawmakers. […]
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Haiti: Attacks on Judicial Independence
New York, February 22, 2021 – UN Security Council members should press the government of Haiti to uphold judicial independence, respect due process, and repeal its recent arbitrary changes to the Supreme Court’s composition, Human Rights Watch said today. They should also ensure that when extending the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in […]
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Russia: Police Detain Thousands in Pro-Navalny Protests
Moscow, January 25, 2021 – On January 23, 2021, police detained more than 3,650 people across Russia at nationwide protests against the arrest of political opposition figure Alexey Navalny and against state corruption, Human Rights Watch said today. It was the largest number of people detained on a single day in the country according to […]
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HRW: Urgently Waive Intellectual Property Rules for Vaccine
Geneva, December 10, 2020 – Governments should stop blocking a temporary waiver of some global intellectual property rules that will help boost global access to Covid-19 vaccines, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today ahead of a key World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Geneva on December 10, 2020. If adopted, the waiver proposal […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Aruna Kashyap and Margaret Worth: Waiving Intellectual Property Rules Key to Beating Covid-19
November 16, 2020 – With two companies, Pfizer and BioNTech, having announced promising early results for a Covid-19 vaccine they are developing, governments in the United States, European Union, and the United Kingdom are racing to prebook hundreds of millions of doses for their own use. But as long as intellectual property rights limit the production of and access […]
Posted inCalifornia
Prop 22 Deprives Gig Workers’ Minimum Wage, Says Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International
Los Angeles, November 9, 2020 – The passage of Proposition 22 in California is a blow to the rights of gig workers, effectively stripping them of the state’s minimum wage guarantee, paid sick leave, and other protections, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint statement today. Prop 22, a ballot initiative that […]
Posted inUS
REPORT: Elections Officials Pandemic Response Impaired Right to Vote in Primary Elections
Washington, DC, September 22, 2020 – Responses by election officials in the United States to the Covid-19 pandemic seriously impaired some people’s ability to vote in primary elections, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Election officials need to ensure that every method of voting allowed in their state is easy to access […]
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Saudi Arabia: Prominent Detainees Held Incommunicado
Beirut, September 6, 2020 – Saudi Arabia has denied some prominent detainees contact with their family members and lawyers for months, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter requesting access to the country and private prison visits with detainees. The situation raises serious concerns for the detainees’ safety and well-being. Saudi authorities have banned […]