Burkina Faso’s Relentless Crackdown on Dissent, Media
“I rose through the ranks!” joked Maixent Somé, an exiled Burkinabè activist and critic of the country’s military junta on X yesterday, after learning that his name appears on a list of wanted terrorists. On April 1, Burkina Faso’s security minister published a list of individuals who are “actively wanted for criminal association in […]
Karakalpak Lawyer Imprisoned in Uzbekistan Alleges Torture, Again
New allegations of ill-treatment and torture by Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, the wrongfully imprisoned Karakalpak blogger and lawyer, have emerged following a prison visit by his lawyer. In a March 24 statement, Tazhimuratov’s attorney, Sergey Mayorov, detailed “mental and physical torture,” including beatings by other inmates at the behest of prison officials and filthy conditions in Tazhimuratov’s cell. […]
Germany’s Social Democrats Should Defend EU Supply Chains Laws
Twelve years ago this April, the Rana Plaza factory building in Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1,100 garment workers and injuring more than 2,000 in one of the largest workplace disasters in modern history. The Rana Plaza tragedy fueled a global movement calling for mandatory human rights rules for businesses, which ultimately led the European Union […]
New Risks from Latest Scheme under Italy-Albania Immigration Deal
After building immigration facilities in Albania that now stand empty, the Italian government has decided to turn one of them into an offshore detention center. But this will only replicate the problems already seen in detention centers within Italy. The facility in Gjader, Albania, was built to accommodate and process adult male asylum seekers that […]
Hungary: Arrest, Don’t Welcome ICC Fugitive Netanyahu
(Washington, DC) – Hungary should deny entry to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or arrest him if he enters the country, Human Rights Watch said today. Netanyahu’s office announced that he is planning to travel to Hungary on April 2, 2025, following an invitation by Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Netanyahu is subject to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal […]
Japan Makes High School Education Free – Again
Japan’s parliament, the Diet, voted this week to make public high school free for all children. Tuition fees had been abolished in 2010, but then reinstated in 2013. The new measure, approved in the budget, will expand equal opportunity in education, and should increase education access and certainty for children of parents with unstable incomes or […]
Backsliding on Landmines Endangers Civilian Lives
The International Day for Mine Action on April 4 is a moment to highlight the work of the thousands of deminers around the world who clear and destroy landmines and explosive remnants of war. They risk their lives to help communities recover from armed conflict and its intergenerational impacts. But due to devastating developments driven […]
Myanmar: Allow Immediate Aid to Quake-Stricken Areas
(Bangkok) – Myanmar’s military junta should allow immediate unfettered access to humanitarian aid for earthquake survivors and lift restrictions that impede the emergency response, Human Rights Watch said today. Since the earthquake struck at 12:50 p.m. on March 28, 2025, the military has carried out airstrikes and limited internet access in severely affected areas, further complicating the […]
Uzbekistan: Free Blogger from Forced Psychiatric Detention
(Berlin, March 31, 2025) – The Uzbekistan government should immediately release and compensate the blogger and activist Valijon Kalonov who has been forcibly detained in a psychiatric hospital since December 2021, the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch said today. On February 28, 2025, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention […]
Sudan: 20th Anniversary of Darfur ICC Referral
Two decades after the United Nations Security Council referred crimes in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC), impunity for crimes in Sudan continues to embolden rights abusers to commit further grave crimes during the current hostilities without fear of prosecution. The ICC’s mandate is limited to Darfur, leaving no independent judicial mechanisms to investigate […]