Pakistan: Forced Returns Expose Afghans to Persecution, Destitution
Pakistani authorities have intensified pressure on Afghan refugees to return to Afghanistan, where they risk persecution by the Taliban and face dire economic conditions. The human rights situation in Afghanistan has continued to deteriorate since the Taliban takeover. Those returning face unemployment, a broken healthcare system, and sharply declining levels of foreign assistance. Pakistan should […]
Mexico: Investigate Apparent Mass Killing Site
(Mexico City) – Mexican authorities should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation of the recent discovery by family members of missing people of hundreds of bone fragments and clothing items, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 5, 2025, a local group of volunteers who search for missing people reported the discovery of hundreds of shoes, clothing […]
Türkiye: Istanbul Mayor Detained | Human Rights Watch
(Istanbul, March 19, 2025) – The detention of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19, 2025, along with approximately 106 other municipal officials and politicians is a politically motivated move to stifle lawful political activities, Human Rights Watch said today. The mayor’s arbitrary detention undermines the rights of voters who elected him and the broader […]
Indonesia: Proposed Military Law Amendments Threaten Rights
Update: On March 20, 2025, the Indonesian parliament unanimously approved the amendments to the armed forces law. The law was immediately sent to President Prabowo for his signature. (New York) – Indonesia’s parliament should drop proposed amendments to the 2004 armed forces law that will significantly expand the military’s role in civilian governance and weaken […]
Prominent Burkina Faso Activist Feared Forcibly Disappeared
On Tuesday, the well-known political activist and journalist Idrissa Barry was arrested by men claiming to be gendarmes in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, sparking fears he has been forcibly disappeared. Barry, 48, is the national secretary of the opposition political group Servir et Non se Servir (“To Serve and Not Serve Oneself,” or SENS). According […]
Japan Doubts Myanmar Junta’s Election Plans
On March 21, during a session of the Japanese Diet on foreign affairs, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya expressed “serious concern” about the Myanmar military junta’s plans to hold national elections by January 2026. Myanmar junta leader Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing publicly announced the timeframe for the elections earlier this month during a visit to […]
Gaza: Israeli Military War Crimes While Occupying Hospitals
Israeli military forces caused deaths and unnecessary suffering of Palestinian patients while occupying hospitals in the Gaza Strip during the current hostilities, amounting to war crimes. The Israeli military’s denial of water and electricity left sick and wounded people to die, while soldiers mistreated and forcibly displaced patients and health workers, and damaged and destroyed hospitals. […]
Trump Administration Shutters Research Lab Tracking Stolen Ukrainian Children
The Trump administration has jeopardized efforts to find thousands of Ukrainian children illegally deported to Russia and Belarus, and in doing so, may have compromised evidence of war crimes by Russian officials. After the US State Department funded Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab in 2022 to work on Ukraine, the lab exposed the scope of Russian […]
Lebanon: Support Justice for Beirut Blast Victims, Families
(Beirut) – Lebanon’s new government should take all necessary measures to strengthen judicial independence and ensure that the investigation into the August 2020 Beirut port explosion can proceed without undue interference or obstruction, survivors and families of Beirut port blast victims and 18 rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, said today. The groups and individuals […]
Ending Racism Means Addressing Its Historic Legacies
Today marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the 60th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It is a day all governments should recommit to following international human rights law as a guide to ending structural racism once and for all. Racism, in […]