Policy Brief for the African Union
Human Rights Watch respectfully submits this brief in contribution to the African Union’s efforts to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms on the continent.
Topic
Social issues
A collection of 1318 articles
Germany Indicts Alleged Gambia ‘Death Squad’ Driver
Germany has forged ahead with efforts to bring justice for grave crimes with the indictment of a Gambian national accused of being a former member of a Gambian “death squad.” Bai L.
Experts warned NATO expansion would lead to War; but nobody listened
Russia’s offensive in Ukraine has provoked serious backlash around the world, particularly in the Western world – an understandable reaction against a war of aggression in violation of international law. However, it’s also true that this outcome had been predicted by the world’s foremost foreign-policy experts for decades.
Russia Criminalizes Independent War Reporting, Anti-War Protests
(Berlin) – Russia has enacted two laws, adopted and brought into force on March 4, that criminalize independent war reporting and protesting the war, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison, Human Rights Watch said today.
The laws make it illegal to spread “fake news” about the Russian armed
French Presidential Election - Voting for Human Rights: A Guide for 2022
In France’s 2022 presidential election, many topics of importance to voters involve fundamental human rights.
Chile Needs More Free Speech, Not Less
Chilean institutions were put to a test in October 2019, when thousands of people took to the streets with demands that started over the price of public transportation and broadened to reflect generalized anger over economic inequality.
The election of a Constituent Assembly to write a new Constitution emerged as
How Far Will Russian Forces Go in Ukraine?
As Russian forces invading Ukraine confront stronger and more effective resistance than the Kremlin probably anticipated, the big question is: what comes next.
UN rights body should urgently create monitoring & accountability mechanism
“We left because we live with no bomb shelter,” Yulia told Human Rights Watch.Just like her, close to 800,000 have fled Ukraine in search of safety, and over 100,000 have been internally displaced.
Florida’s 15-Week Abortion Ban Threatens Rights and Dignity
The Senate for the US state of Florida passed a cruel and dangerous bill today that will ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Rwanda gets free pass at African Court
In January 2014, I was invited to visit Rwanda in my capacity as the UN special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
Ukraine: Countries Request ICC War Crimes Inquiry
Thirty-eight governments have taken a significant step toward ensuring documentation of potential war crimes by asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to open an investigation in Ukraine, Human Rights Watch said today. On February 28, 2022, the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, signaled his intention to seek to open a
In Guatemala, A Fresh Crackdown on Prosecutors
Following the most recent corruption allegations against Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, Attorney General Consuelo Porras issued a new round of arrest warrants for anti-corruption prosecutors from her own office, which had been investigating the president and other high-level officials. Some are now behind bars. Many others have resigned or fled
Migration Groups Use Russian War to Tout Migration
The United States government should cripple Russia by inviting Russian graduates to take the jobs sought by U.S.graduates, say the pro-migration advocates at the libertarian website Reason.com.
US State of the Union: Democracy and Human Rights
The following is an excerpt from a longer piece offering perspectives from various authors on multiple fronts of United States foreign policy ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on March 1, 2022. By comparison with the dismal performance of former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden
UK Gov’t to make some “Covid Laws” permanent
Legislation aims to make “digital courtroom” a permanent fixture of UK justice.
Some of the UK’s “temporary” measures intended to help “deal with the pandemic” are going to be added to future legislation and made permament laws by the spring of this year.
Of course, the truth is that