Human Rights Watch

Israel outlaws Palestinian human rights groups, sparking outcry

Israel has outlawed six prominent Palestinian human rights groups by declaring them terrorist organisations, in a major escalation of its decades-long crackdown on political activism in the occupied territories.

Rights group: Brazil's Bolsonaro blocking critics on social media

Human Rights Watch’s Brazil director Maria Laura Canineu said Jair Bolsonaro is trying to rid his social media accounts of people and institutions that disagree with him and turn them into spaces where only applause is allowed.

HRW calls for UN probe, sanctions over Bangladesh 'enforced disappearances'

The Bangladeshi security forces routinely commit enforced disappearances and the government has ignored calls to address the culture of impunity, the organisation said.

Top Lebanese officials implicated in Beirut blast, UN probe recommended

One year later, a HRW report examines how Lebanese authorities were responsible for one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions that killed over 200 people and wounded 7,000.

Why HRW is calling for an ICC inquiry into Israeli 'war crimes'

Human Rights Watch urges the necessity of an international inquiry into Israeli aggression on Gaza in May.

Rights group finds evidence of war crimes by Israel in 11-day war on Gaza

Human Rights Watch has found there were “no evident military targets” in three Israeli air strikes on Gaza and has also accused Palestinian groups of launching indiscriminate attacks on population centres.

Palestinians call for change of government at Abbas critic's funeral

Thousands of people accompanied Nizar Banat’s coffin through the streets of occupied West Bank, many of them chanting “the people want the fall of the regime” and “leave, leave Abbas”.

Afghan govt gathers local militias to halt advancing Taliban

Key politicians with background of anti-Taliban or anti-Soviet resistance are converging in their areas of influence to mobilise forces for a likely face-off with the marching Taliban. But rights groups fear such militias could become abusive force.

Why does Israel refuse to return the bodies of slain Palestinians?

Bodies of slain Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces kept in Israeli graves are identified by numbers and Human Rights Watch says they’re being used as “bargaining chips”.

South Korea failing to tackle digital sex crimes, rights group says

In 2019, almost 45 percent of sexual digital crime cases were dropped by the country’s prosecution, compared to 19 percent of robbery cases and 27.7 percent of homicides, a report by Human Rights Watch says.

HRW is contributing to a ‘human rights apocalypse’ in Kashmir

By parroting the Indian state’s narrative on the disputed territory, the rights organisation puts itself at odds with international law and misses the pattern of deliberate demographic change - or ethnic cleansing - against Kashmiri Muslims.

Amnesty pushes Iraq to reveal fate of nearly 650 missing Sunni Iraqi males

Amnesty International has asked Iraq to reveal location of 643 Sunni Muslim boys and men who disappeared during an operation by Shia paramilitaries of Hashd al Shaabi in 2016 to retake Fallujah from Daesh.