• Burundi: Concerns About New Media Law
    Letter
    Apr 25, 2013
  • Kenya: New Leaders Should Put Rights First
    Press release
    Apr 23, 2013
    Kenya’s new administration should take urgent steps in four key areas to address longstanding human rights challenges, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The administration should ensure that abusive security forces are held to account, protect independent voices, accelerate key police and land reforms, and cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
  • Universal Periodic Review: HRW Submission on Azerbaijan
    Written statement
    Apr 18, 2013
    Azerbaijan’s human rights record has been on a continual decline since the previous UPR in 2009, casting serious doubt on the government’s willingness to abide by its commitments and to reform. The long-repressive atmosphere for independent journalists, political activists, and human rights defenders has grown acutely hostile, with authorities using imprisonment as a tool for political retribution and clamping down on freedom of assembly, breaking up peaceful demonstrations, often violently.
  • Burundi: New Law Would Muzzle Journalists
    Press release
    Apr 12, 2013

    The adoption of a new media law by Burundi’s National Assembly on April 3, 2013, is an attempt to curtail free speech and independent journalism. The Senate and president should reject this version of the draft law, which would undermine Burundians’ hard-won struggle for fundamental freedoms.

  • Libya: Release Ailing Newspaper Editor
    Press release
    Apr 12, 2013
    Libyan authorities should immediately drop criminal defamation charges and free Amara Hassan al-Khatabi, editor of al-Ummah daily. Al-Khatabi, who has been in detention since December 19, 2012, is on trial for “insulting” and “slandering” members of the judiciary. His private lawyer was not allowed to visit him while he was detained in prison and says he was transferred to a medical facility due to his fragile health on April 6, 2013, where he remains detained under guard.
  • Ethiopia: Muslim Protesters Face Unfair Trial
    Press release
    Apr 2, 2013
    The prosecution of 29 Muslim protest leaders and others charged under Ethiopia’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law raises serious fair trial concerns. The trial is scheduled to resume in Addis Ababa on April 2, 2013, after a 40-day postponement.
  • Yemen: Possible Military Role in Journalist’s Killing
    Press release
    Mar 16, 2013
    Yemeni authorities should ensure that an investigation into the killing of a journalist and another man in Aden fully and impartially examines the military’s possible role and brings those responsible to justice.
  • Somalia: Woman Alleging Rape Cleared, Journalist Convicted
    Press release
    Mar 3, 2013
    An appeals court’s ruling to uphold the conviction of a journalist who interviewed a woman alleging rape by government forces is a major setback for freedom of the media in Somalia. The woman, who had also been convicted of “insulting the government” and other alleged crimes, was found not guilty.
  • Should Companies Take Responsibility for Repression?
    Commentary
    Feb 13, 2013
    The Arab uprisings have been a poignant reminder of how the Internet can promote free expression and assembly, but also how governments can try abuse it. The medium used by demonstrators to organize protests and bring medical supplies to Tahrir Square, for example, was also used by the government to pinpoint human rights defenders for arrest, harassment, and even torture.
  • Somalia: Second Journalist Detained Without Charge
    Press release
    Feb 11, 2013
    Somali authorities should immediately charge or release Daud Abdi Daud, a journalist who has been in custody since February 5, 2013. On February 11, he was transferred from police custody to Mogadishu Central Prison. Daud Abdi, who works for Kulmiye Radio, is secretary general of the Somali Media for Environment, Science, Health, and Agriculture.
  • Iraqi Kurdistan: Free Speech Under Attack
    Press release
    Feb 10, 2013
    Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) should stop arbitrarily detaining journalists, activists, and political opposition figures, and end its prosecution of journalists for insulting or defaming public figures. The Asayish – the Kurdistan Security Agency – and police arrested without warrants journalists and others who published articles criticizing public officials, and detained them without charge or trial for periods ranging from several weeks to a year.
  • Somalia: Woman Alleging Rape, Journalist Convicted
    Press release
    Feb 5, 2013
    A Somali court’s conviction of a woman who alleged rape by security forces, and a journalist who interviewed her, is a serious setback for ending sexual violence and protecting press freedom, five human rights and media organizations said today. The government should drop its groundless case against the journalist and the woman, and immediately order the release of the journalist, the organizations said.
  • Iran: Consolidating Power as Elections Near
    Press release
    Jan 31, 2013
    Authorities arrested, detained, and harassed some of Iran’s most celebrated rights lawyers, and stepped up their assault on critical journalists, bloggers, and their families in 2012, HumanRightsWatchsaidtodayinitsWorld Report 2013.The government also prevented reformists and opposition leaders from participating in parliamentary elections, and is holding the opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard under house arrest as Iran prepares for its presidential election in June 2013.
  • Letter to EU Foreign Ministers regarding their meeting with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud this week in conjunction with the EU Foreign Affairs Council
    Letter
    Jan 30, 2013
  • Letter to EU High Representative Catherine Ashton regarding her meeting with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
    Letter
    Jan 30, 2013
  • Somalia: Alleged Rape Victim Charged
    Press release
    Jan 29, 2013
    Somali authorities should drop politically motivated charges against five people including a journalist and a woman who alleged she was raped by state security forces.
  • Iran: Free Journalists Swept Up in Raids
    Press release
    Jan 29, 2013
    Iran’s judiciary should charge or immediately free more than a dozen journalists arrested in recent days,. Any criminal charges would have to be based on clear evidence, and not in themselves amount to a violation of the journalists’ fundamental rights, including their freedom of expression or association. The judiciary and all Iranian authorities should ensure that the rights of all journalists in Iran to freedom of expression are fully protected, particularly in the period leading up to the 2013 presidential election.
  • Venezuela: Halt Censorship, Intimidation of Media
    Press release
    Jan 12, 2013
    Venezuela should end censorship and intimidation of media that challenge the official line regarding President Hugo Chávez’s health and inauguration, Human Rights Watch said today.
  • China: Renewed Restrictions Send Online Chill
    Press release
    Jan 4, 2013

    The Chinese government’s further tightening of internet controls and mandating real name registration threaten security and privacy of internet users. On December 28, 2012, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s legislative body, passed the “Decision to Strengthen the Protection of Online Information.” The Decision contains troubling provisions that require internet access and telecommunications providers to collect personal information about users when they sign up for internet access, landline, or mobile phone service.