Masked US federal agents outside the immigration court in Manhattan's 26 Federal Plaza, New York City, October 31, 2025.
News Release
December 18, 2025

US: Masked Federal Agents Undermine Rule of Law

United States federal immigration enforcement agents now commonly operate masked and without visible identification, compounding the abusive and unaccountable nature of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, Human Rights Watch said today. The indefinite and widespread nature of these practices is fundamentally inconsistent with the United States’ obligations to ensure that law enforcement abuses are investigated and met with accountability.

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European activists march in Brussels on September 23, 2025 to protest EU governments’ efforts to weaken the EU’s corporate accountability law, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
December 16, 2025 | News Release

EU: Flagship Corporate Accountability Law Suffers Big Losses

The European Parliament’s approval on December 16, 2025, of final amendments watering down the EU’s flagship corporate accountability law severely undermines the EU’s ability to hold businesses’ accountable for human rights and environmental harms.

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    A woman stands in the forest with her hand on a wire fence.
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    SOUNDBITES

    Toto Arara

    Every year, the invaders clear more land for cattle. Then they burn it.

     

    SOUNDBITES

    Givanildo dos Santos Lima

    Today, the biggest driver of deforestation in the Amazon region is cattle ranching.

    DATE/PLACE

    February 2025

    Cachoeira Seca Indigenous Territory, Brazil

     

    Powdem Arara

    I don't know why the government doesn't remove the invaders from our land.

     

    Pyjaka Arara

    We, the Arara people, are very afraid of ranchers.

     

    Maria Márcia de Melo

    The landgrabbers made me lose 17 years of work in a matter of minutes. Look! It's all dead.

    DATE/PLACE

    November 2024

    PDS Terra Nossa, Brazil

     

    Maria dos Reis

    We can't say anything, or the land grabbers threaten us.

     

    Cleve Gonçalves da Silva

    And it's very dangerous here in Terra Nossa. They've already killed many people in this settlement.

     

    TITLE

    Invaded

    Watch full video at HRW.org
    Anti-Homosexuality Law Makes Supporting LGBT Loved Ones Dangerous

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          Children and women run among a cloud of dust at the village of El Gel, in Ethiopia’s Somali region, on January 12, 2023. The last five rainy seasons since the end of 2020 have failed, triggering the worst drought in four decades in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.

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