Throughout the year, HRW covered many human rights topics and crises around the world. From investigations into crimes against humanity and war crimes in Israel, Gaza, and Sudan, to rollbacks and victories for peoples' freedoms, these were among the most-read stories on our site in 2024.
- Philippines' Duterte Arrested on ICC Warrant
The arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his transfer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague marked a historic step toward justice.
2. Report: Abusive Practices at Florida Immigration Detention Centers
In July, we released a 92-page report detailing how detainees in three Florida immigration detention centers were being subjected to inhuman conditions, including denial of medical care, overcrowding, and degrading treatment.
3. Trump Administration's Rejection of Trans Identity, Rights
Within hours of returning to power in January, President Donald Trump issued a stunningly broad executive order seeking to dismantle crucial protections for transgender people.
4. The Lonely Death of a Rwandan General
Retired Brig. Gen. Frank Rusagara died in Rwanda in April. He had spent 11 years behind bars after being forced into retirement in 2013 against a backdrop of growing repression by Rwanda’s ruling party.
5. Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Comedy Festival Whitewashed Abuses
The Saudi government used the widely-publicized Riyadh Comedy Festival earlier this year to deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations.
6. Israeli Killings of Palestinians Seeking Food in Gaza are War Crimes
In August, we released a report detailing how a flawed, militarized aid distribution system in Gaza turned distributions into regular bloodbaths.
7. Hungary's Orbán Government Withdraws from the ICC
Hungary’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court marked an insult to victims and survivors of the world’s worst crimes.
8. South Korean Census to Count Same-Sex Couples
In October, South Korea's Ministry of Data and Statistics updated the 2025 Population and Housing Census to allow same-sex couples to be counted. The decision marked an important step for the rights of LGBT people in South Korea.
9. Alarm Bells Go Off in Ethiopia
In November, HRW's Director of Crisis Advocacy Akshaya Kumar wrote about how the fragile truce largely insulating civilians in northern Ethiopia from war crimes and other abuses appeared to be unraveling.
10. German Proposal to Strip Citizenship Threatened Rights
A leaked paper earlier this year revealed that Germany’s conservative political parties wanted to add a clause to Germany’s Nationality Law to allow the country to revoke German nationality from dual nationals if they are deemed “supporters of terrorism, antisemites and extremists.”
