News | Human Rights Watch

January 5, 2026 Dispatches

India’s Top Court Rejects Bail for Long-Held Student Activists

Counterterrorism Law Misused to Crack Down on Peaceful Protests, Free Speech

Prominent student activist Umar Khalid speaks during a protest against sectarian violence, the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens on March 3, 2020 in Dehli, India.

December 22, 2025 Dispatches

Azerbaijan Intensifies Crackdown on Political Opposition

End Repression of Popular Front Party; Investigate Party Member’s Death in Custody

Head of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan Ali Karimli (C) and his supporters hold an unauthorized rally to demand the right to freedom of assembly, in Baku, Azerbaijan, October 19, 2019.

December 19, 2025 Dispatches

In Uzbekistan, Motor Sports Body Misses the Mark on Rights

International Automobile Federation Should Adopt Stronger Human Rights Policies

The F1 Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, April 20, 2025.

December 19, 2025 Dispatches

Trump Labels Fentanyl ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’

Overdoses Need Public Health Action, Not Militarized Law Enforcement

US President Donald Trump shows a signed executive order classifying fentanyl as 'weapon of mass destruction' during a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, December 15, 2025.

December 18, 2025 Dispatches

Kazakhstan Draft ‘Morality’ Laws Threaten Rights

Vague Provisions Put Freedom of Expression at Risk

December 18, 2025 Dispatches

Growing Support for Treaty to Guarantee Free Education for Every Child

Sixty Countries Now Publicly Support Initiative

Children at a free government pre-primary school, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, November 2022.

December 17, 2025 Dispatches

In Memory of a Hungarian Activist

Gyula Balog (1959-2025) Was a Leading Voice for Housing Rights and Against Poverty

December 16, 2025 Dispatches

Sexual Harassment of Chinese Critics Abroad

Sexually Explicit Content Targets Exiles and Their Families

Carmen Lau, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist in exile, speaking during a rally at Downing Street, London, June 4, 2022.

December 16, 2025 Dispatches

Trump Administration Takes Aim at AI Accountability Laws

New Executive Order Promises Regulatory Vacuum

US President Donald Trump signs an Al initiative in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington DC, December 11, 2025.

December 15, 2025 Dispatches

Another Blow to Media Freedom in Ethiopia

Attacks on Deutsche Welle Underscore Broader Threat to the Independent Press

December 15, 2025 Dispatches

More than 1,000 Belarusians Remain in Prison for Exercising Their Rights

Minsk Should Free All Political Prisoners Unconditionally

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, one of released Belarusian prisoners, smiles as he arrives at the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, on December 13, 2025.

December 15, 2025 Dispatches

ICC Sentences Former Sudanese Militia Leader to 20 Years

Governments Should Back ICC, Pursue Additional Accountability Efforts

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman (also known as Ali Kosheib), a former leader of the Sudanese “Janjaweed” militias, waits to learn his sentence from the International Criminal Court following his conviction for war crimes and crimes against humanity, The Hague, Netherlands, December 9, 2025.

December 15, 2025 Dispatches

Good News for Children in 2025

From Access to Education to Wartime Protections

Displaced Syrian children laugh and play among temporary tents set up after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government near Idlib, Syria, May 15, 2025.

December 15, 2025 Dispatches

Azerbaijan’s Surveillance Platform Risks Sweeping Privacy Violations

Authorities Should Immediately Suspend the System

December 14, 2025 Dispatches

Australia Beach Shooting a Heinous Attack on Jewish Community

Two people stand hugging in front of flowers.

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Africa
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Americas
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Asia
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Europe/Central Asia
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Global
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United States
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Arms
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Children's Rights
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Free Speech
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Health
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Refugees and Migrants
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Rights of Older People
International Justice
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Technology and Rights
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Torture
United Nations
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Women's Rights
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-Domestic Workers
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-Sexual Violence
-Labor Rights
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-Women’s Health

#MeToo
'Remain in Mexico'
Azerbaijan Natural Resources and Human Rights
Beijing Winter Olympics 2022
Boko Haram
Brexit
Chechnya
China's Global Influence
Climate Talks 2017
COP27 - Climate Change Conference
COP28 - Climate Change Conference
COP29 - Climate Change Conference
COP30 - Climate Change Conference
Coronavirus
Crimes Against Humanity Treaty
Daily Brief
Disappearances in Yemen
Drugs and Human Rights
Duterte
Education for Syrian Refugee Children
Egypt Crackdown on Civil Society
Encryption
Ethiopian Protests
Europe: Refugees & Migrants’ Rights
Ferguson
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
Free Education for all Children
Gender-based Violence at Work
German Election
Global Supply Chains
Guinea's 2009 Stadium Massacre Trial
Hissène Habré
Hong Kong
Honor Killings
Iraq War 20 Years Later
ISIS
kafala system
Kashmir
Land Rights
Liu Xiaobo
Los Angeles Film Club
Mass Surveillance in China
Mediterranean Crisis
Mexico: Lessons from a Human Rights Catastrophe
Middle East Uprising
Nagorno-Karabakh
Philippines’ ‘War on Drugs’
Rabaa Massacre
Refugee Summits
Reparations in the United States
Right to Social Security
Rights of Persons with Albinism
Rohingya
Russia-Ukraine War
The Trial of Hissène Habré
The Trump Administration and Human Rights
Tigray Conflict
Uganda Elections 2016
US: Trump Presidential Transition
Uyghurs
World Cup 2018
World Humanitarian Summit
World Report 2024 News Releases
World Report 2025 News Releases
Xenophobia
Yahya Jammeh

Protecting Rights, Saving Lives