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Egypt: Release Autopsy Report, Investigate Suspicious Death

Economist Died in Custody After Enforced Disappearance

(Beirut) – Egyptian authorities should urgently release the autopsy report and investigate the suspicious death of economist Ayman Hadhoud, Human Rights Watch said today. Hadhoud was forcibly disappeared on February 5 or 6, 2022, and died in the…
Ayman Hadhoud
News

Egypt: Scholar Unjustly Detained

Vienna Academic Faces Abusive ‘Terrorism’ Charges

(Beirut) – Egyptian authorities should immediately release an anthropology master’s degree student at Central European University (CEU), or present evidence of actual criminal wrongdoing, Human Rights Watch said today. Police arrested the student,…
Ahmed Samir Santawy, an anthropology master’s student at Central European University (CEU) detained in February 2021.
News

Condemnation of Egypt’s Abuses at UN Rights Body

Overdue Action is a Step Forward

(Geneva, March 12, 2021) – Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world expressed their strong support today for a joint declaration by UN member states condemning the human rights situation in Egypt, which was delivered at the 46th…
Egyptian security forces cordon off roads during curfew hours in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, March 29, 2020
News

Human Rights Council: Countries Should Take Bold Action on Egypt

Monitoring, Tough Message on Dire Rights Situation Long Overdue

(Geneva) – Egypt’s human rights community is facing “annihilation” by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government, more than 100 leading human rights organizations from around the world have warned today in a letter to foreign ministers. The groups…
Egyptian security forces have been involved in systematic abuses such as enforced disappearance and torture and have used abusive counterterrorism laws and measures to crush peaceful dissent. Egyptian security forces stand guard outside one of the entranc
News

China: Free Journalists, Activists

Arbitrary Detentions for Independent Reporting, Criticizing Government

(New York) – The Chinese authorities have stepped-up arbitrary detentions of journalists and activists reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic and other issues, or criticizing the government, Human Rights Watch said today. Since the beginning of…
202012asia_china_dubin
News

China: Repression Threatens Winter Olympics

Letter to International Olympic Committee Urges Human Rights Risk Assessment

(New York) –The Chinese government’s heightened repression from Xinjiang to Hong Kong threatens its hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach. The…
Photo of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games logo in Zhangjiakou City where the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will take place, September 17, 2020, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, China. © 2020 Imaginechina via AP Images
News

Egypt: Police Beat Man to Death, Family Says

Relatives, Witnesses, Journalists Detained

Update: On the morning of October 6, Prosecutor General Hamada al-Sawi said in an official statement that he ordered journalist Basma Mostafa released pending investigation. Lawyers said she was ordered to pay bail of 2,000 EGP (US$128). Her release has…
Islam al-Australi, 26, who died in police custody.
News

Malaysia: Repeal Abusive Security Law

SOSMA Denies Right to Fair Trial

(Bangkok) – The Malaysian government should urgently repeal the draconian 2012 Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA), Human Rights Watch said today. The detention of 12 people, including two ruling coalition politicians, for more than…
Malaysia's national flag flies in front of the Federal Court on a hazy day in Putrajaya, Malaysia, October 6, 2015.
News

Egypt: Serious Abuses, War Crimes in North Sinai

Army’s Conduct Crushed, Alienated Local Residents

(Beirut) – Egyptian military and police forces in the Sinai Peninsula are committing serious and widespread abuses against civilians, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Some of these abuses, part of an ongoing campaign…
Egyptian army tanks and armored vehicles in Rafah in North Sinai sometime in 2018. The army has demolished thousands of homes in the city that borders Israel and Gaza, forcibly evicting almost the entire population.
News

Hong Kong: Scrap Proposed Extradition Changes

Transfers to China Would Risk Torture, Unfair Trials

(Hong Kong) – The Hong Kong government should withdraw proposed revisions to two laws concerning extradition, Human Rights Watch said today in a joint letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam. The amended laws would allow the transfer of…
In this Oct. 10, 2018, photo, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam attends a question and answer session after delivering her policy speech at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong.
News

UN: Don’t Let Egypt Undermine Expert’s Role

Protect Human Rights in Counterterrorism Operations

(Geneva) – States at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva should ensure that Egypt is not allowed to seize a leading role in relation to the mandate of the United Nations’ expert on human rights and counter-terrorism, nine…
Egyptian security forces have been involved in systematic abuses such as enforced disappearance and torture and have used abusive counterterrorism laws and measures to crush peaceful dissent. Egyptian security forces stand guard outside one of the entranc
News

Egypt: New Moves to Crush Dissent

Accelerating Measures to Enshrine Authoritarian Rule

(Beirut, January 17) – Egyptian authorities increasingly relied on counterterrorism and state of emergency laws to crush peaceful dissent during 2018, including by prosecuting journalists and human rights activists, Human Rights Watch…
A picture taken on July 26, 2018 shows Egyptian policemen stand guarding a street in the North Sinai provincial capital of El-Arish. With fruit and vegetables aplenty in the markets, public transport back on the roads and universities reopened, life is re
News

Egypt: Little Truth in Al-Sisi’s ‘60 Minutes’ Responses

Government Should Reveal Numbers of Prisoners

(Beirut) – President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt made several wrong claims in his appearance on January 6, 2019 on the “60 Minutes” TV show in the United States, Human Rights Watch said today. Among his statements…
Rab'a square protest in Cairo, Egypt.
News

Middle East Conflicts Spur Disastrous New Trends for Region

(Beirut) – Lawless armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) morphed into disastrous trends for the region in 2017, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its 2018 World Report. “Failed leadership, failed…
Smoke billows behind a building in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on December 3, 2017, during clashes between Houthi rebels and supporters of Yemeni ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. © 2017 Getty Images
News

Top 5 Reforms Middle East Governments Can Make in 2018

Respond to Youth Demands, Gain Respect in the World

(Beirut) – Middle East and North Africa (MENA) governments can respond to the popular demands of the region’s youth for reform by implementing five changes in 2018 to arbitrary, outdated legal systems that infringe upon citizens’ rights and liberties,…
Demonstration outside Parliament on December 6, 2016, with women in white dresses and wrapped in bandages, calling for the repeal of article 522 of the penal code.
News

Malaysia: Longtime Turkish Residents Detained

Authorities Should Allow Immediate Access to Lawyers, Family

(Kuala Lumpur) – Malaysian authorities on May 2, 2017, detained without charge two Turkish nationals who are longtime Kuala Lumpur residents, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should provide the basis for holding the men –…
Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysia’s inspector general of police.
News

Egypt: Videos Show Army Executions in Sinai

US, Other Countries Should Suspend Military Aid

(Beirut) – Egyptian military forces in the northern Sinai Peninsula executed at least two and as many as eight unarmed detainees and covered up the killings to make it appear that the victims were armed “terrorists” shot to death in a raid, Human Rights…
3) A member of a military-backed militia prepares to execute the second detainee. © 2017 Mekameleen
News

Egypt: Horrific Palm Sunday Bombings

State of Emergency Risks More Abuses

(Beirut) – The suicide bombings at two Egyptian churches on April 9, 2017, that killed at least 45 people are a terrifying reminder of the escalating threats facing Egypt’s Christian minority, Human Rights Watch said today. Two parishioners and a pastor…
Relatives of victims react next to coffins arriving to the Coptic church that was bombed on Sunday in Tanta, Egypt, April 9, 2017. © 2017 Reuters
News

China: Disclose Details of Terrorism Convictions

Overbroad Counterterrorism Legal Framework Opens Door to Abuses

(New York) ­– The Chinese authorities’ failure to release details about terrorism convictions heightens concerns that the country’s counterterrorism law is being used to prosecute nonviolent activity, Human Rights Watch said today. The 2017 Supreme People…
Zhou Qiang, president of China’s Supreme People’s Court, gives a speech during the National People’s Congress in Beijing on March 12, 2017.
News

Egypt: Court Names 1,500 to Terrorist List

Punishment Without Fair Hearing Mocks Due Process

(Beirut) – An Egyptian criminal court decision on January 12, 2017, designating about 1,500 citizens “terrorists” for their alleged assistance to the Muslim Brotherhood reflects the authorities’ indiscriminate use of broad counterterrorism laws, Human…
Detainees sit behind bars during the trial of 738 Muslim Brotherhood members accused of staging an armed sit-in at Rabaa square, at a court on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, May 31, 2016.

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