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European Union: Rules for Batteries Should Cover Bauxite, Copper, Iron

New Law Includes Obligation to Address Abuses in Battery Supply Chains

(Brussels) – The European Union’s proposed batteries regulation should require importers and manufacturers to source the bauxite, copper, and iron used in batteries responsibly, a coalition of 16 organizations said today. The coalition includes…
Man Washing Clothes Near Bauxite Mining
News

Israel: Release Long Detained Gaza Aid Worker

6 Years After Arrest, Mohammad al-Halabi Has Not Been Convicted of a Crime

(Jerusalem) – Israeli authorities should immediately release Mohammad al-Halabi, a humanitarian worker from Gaza detained for nearly six years both before and during his trial, Human Rights Watch said today. The Israeli Supreme Court on February 17,…
Palestinian demonstrators hold posters of Mohammad al-Halabi
News

EU: Disappointing Draft on Corporate Due Diligence

Lawmakers Should Fix Loopholes, Adopt Pathbreaking Legislation

(Brussels) – The European Commission’s new corporate due diligence proposal needs significant improvements to prevent and address human rights abuses and environmental harm, including in companies’ global supply chains, Human Rights Watch said today.…
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News

Europe: Ban Trade with Illegal Settlements

Trade with Settlements in Occupied Territories Contributes to Rights Abuses

(Brussels, February 21, 2022) – The European Commission should prohibit EU trade with settlements in occupied territories globally, Human Rights Watch said today as it signed onto a European Citizen’s Initiative (ECI). The citizen-led initiative,…
An aerial shot of a housing community
News

Human Rights Watch Among Pegasus Spyware Targets

Governments Should Urgently Halt Trade in Surveillance Technology

(New York) – The targeting of a Human Rights Watch staff member with Pegasus spyware underscores the urgent need to regulate the global trade in surveillance technology, Human Rights Watch said today. Governments should ban the sale, export, transfer…
NSO Group Protest
News

Myanmar: TotalEnergies Endorses Targeted Sanctions

Clear Path for US, France, EU to Block Gas Revenue Payments to Junta

(Paris) – The French company TotalEnergies has signaled support for targeted sanctions on Myanmar’s natural gas revenues to block the country’s abusive military junta from profiting from hundreds of millions of dollars in payments, Human Rights Watch…
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News

EU: Put Fundamental Rights at Top of Digital Regulation

More Ambitious Agenda, Stronger Safeguards Needed

(Brussels) – The European Union’s draft rules to regulate internet platforms have the potential to better protect human rights online, Human Rights Watch said today. But the European Parliament should be more ambitious in holding technology companies…
EU Digital Regulation
News

EU: Sanction NSO Group Over Abusive Spyware

Civil Society Groups, Experts Urge Action Against Company

(Brussels) – The European Union should adopt targeted sanctions against NSO Group, the Israel-based company that produces spyware, 88 human rights groups and independent experts said today in a letter to the EU foreign policy chief and foreign…
NSO Group logo on building
News

Joint Letter Urging EU Targeted Sanctions Against NSO Group

Dear EU High Representative Borrell and Foreign Ministers of the EU member states, We are writing following credible revelations that Israeli NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware was used to hack the devices of six Palestinian human rights activists – the…
News

EU: Artificial Intelligence Regulation Threatens Social Safety Net

Clear Red Lines, Stronger Safeguards Needed

(Brussels) – The European Union’s plan to regulate artificial intelligence is ill-equipped to protect people from flawed algorithms that deprive them of lifesaving benefits and discriminate against vulnerable populations, Human Rights Watch said in…
EU Media Conference on Artificial Intelligence
Report

Dismantling Detention

Summary As the harmful effects of immigration detention become more widely known and the appropriateness of detaining migrants is increasingly questioned, governments are looking at alternatives to detention as more humane and rights-respecting…
News

Israel/Palestine: Facebook Censors Discussion of Rights Issues

Independent Investigation, Alignment with International Standards Needed

(Washington, DC) – Facebook has wrongfully removed and suppressed content by Palestinians and their supporters, including about human rights abuses carried out in Israel and Palestine during the May 2021 hostilities. The company’s acknowledgment of…
A Palestinian demonstrator holds a banner of the Facebook logo.
News

Joint NGO Statement in Response to the GSP Draft Regulation

(Brussels) The GSP Platform and the undersigned organisations take note of the draft Generalised Scheme of preferences (GSP) regulation presented by the European Commission. We appreciate the inclusion of several new conventions, such as the UN…
Joint NGO Statement
News

EU: Robustly Implement New Export Rules for Surveillance Tech

Investigate Human Rights Violations Involving Pegasus Spyware

As new EU export controls come into force on 9 September with the recast Dual-Use Regulation[1], we, the undersigned organizations, call upon the European Commission as well as all 27 EU member states to follow up on their promise of creating a…
Human Rights Watch, Access Now, Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders call for robust implementation of new EU export control rules on surveillance technology and investigation of EU member states’ role in Pegasus affair
News

Unchecked Spyware Industry Enables Abuses

Governments Should Halt Trade in Surveillance Technology

(New York) – Recent reports that NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware has been used for surveillance of dozens of journalists, human rights activists, and others demonstrate the urgent need for governments to suspend the trade in surveillance technology until…
People march in Budapest, Hungary during a July 26, 2021 protest against the Hungarian government over reports that it has used Pegasus spyware.
News

Joint Letter from Human Rights, Labor Rights, & Development Organizations to European Commission

Complementary Action Needed to Address Unfair Purchasing Practices and Achieve Goals of Upcoming Sustainable Corporate Governance Directive

Dear Commissioners Reynders and Breton, We – a group of human rights, labour rights and development organizations – welcome the European Commission’s commitment to ensure that the economic recovery will be fairer and more sustainable as we come out…
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News

Seven Reasons the EU is Wrong to Oppose the TRIPS Waiver

As the Covid-19 pandemic has devastating human rights, social, and economic consequences across the globe, European Union (EU) representatives have repeatedly stated their commitment to the idea that Covid-19 vaccines should be a universal common good…
People wait to get tested for Covid-19 in Hyderabad, India. A crowd stands before two health care workers.
News

EU: Robustly Carry Out New Surveillance Tech Rules

Updated Regulations Aim to Restrict Sales to Abusive Governments

(Brussels) – The improvements to the European Union’s export controls rules on surveillance technology are so fragile that only rigorous efforts to carry them out will prevent EU technology from landing in the hands of abusive governments, Human…
European lawmakers stand up during a signing ceremony at the European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium, March 10, 2021. 

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