(Tokyo) – Leaders of the United States, Japan, India, and Australia should reach agreements on new measures to address human rights crises and democratic backsliding in Asia, Human Rights Watch said today. The Quad, a security alliance of the leaders…

(Seoul) – US President Joseph Biden and newly elected South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol should pledge to include human rights benchmarks in future negotiations with North Korea, Human Rights Watch said today. Biden is visiting South Korea on May 20…

(Amman) – Jordan should commit to fully ending debt imprisonment before the present moratorium expires in June 2022. The parliament has passed amendments to the main law that mandates debt imprisonment in Jordan. While the amendments are an…

(Washington, DC) – Several decrees issued by Peruvian President Pedro Castillo that suspend basic rights in certain areas of the country are disproportionate measures that open the door to abuse, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 7, 2022,…

The 19th annual Human Rights Watch Canada Film Festival (HRWFF), in its third year of partnership with Hot Docs, will present five films about key issues of the day to audiences in Toronto and, for the second time, digitally across Canada. The film…

(Ottawa) – Canada’s practice of incarcerating immigration detainees in provincial jails is inconsistent with international human rights standards, and jail conditions potentially breach federal-provincial immigration detention contracts, Human Rights…

Canada is effectively preventing a Canadian woman and a young Canadian child detained in northeast Syria from coming home for life-saving medical care despite a Canadian policy allowing them to do so, Human Rights Watch said today. That policy allows…

(New York) – North Korea’s unnecessary and extreme restrictions to contain the Covid-19 pandemic helped tighten government control while creating a humanitarian crisis, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2022. “North Korea used Covid…

(Seoul) – The 10th anniversary of the death of North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Il should focus global attention on the brutal rule of his son Kim Jong Un, Human Rights Watch said today. Kim Jong Il died on December 17, 2011. During the 10…

(New York) – Pilot programs testing alternatives to immigration detention in several countries, including the United States, offer governments models for more humane and rights-respecting approaches, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today…

(Beirut) – Syrian refugees who returned to Syria between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan faced grave human rights abuses and persecution at the hands of the Syrian government and affiliated militias, Human Rights Watch said in a report released…

(Ottawa) – Provincial governments should sever their contracts to hold immigration detainees in provincial jails, where many experience abusive conditions, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today in opening a joint national campaign, #…

(New York) – Bryan Russell, a Peruvian human rights advocate, is the 2021 recipient of the Human Rights Watch Marca Bristo Fellowship for Courageous Leadership in Disability Rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Russell, 29, is a passionate…

(Ottawa) – New climate legislation adopted by the Canadian parliament on June 29, 2021 will increase transparency and accountability for the Canadian government’s efforts to meet its climate change commitments, Human Rights Watch said today.…

(Ottawa) – Canada incarcerates thousands of people, including those with disabilities, on immigration-related grounds every year in often abusive conditions, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today in a joint report ahead of World…

(Washington, DC) – Countries with troops departing Afghanistan should accelerate programs to resettle former Afghan interpreters and other employees who are increasingly at risk from Taliban forces, Human Rights Watch said today. The planned…

(London) – G7 member countries should take immediate and concrete action to end fossil fuel subsidies, Human Rights Watch said in a question-and-answer document released today. Ending these subsidies is key to countries meeting their human rights…

(Beirut) – Governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) should outlaw the violent discipline of children, Human Rights Watch said today, introducing an index categorizing countries in the region based on their laws and policies. The MENA…

(Washington, DC) – The United States government should emphasize the promotion of human rights in its policies on North Korea, 11 human rights groups said today in a letter to President Joe Biden. The groups, including Human Rights…

(Amman) – Jordanian authorities have deported at least four Yemeni asylum seekers registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and have issued deportation orders against others who made asylum claims, Human Rights Watch…