(Washington, DC, May 19, 2022) – The US military’s review of a 2019 airstrike in Syria highlights fundamental and ongoing flaws in US handling of accountability for civilian harm, Human Rights Watch said today. The US Defense Department on May 17,…

(Beirut) – Egypt’s Ministry of Religious Endowments should end all arbitrary restrictions on religious gatherings, prayers, and practices during the final days of Ramadan and the upcoming Eid celebrations, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 20,…

(Beirut) – An Egyptian court sentenced two singers to a year in prison and fines on March 28, 2022, on charges that violate their right to freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should announce that it will not enforce…

(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…

(Beirut) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should ensure that any new loan program with Egypt expands social protection, strengthens judicial independence, and addresses corruption and the need for transparency, including for military-owned…

(Beirut) – Egyptian police arbitrarily arrested at least 30 Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers during raids in December 2021 and January 2022 and subjected some to forced physical labor and beatings, Human Rights Watch said today. Some of the…

(Beirut) – Saudi Arabian authorities have unjustly detained 10 Nubian Egyptians for 20 months on abusive speech, association, and terrorism charges, Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi authorities arrested four of the men in October 2019 after…

(Beirut) – Three Egyptian activists began hunger strikes on February 10 and 11, 2022, to protest their indefinite pretrial detention, Human Rights Watch said today. Egyptian authorities should immediately release the activists or present evidence of…

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…

(Beirut) - Egyptian authorities should urgently provide health care to Salah Soltan, the detained father of a prominent Egyptian rights defender living in the US, or immediately release him to receive medical attention and investigate claims…

(Beirut) – Egyptian security forces forcibly disappeared a man after the unscheduled landing of his flight in Luxor, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should immediately reveal his whereabouts and the legal basis for his arrest. On…

(Beirut) – Egyptian authorities are deporting Eritreans seeking asylum, including children, without assessing their asylum claims or other protection needs, Human Rights Watch said today. On December 24, 2021, Egypt deported 24 Eritrean asylum…

(New York) – A lack of sufficient safeguards in procurement practices by UN agencies providing aid in Syria has resulted in a serious risk of financing abusive entities, Human Rights Watch and the Syrian Legal Development Programme said today. The two…

(Berlin) – Judges in Frankfurt, Germany will begin hearing evidence on January 19, 2022 in a trial involving allegations of torture and murder by state agents during Syria’s decade-long brutal armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said today. The start…

(Berlin) – The conviction of a former Syrian intelligence officer for crimes against humanity by a German court is a ground-breaking step toward justice for serious crimes in Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. The judgment is a meaningful…

(Beirut) – Egypt’s superficial attempts to create an impression of human rights progress failed to disguise the government’s brutal repression of all manner of dissent in 2021, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2022. Despite ending…

(Beirut) – The Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), long one of Egypt’s leading independent human rights organizations, announced on January 10, 2022, that it was ending operations after nearly 18 years, Human Rights Watch said today.…

(Beirut) – Lebanon’s Education Ministry should extend the December 4, 2021, school registration deadline for Syrian children and end policies that are blocking Syrian refugee children’s access to education, Human Rights Watch said today. Thousands of…

(Beirut) – Egyptian authorities should cease the harassment and persecution of prominent human rights defender and journalist, Hossam Bahgat, who faces abusive charges intended to punish him solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression and…

(New York) – The United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) September 2021 Egypt Human Development Report includes false and misleading claims, Amnesty International, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and Human Rights Watch said today.…