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Sahel: Top UN Rights Official Visits Burkina Faso, Niger

Governments Should Protect Civilians, Investigate Abuses

(Bamako) – Governments in the Sahel should adopt measures to better protect civilians, ensure that counterterrorism operations respect rights, and fully investigate abuses by all sides, Human Rights Watch said today. The United Nations High…
Map of the Sahel region
News

Civilians in Mali’s Ségou Region at Risk

Alleged Killings by Military, Armed Islamist Groups Go Unpunished

On October 25, one day after the United Nations Security Council concluded a visit to Mali, eight people including a young boy and a man in his 80s were found dead in the village of N’Dola, in the country’s central Ségou region. A villager who helped…
People stand over three bodies wrapped in fabric
News

Mali: Alleged ‘Disappearances,’ Executions by Security Forces

UN Security Council Should Urge Investigations of Abuses by All Sides

(Bamako) – Malian authorities should investigate a spate of alleged summary executions, enforced disappearances, and incommunicado detentions by government security forces, Human Rights Watch said today. The United Nations Security Council, visiting…
Col. Assimi Goïta is sworn in as Mali’s interim president on June 7, 2021. On May 24, Goïta overthrew the previous coup government, led by Bah Ndaw.
News

Cuba: Peaceful Protesters Systematically Detained, Abused

Arbitrary Detention, Ill-Treatment, Abusive Trials Affect Hundreds

(Washington, DC) – The Cuban government has systematically engaged in arbitrary detention, ill-treatment of detainees, and abuse-ridden criminal prosecutions in response to overwhelmingly peaceful anti-government protests in July 2021, Human Rights…
Uniformed police officers shove a man into a car by the head
News

Mali: Inquiry Links Basketball Federation to Sexual Abuse

Sport & Rights Alliance Calls for Protection, Remedy, Governance Reform

(Nyon, Switzerland) – The International Basketball Federation’s (FIBA) report on systemic sexual harassment and abuse within the Mali Basketball Federation (FMBB) vindicates the victims of abuse, survivors, whistleblowers, and activists who took…
Former President of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Hamane Niang attends the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 official mascot launch ceremony on April 18, 2018 in Beijing, China.
News

Another Political Detention in Mali

Release Advisor to Politicians Unless Charges Brought

Dr. Kalilou Doumbia, a jurist and advisor to Mali’s top political figures, went missing while en route to a meeting on September 6 at the University of Bamako, where he lectures on legal and political studies. “He told me he was on his way, but when…
The Sundiata Keïta army base in Kati, Mali, May 25, 2021. 
News

Cuba: Telecommunications Decree Curtails Free Speech

Latin American, US, EU Leaders Should Condemn New Restrictions on Internet

(Washington, DC) – A new decree and accompanying legislation announced by the Cuban government severely restricts freedom of expression online and threatens users’ privacy, Human Rights Watch said today. Governments in Latin America, as well as the…
Cuban Rolando Remedios shows a photo on his mobile phone of him being arrested during the July 11 protests. Remedios was released on August 6. 
News

Mali: Girls’ Basketball Coach Indicted for Sexual Assault

Amid Olympics, Legal Action Highlights Need to End Abuse in Sport

(New York) – The Malian authorities’ arrest and indictment of a coach accused of sexual harassment and assault of teenage female basketball players is an important step for protecting children and women athletes from abuse, Human Rights Watch said…
Former President of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Hamane Niang attends the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 official mascot launch ceremony on April 18, 2018 in Beijing, China.
News

Letter to the Editor: the Turmoil in Cuba

Just as largely unprecedented mass street protests erupted on the streets in Cuba [“In the streets, Cubans ‘have lost their fear’, ” front page, July 13], the Coast Guard’s interdiction of a boat off the coast of Key West and summary return of Cubans…
A Coast Guard Station Marathon boat crew and 15 migrants aboard 45-foot Response Boat-Medium near Big Pine Key, Florida on July 3, 2021. Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Estrada. Source: United States Coast Guard
News

Cuba Responds to Landmark Demonstrations with Brutal Repression

Internet Outages as Protesters Are Detained, Held Incommunicado

Since July 11, thousands of Cubans have taken to the streets across the country in landmark demonstrations protesting longstanding restrictions on rights, scarcity of food and medicines, and the government’s poor response to the Covid-19 pandemic.…
Plainclothes officers detain a protester during a protest in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, July 11, 2021. 
News

New Pledges to End Child Marriage in Francophone Africa

Governments Need to Match Commitments with Action

Earlier in July, governments, philanthropies, and the private sector pledged almost $40 billion at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris to fight gender inequality over the next five years. The aim is to accelerate progress on women’s and girls’…
A girl holds the hand of a boy in Agadez, Niger on October 9, 2018.
News

Cuba: Clampdown on Artists, Journalists

Arbitrary Detention, Restrictions on Movement, Communications

(Washington, DC) – The Cuban government is committing systematic human rights abuses against independent artists and journalists, Human Rights Watch said today as it released a video on the abuses. In recent months, Cuban authorities have jailed…
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, an artist who has vocally criticized repression in Cuba, speaks during an interview at his home in Havana, Cuba, on May 2, 2018. Police and intelligence officers in Cuba have repeatedly harassed and detained Alcántara.
Video

What Cuba doesn't want you to know about its artists and musicians.

(Washington, DC, June 30, 2021) – The Cuban government is committing systematic human rights abuses against independent artists and journalists, Human Rights Watch said today as it released a video on the abuses. In recent months, Cuban authorities…
News

Mali: Basketball Federation Covers Up Sexual Assault of Girls

Government, IOC, FIBA Should Investigate Players’ Allegations

(June 14, 2021) – Players from Mali’s Under-18 girls’ national basketball team have reported sexual abuse by the head coach, but the Mali Basketball Federation has failed to act on their reports, Human Rights Watch said today. Malian law enforcement…
Former President of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Hamane Niang attends the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 official mascot launch ceremony on April 18, 2018 in Beijing, China.
News

Mali: Killings, ‘Disappearances’ in Military Operations

Investigate Alleged Security Force Abuses in Mopti Region

(Bamako) – Malian soldiers have allegedly killed at least 34 villagers, forcibly disappeared at least 16 people, and severely mistreated detainees during counterterrorism operations in Mali’s central Mopti region, Human Rights Watch said today.…
A member of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) patrols a road in central Mali, February 2020.
News

The human rights of older women

Submission to the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons

This submission is based on Human Rights Watch research on human rights issues impacting older women,[1] including domestic violence, abuse, and neglect in residential institutions for older people, abuses during armed conflict, and health disparities…
News

When Will There be Justice for Mali Massacre?

Two Years Since Over 150 Civilians Killed in Ogossagou Village

The worst atrocity in Mali’s recent history occurred two years ago, on March 23, when over 150 civilians were massacred in Ogossagou village. Dozens of survivors described to Human Rights Watch how heavily armed ethnic Dogon men attacked the village…
202002AFR_Mali_main
News

Mali: Due Process Concerns in ‘Conspiracy’ Case

Lack of Evidence, Prolonged Pretrial Detention

(Bamako) – Mali’s justice officials should scrupulously respect due process rights in the case of five men detained since December 2020 for allegedly plotting a coup against the Malian transitional government, Human Rights Watch said today.  …
The Administrative Park in Mali’s capital, Bamako, in which the Ministry of Justice is located, January 2017.