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Lebanon: Syrian Refugee Children Blocked from School

Education Ministry Should Remove Barriers; Extend Registration Deadline

(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…
202006syria_kids_education
News

Congress needs to investigate the Pentagon’s failure to protect civilians

A New York Times exposé on a previously undisclosed attack on dozens of noncombatants in Syria is indicative of DOD’s impunity.

Pentagon leadership cannot – or will not – fix its civilian casualties problem. It’s long past time for Congress to step in. On November 17, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “we are committed to protecting civilians and getting this right...We have…
A view of the Capitol Building in Washington October 15, 2013.
News

Letter to President Biden on US Policy Toward the Middle East

November 3, 2021 President Joseph R. Biden 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 RE: US Policy Toward the Middle East Dear President Biden, When you were elected last year, we urged your incoming administration to strive to be a…
News

The Torture Continues, Say Syrian Refugees Who Returned

Shortly after Denmark began telling Syrian refugees that parts of Syria are "safe" and stripped them of their temporary protected status, I talked to a 31-year-old refugee who voluntarily returned to Syria from Jordan in December 2020. He told me…
A streetview of destroyed buildings in a city
Report

“Our Lives Are Like Death”

Summary Syria is a death country, a kidnapping country. Anyone coming back will lose their money or their life. — Salam, 26, from al-Jeza in Daraa Syrian refugees who voluntarily returned to Syria between 2017 and 2021 from Lebanon and Jordan…
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Syria: Returning Refugees Face Grave Abuse

(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…
News

Syria: Returning Refugees Face Grave Abuse

Struggle to Survive Amid Devastation, Property Destruction

(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…
A streetview of destroyed buildings in a city
News

Mozambique Universal Periodic Review Outcome Statement

Item 6 - Universal Periodic Review

*The following statement was made by HRW on 30 September, during the adoption of the Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Mozambique by the Human Rights Commission (A/HRC/48/6). Thank you, Madam President. We welcome…
Delegates sit at the opening of the 41th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 24, 2019.
News

Mozambique: ISIS-linked Group Using Child Soldiers

Children Trained to Fight, Deployed Against Government Forces

(Johannesburg) – An Islamic State (ISIS) linked armed group in northern Mozambique is kidnapping boys and using them to fight government forces in violation of the international prohibition on the use of child soldiers, Human Rights Watch said today…
A destroyed house in the town of Mbau, Mozambique, September 23, 2021. 
News

Aid-for-Sex Alleged in Northern Mozambique

Investigate Abuses, Hold Violators to Account

Allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of women in exchange for humanitarian aid have reemerged in Mozambique, this time among people displaced by armed Islamist groups in the northern Cabo Delgado province. Last month, while interviewing…
A woman walks through the Internally Displaced Person camp "25 de junho," in Metuge, Mozambique on May 20, 2021. 
News

Mozambique Government Retakes Key Town from Militants

Ensure Civilian Safety, Provide Humanitarian Aid

Mozambican and Rwandan government forces have taken control of Mocimboa da Praia in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province. The town had been controlled by an armed group linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) since August 2020. Mozambican…
Rwandan soldiers patrol the village of Mute, in Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique, on August 9, 2021.
News

Mozambique: Civilians Prevented from Fleeing Fighting

Ensure Aid Access; Investigate Movement Restrictions in Cabo Delgado Province

The Mozambican government should immediately assist civilians to move to safer areas. These civilians are trapped by fighting in Cabo Delgado province, Human Rights Watch said today. More than 88,000 people have been displaced from the embattled Palma…
man. walking. beach. cabo delgado. mozambique.
News

UN Security Council: Restore Syria Cross-Border Aid

Russia Should Allow Full Year of UN-Led Aid Delivery from Turkey, Iraq

(New York) – Russia should not block the United Nations Security Council from reauthorizing and expanding cross-border humanitarian aid operations across northern Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. Millions of people in northeast and northwest…
UN humanitarian aid trucks enter northwest Syria through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey on June 1, 2021
News

Mozambique Investigates Sexual Exploitation of Women Inmates

Expand Commission of Inquiry’s Mandate to Prisons Across the Country

This week, Mozambique’s government appointed members of a commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of sexual exploitation and other rights violations of female inmates by guards at the Ndlavela Women's Prison in Maputo. Minister of Justice…
un horizon de la ville
News

Regional Force in Mozambique Should Prioritize Civilian Protection

SADC Should Urgently Address Humanitarian Crisis in Cabo Delgado Province

After months of deliberation and inconclusive meetings about addressing violence in northern Mozambique, leaders from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) agreed on Wednesday to send a regional military force to help government forces to…
O Presidente moçambicano Filipe Nyusi, à esquerda, e o Presidente do Zimbabué, Emmerson Mnangagwa, à direita, juntam-se aos líderes da África Austral durante uma reunião na capital de Moçambique, Maputo, em 8 de Abril de 2021.
News

Mozambique: Grave Concerns for Rwandan Asylum Seeker

Acknowledge his Detention; Ensure Access to Lawyer; Block Any Return to Rwanda

(Nairobi) – A Rwandan asylum seeker and founder of an opposition movement, who has been forcibly disappeared by Mozambique authorities, risks being handed over to Rwanda, where his rights would be violated, including by being subject to an unfair…
Cassien Ntamuhanga.
News

Syria: Russian Veto Would Shut Down Last Aid Lifeline

UN Should Reauthorize Crucial Help from Neighboring Countries

Millions of Syrians risk losing access to lifesaving aid, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, if Russia vetoes reauthorizing the only remaining UN aid corridor from Turkey into opposition-held northwest Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. The…
UN humanitarian aid trucks enter northwest Syria through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey on June 1, 2021
Video

Reauthorize Cross-Border Aid into Northern Syria

Millions of Syrians risk losing access to lifesaving aid, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, if Russia vetoes reauthorizing the only remaining UN aid corridor from Turkey into opposition-held northwest Syria, Human Rights Watch…
News

Persons with Disabilities in the Context of Armed Conflict

Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for his thematic report to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly regarding the rights of persons with…