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Evicted from Their Office, Al Jazeera Works from a Front Yard in Tunisia

Authorities Arbitrarily Target Media and Critics

I first met Lotfi Hajji some 15 years ago, after Tunisian authorities under President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali had refused a request by Al Jazeera, the Qatar-funded pan-Arab television station, to accredit the Tunisian journalist as their local…
Al Jazeera correspondent Lotfi Hajji reporting from Tunis after Tunisian authorities evicted the pan-Arab television network from its offices, November 5, 2021. 
News

COP26: Don’t Be Fooled by Bolsonaro’s Pledges

Brazil Still Lacks Credible Plan to Save Rainforest as Amazon Crisis Persists

A previous version of this news release was published in Portuguese on November 1. This version has been updated. (Sao Paulo) – Brazil’s climate commitments and policies fall far short of what is needed to address the environmental and human…
Presidente Jair Messias Bolsonaro
News

Brazil: Secret Review of Key Human Rights Policy

Change in Rules Maintains Secrecy

(São Paulo, Brazil) – The administration of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has refused to disclose basic information about its review of the most important statement of human rights policy in Brazil. A change in the rules on October 29, 2021…
The Brazil Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves, at an official event in Brasilia, on August 18, 2021.
News

Tunisia: Attack on Director of LGBT Group

Police Officers Suspected; Investigation Needed

Two police officers apparently brutally attacked the director of a Tunis-based LGBT rights group on October 21, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack on Badr Baabou took place against a backdrop of mounting abuses targeting LGBT activists by…
Badr Baabou, director of Damj Association for Justice and Equality, following his assault by suspected police officers in Tunisia. © 2021 Badr Baabou
News

The Toll of Bolsonaro’s Disastrous Covid-19 Response

Brazil’s President Held to Task by Critical Pandemic Report

A Brazilian Senate committee yesterday approved on a 1,100-page report that lays bare what happens when a country’s president adopts policies with utter disregard for human rights during a pandemic. The report was the result of months of hearings…
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro holds a drug he recommended to treat Covid-19 during a Facebook live event in April 2020. That drug has no proven effect against the virus.
News

Judicial Action Against Police Abuse in Brazil

Police abuse is a chronic human rights problem that Human Rights Watch has worked on for decades in Brazil. In the last five years, Brazilian police killed 22,000 people, most of them Black. We have documented extrajudicial executions and other…
Police officers patrol the Rocinha slum after violent clashes between drug gangs, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil September 29, 2017. The banner reads: "The Rocinha asks for peace."
News

Brazil: Bolsonaro Threatens Democratic Rule

Harasses Supreme Court, Signals He May Cancel Elections, Violates Free Speech

President Jair Bolsonaro is threatening democratic rule in Brazil, Human Rights Watch said today on International Day of Democracy. He is pursuing campaigns to intimidate the Supreme Court, signaling that he may attempt to cancel the 2022 election or…
The President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, at a rally on September 07, 2021 in São Paulo, Brazil.
News

Tunisia: President’s Repressive Policies Abrogate Rights

Dozens Placed Under Arbitrary House Arrests

(Tunis) – Arbitrary and politically motivated acts of repression have proliferated in Tunisia since July 25, 2021, when President Kais Saied suspended parliament, Human Rights Watch said today. He also lifted parliamentary immunity, dismissed the head…
Tunisian President Kais Saied raises his fist to bystanders as he walks along the avenue Bourguiba in Tunis, Tunisia, August 1, 2021.
News

New Measures in Brazil Not Enough to Solve Amazon Crisis

International Community Should Push for Results in Curbing Deforestation, Protecting Rights

As fires rage in the Brazilian Amazon, environment minister Joaquim Leite announced that the government has doubled the budget for environmental law enforcement and will recruit 700 new enforcement agents.  Leite presented these measures as…
Fires near Novo Progresso, Brazil on August 23, 2020, burned land deforested by cattle farmers.
News

What Brazil Can Do to Help Afghans at Risk

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, thousands of Afghans have been fleeing threats of reprisal and persecution by seeking refuge abroad. Taliban officials have issued vague and doubtful pledges about respecting human rights. Credible reports…
Afghans from northern provinces who fled their homes due to the fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces take refuge in a public parc in Kabul, August 13, 2021. 
News

Inclusive Education is at Risk in Brazil

Repeal New Segregated Education Policy for People with Disabilities

On August 17, Brazilian Minister of Education Milton Ribeiro made harmful remarks about children with disabilities, saying they “disturbed” other students and that some are “impossible to live with.” Later, he apologized to “those who were offended”…
A young girl who does not attend school, living in an institution in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on November 6, 2016.
News

Brazil: Reject Anti-Indigenous Rights Bill

Proposal a Major Setback to Land Rights Recognition

(São Paulo, August 24, 2021) – Brazil’s Congress should reject a bill that would prevent or hinder many Indigenous peoples from claiming their right to traditional lands, violating their rights under international law, Human Rights Watch said…
Indigenous people protest against a bill on the demarcation of indigenous land, on the roof of the National Congress, on June 8 2021, in Brasilia, Brazil. Photo: Mateus Bonomi/AGIF (via AP)
News

Brazil: Bolsonaro Blocks Critics on Social Media

President Violates Free Speech, Access to Information Rights

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil is blocking social media followers who criticize him, violating their rights to free speech and access to information, and to participate in the conduct of public affairs, Human Rights Watch said today. Human…
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro uses his cellphone during at event at the presidential palace in Brasilia on June 13, 2019.
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Brazil: Bolsonaro Blocks Critics on Social Media

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil is blocking social media followers who criticize him, violating their rights to free speech and access to information, and to participate in the conduct of public affairs, Human Rights Watch said today.…