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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…
Philippines Loses Staunch Rights Defender
Chito Gascon Led Commission on Human Rights During Trying Years
The Philippines has lost a beloved human rights defender. Jose Luis Martin Gascon, known to all as “Chito,” who had chaired the governmental Commission on Human Rights since 2015, died October 9 from complications due to Covid-19, his family said. He…
Nobel Laureates Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov are not Only Journalists – They are Champions of Democracy
The Norwegian Nobel committee’s decision to award its Peace Prize to the journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia is a shot in the arm for the countless journalists who’ve been fired at, sued,…
UN rights body needs to renew Yemen mandate; strengthen scrutiny of Philippines
Item 10 General Debate - HRC48
While we welcome the High Commissioner’s oral update on Yemen, it is clear that the provision of technical assistance to the National Commission under item 10 is, without more, insufficient to address the gravity and scale of the rights crisis in the…
Duterte is worried about the ICC. He should be.
Clarita Alia remains anguished, nearly 20 years after I first heard her express her grief.
“His name was Danilo Lugay,” she told me over the phone recently from Davao City, in the southern Philippines. Police killed Lugay in September 2020 during a…
Philippines Adopts ‘Drug War’ Measures Against Activists
‘Knock and Plead’ Strategy Puts Lives at Grave Risk
The authorities in the Cordillera region of the northern Philippines have adopted a counterinsurgency strategy drawn from methods used in President Rodrigo Duterte’s murderous “war on drugs.” Known as tokhang, a Visayan word meaning “to knock…
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…
Philippine President’s Tired, Old ‘Drug War’ Rhetoric
Duterte Doubles Down on Brutal Policy, Imperiling UN Program
The Philippine government has extolled a new United Nations program as a clear indication of its commitment to human rights – a spin that flies in the face of the bloody rights catastrophe that is the government’s “war on drugs.”
On July 24, Manila…
Written Testimony to the US House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee on Cuba
José Miguel Vivanco
Americas Executive Director, Human Rights Watch
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, Migration, and International Economic Policy
Historic Protests in Cuba and the Crackdown on Free Expression
July 20…
It’s Time for the US to Stop Selling Weapons to Human Rights Abusers
The Biden administration notified Congress in June of a proposed sale of more than $2.5 billion in arms to the Philippines, including fighter jets and two kinds of precision missiles. The notice came less than two weeks after the…
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…
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.…
Philippines Loses a Press Freedom Fighter
Nonoy Espina Was at Forefront of Struggle Against Attacks on the Media
The Philippines lost one of its foremost press freedom fighters Wednesday night. Jose Jaime Espina, popularly known as “Nonoy,” died from liver cancer just days after recovering from Covid-19, his family said. He was 59.
A longtime journalist based…
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…
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…
ICC One Step Closer to Probe of Philippines Murderous 'War on Drugs'
UN Human Rights Council Should Launch Own Investigation
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s chilling promise to “drug pushers, holdup men, and do-nothings, you better get out […] because I’ll kill you” may finally come back to haunt him.
Today the International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou…
Police Killing, Caught on Video, Riles the Philippines
Case Underscores Law Enforcement Failure to Use Body Cameras
The killing on Monday of a woman allegedly by a drunken, off-duty police officer has once again put the spotlight on abusive police conduct in the Philippines. The fatal shooting in Quezon City of Lilybeth Valdez, a 52-year-old mother, was caught on…
Submission on the Challenges and Threats Facing Climate Defenders
To the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association
Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide input on the challenges and risks facing climate defenders for the upcoming report by the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. While recognizing that…
New Philippines Police Chief Signals Change
General Eleazar Opens ‘Drug War’ Case Files to Investigators
Two recent developments signal possible improvement in the conduct of the Philippine National Police (PNP), which has been deeply implicated in President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly “war on drugs” and other abuses.
One was the announcement Monday by…
