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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…
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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

EU Election Monitors Can Play a Crucial Role in Venezuela

For the first time in 15 years, international monitors will be deployed in Venezuela to observe the regional and local elections scheduled for November 21. The Maduro government’s crackdown on dissent means these elections will be neither free nor fair…
People holding Venezuelan flag
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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…
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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
News

Venezuela: ICC Investigation Opens

Maduro Atrocities to Receive International Judicial Scrutiny

(Washington, DC) – The decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to open an investigation in Venezuela offers a pathway to justice for victims of atrocities by Nicolás Maduro’s government. On November 3, 2021, ICC Prosecutor Karim…
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How the Crisis Endangers Breast Cancer Patients

One of the most common kinds of cancer among women is extremely difficult to prevent and treat in Venezuela and it has a severe impact on thousands of people

The ongoing humanitarian emergency in Venezuela is putting breast cancer patients at risk. Treatment can be highly effective when breast cancer is diagnosed early, but the crisis makes it very difficult to obtain treatment in Venezuela. In the…
Cancer patients, survivors and their relatives protest against the lack of medicines and medical supplies in hospitals, in front of the headquarters of the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security (IVSS) in Caracas, on August 23, 2019.
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

Venezuela: A Successful Political Negotiation Needs a Human Rights Agenda

Believe or not, there are reasons for both sides to include human rights in the Mexico talks

It’s pretty clear why including a human rights agenda in the ongoing negotiations between Nicolás Maduro’s representatives and the Venezuelan opposition makes political sense for the opposition, which seeks conditions for a transition back to…
Jorge Rodriguez, left, representing the Maduro government, shakes hands with Venezuelan opposition delegate Gerardo Blyde Perez, in Mexico City, Friday, Aug. 13, 2021.
News

Venezuela: Human Rights Agenda for Political Negotiation

End Repression, Overhaul Judiciary, Free Political Prisoners, Allow Humanitarian Aid

(New York) – Nicolás Maduro’s representatives should commit to taking basic steps to restore respect for human rights and to holding free and fair elections when they sit down at the negotiating table with the Venezuelan opposition in September 2021,…
Head of the Venezuelan opposition delegation Gerardo Blyde, Kingdom of Norway representative Dag Nylander, Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, and Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard during the Inauguration of the Negotiation and Dialogue Process and Signature of the Memorandum of Understanding of Venezuela, at the National Museum of Anthropology on August 13, 2021, in Mexico City.
News

Chile: Rulings Uphold Rights of Deported Venezuelans

End Summary Deportations; Respect Due Process

(Washington, DC) – The Chilean government should stop summary deportations of Venezuelans and ensure that any deportations comply with international human rights law, Human Rights Watch said today. A series of rulings by Chile’s Supreme Court and…
Venezuelan migrants board a plane as they are being deported from Chile, at the General Diego Aracena Aguilar International Airport in Iquique, Chile, on February 10, 2021. 
News

Venezuela, the International Criminal Court, and Impunity

The situation in Venezuela, an International Criminal Court (ICC) member country, has been under preliminary examination by the court’s Office of the Prosecutor since February 2018. The Office of the Prosecutor carries out preliminary examinations to…
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Putting Venezuela’s Crisis on the International Agenda

Reports Have Helped Spotlight Abuses Including During the Covid-19 Pandemic

For years, Human Rights Watch has been documenting and exposing the brutal crackdown on dissent by the Nicolás Maduro government, the humanitarian emergency in Venezuela, and the resulting exodus of more than 5.6 million people since 2014. Our research…
A man kneels in front of police blocking a march called by opposition political leader Juan Guaido in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, March 10, 2020.
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

Systematic Abuses in Venezuela under UN Scrutiny

HRW Statement - Item 4 ID on the High Commissioner's report on Venezuela

We thank the High Commissioner for her report. The evidence on the ground shows that Venezuelan authorities have absolutely failed to comply with UN recommendations: Torture, inhumane treatment, forced disappearances and arbitrary detentions…
Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro holds a copy of the constitution during his annual address to the nation before lawmakers at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021.