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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
News

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

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…
ICC permanent premises
News

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.
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

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

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

Tunisia: President’s Seizure of Powers Threatens Rights

A Dangerous Move Capitalizes on Popular Frustration

(Tunis) – Tunisian President Kais Saied should safeguard the human rights of all Tunisians and reverse any repressive measures taken since announcing July 25 measures that largely concentrate powers in his office, Human Rights Watch said today. On…
Kais Saied during the sworn ceremony in Bardo, Tunis, Tunisia on October 23, 2019.
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…
News

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

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.
News

Middle East/North Africa: End Violent Punishment of Children

Human Rights Watch Introduces Country Index Based on Laws, Policies

(Beirut) – Governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) should outlaw the violent discipline of children, Human Rights Watch said today, introducing an index categorizing countries in the region based on their laws and policies. The MENA…
2020 Dadu Shin for Human Rights Watch
News

Atrocities at the Colombia-Venezuela border

Armed groups operating in the eastern Colombian state of Arauca and the neighboring Venezuelan state of Apure control people’s everyday lives through threats, kidnappings, forced labor, child recruitment, murder, and extortion. In Venezuela, they…
People disembark in Colombia after fleeing Venezuela's Apure state due to a Venezuelan military operation against armed groups in the region, as well as egregious abuses by Venezuelan security forces.
News

Tunisia Jails Repatriated Women With Suspected ISIS Ties

Ensure Humane Treatment, Due Process, Medical Care

(Tunis) – Families of women and children with ties to suspected members of the Islamic State group (ISIS) who were recently repatriated to Tunisia say that all of the women are in detention, Human Rights Watch said today. Some have faced abuse, have…
The Palace of Justice in Tunis, Tunisia, on January 29, 2019.