Search Results

Sort by
News

Japan Plays a Diplomatic Double Game on Rights in Myanmar

Despite its official condemnation of the coup, Japan continues to move towards normalizing ties with the junta

Since the February 1 military coup in Myanmar, the junta’s security forces have killed nearly 1,300 people, arrested more than 10,000, and continue to detain nearly 7,400. The junta-controlled courts have sentenced 65 people to death, including 2…
News

Myanmar: Protesters Targeted in March Massacre

Security Forces ‘Kettled’ Demonstrators, Fired on Rescuers in Hlaing Tharyar

(Bangkok) – Myanmar security forces deliberately “kettled” protesters and used lethal force during the March 14, 2021, anti-junta protests in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar township, Human Rights Watch said today. Soldiers and police armed with military…
202111asia_myanmar_coup
Video

Myanmar: Protesters Targeted in March Massacre

Myanmar security forces deliberately encircled and used lethal force during the March 14, 2021 anti-junta protests in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar township, Human Rights Watch said today. Soldiers and police armed with military assault rifles fired on trapped…
Video

Myanmar Hlaing Tharyar 4 - Protesters under tarps

The video shows a group of protesters under a row of tarps about 35 meters from Bus Stop 3 who then disperse after tear gas is deployed. Credit: Unknown uploader. Verified by Human Rights Watch. 
Video

Myanmar Hlaing Tharyar 3 - Lone Htein riot police

Video filmed around noon in Yangon of Lone Htein riot police discussing their plans to use violence against protesters in Hlaing Tharyar. Video: Unknown uploader. Verified by Human Rights Watch.
Video

Myanmar Hlaing Tharyar 1 - Teargas and Gunfire

Video of teargas and gunfire coming from the west at Bus Stop 3 around 12:30 p.m., posted online on March 14, 2021. Credit: Unknown uploader. Verified by Human Rights Watch.
News

A Month of Fires in Thantlang, Myanmar

Satellite Imagery, Thermal Anomalies Data Show Numerous Burnings

Since October 29, numerous fires have severely damaged Thantlang, a remote town in Myanmar’s northwestern Chin State. The evidence from space is undeniable: residential homes, places of worship, commercial buildings, and more have been reduced to ash…
A screenshot of accumulated fire detections
News

Letter from Human Rights Watch to Institutional Shareholders

Re: Energy Companies in Myanmar and Abuses by the Military Junta

October 20, 2021 We are writing on behalf of Human Rights Watch concerning ownership by your firm (or funds or entities under its control) of energy companies, including Total Energies, PTT (and its subsidiary PTTEP), Chevron, and POSCO, which are…
News

Myanmar: Investors Should Act to Halt Funds to Junta

Revenues from Foreign Companies Keep Military in Power

(New York) – Payments by energy and extractive companies to entities under the control of the Myanmar military are providing key funds to sustain the junta and pose serious legal, financial, and reputational risks to investors in those companies.…
202111asia_myanmar_sanctions_thumbnail
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

Myanmar: Another Wave of Atrocity Crimes in Chin State

UN Security Council Must Act Now to End Junta’s Campaign of Terror

We, the undersigned 521 Myanmar, regional and international civil society organizations, call on the UN Security Council to urgently convene a meeting on the escalating attacks in Chin State, and address the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian, human…
Fires burn in the town of Thantlang in Chin State, Myanmar, October 29, 2021.
News

Satellite Data Raise Fears Myanmar’s Army Setting Towns Ablaze

New satellite data analyzed by Human Rights Watch corroborates images and videos streaming out of Myanmar’s Chin State showing towns once again on fire. Human Rights Watch reviewed thermal anomaly data collected by an environmental satellite sensor…
202111asia_myanmar_thantlang_fire
News

New Reports of Torture in Myanmar

Stronger International Pressure Needed to End Abuses

“They placed a plastic bag over my head to suffocate me. They did this three times…. They held mock executions.… They pointed a rifle at me and pulled the trigger repeatedly.” This is how a detainee in Myanmar, recently released after arrest for…
Aerial image of uniformed police officers detaining a protester
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

Myanmar: Prisoner Releases Fall Short

Deposed Political Leaders and Journalists Remain Detained

(Bangkok) – The Myanmar junta’s recent prisoner releases are limited in scope and do not reflect a broader change in the military’s respect for human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 18, 2021, the State Administrative Council…
202110asia_myanmar_release
Video

Fighting Fear Puts Myanmar Junta's Repression on Display

The Myanmar military’s February 1 coup sparked the largest and most widespread protests in the country's recent history, showing people’s determination not to be dragged back into a dark past of military dictatorship. The military responded…
News

This Is What Impunity Looks Like

Myanmar’s Coup Built on Years of Failed Accountability

On August 1, Myanmar’s commander-in-chief, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, dressed in civilian clothes, made a televised speech six months to the day after leading a coup that thrust the country back under brutal military rule. Amid claims of establishing a…
Anti-coup protesters run from teargas deployed by the police during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar, March 1, 2021.