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Letter to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne

Re: Protecting Human Rights in Australia’s Foreign Policy

Dear Minister Payne, Congratulations on your reappointment as foreign minister. Human Rights Watch looks forward to working with you to make protection of human rights a strong pillar of Australia’s foreign policy. We attach a…
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News

Australia: Protect Human Rights in Foreign Policy

Human Rights Council Seat Demands Greater Leadership

(Sydney) – The Australian government should make the protection of human rights a central focus of its foreign policy, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the recently reappointed Foreign Minister Marise Payne that was released today. …
201906asia_australia_marise_payne
News

On Genocide Convention Anniversary, ICC Needed More Than Ever

Human Rights Council Panel commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Genocide Convention

As we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Genocide Convention, I wish to address the crucial role of the International Criminal Court in realizing its ideals. This year also marks the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the ICC’s…
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Accountability For Atrocities Remains Essential in Syria

Interactive Dialogue with COI on Syria

Human Rights Watch thanks the Commission of Inquiry for highlighting the devastating and unlawful acts committed by parties on both sides of the conflict during the offensive on Eastern Ghouta between February and April 2018. Over the months leading up to…
A fighter from Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands next to debris of damaged buildings in Raqqa, Syria, September 25, 2017. © 2017 REUTERS
News

Past Time to End Impunity for Atrocities in Eastern Ghouta

Urgent Debate on deteriorating situation of human rights in Eastern Ghouta at the Human Rights Council

We express the greatest concern for the situation in Eastern Ghouta, Syria, as it continues to deteriorate significantly. And we welcome this urgent debate. As UN Secretary General Guterres told the Human Rights Council at…
An elderly man walks near a damaged building in the besieged town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta, Syria.
News

Middle East Conflicts Spur Disastrous New Trends for Region

(Beirut) – Lawless armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) morphed into disastrous trends for the region in 2017, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its 2018 World Report. “Failed leadership, failed…
Smoke billows behind a building in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on December 3, 2017, during clashes between Houthi rebels and supporters of Yemeni ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. © 2017 Getty Images
News

UN Security Council: Remember Why Chemical Weapons are Banned

As members of the UN Security Council debate this week about whether to renew their Syria chemical weapons investigation, they might want to read Wilfred Owen’s World War One poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” It describes an attack in which a man…
A poison hazard danger sign is seen in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib province, Syria on April 5, 2017.
News

Syria: Urgent measures needed to avoid civilian casualties

Item 4 Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on Syria

Human Rights Watch supports the findings of the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons against civilians. An investigation by Human Rights Watch has established that the Syrian government forces have used nerve agents on…
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters on their way to Raqqa, Syria June 6, 2017© 2017 Reuters
News

Human Rights Council: With Human Rights under Threat, a Time for Leadership

Item 2 – Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner on his Annual Report

We share the High Commissioner’s concerns about current threats to human rights values, and to the international framework itself. Whether the Council can rise to these challenges will depend on a number of factors. First, leadership: many…
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UN rights body should mandate special inquiry into rights abuses in Aleppo

Human Rights Council Special Session on human rights situation in Aleppo

For weeks, doctors, hospital staff, activists, and journalists in eastern Aleppo have told Human Rights Watch that Russian and Syrian aircraft have relentlessly bombarded opposition-controlled parts of the city in repeated indiscriminate attacks that hit…
Syrian Man Carries Children After Barrel Bomb Attack