HRW: The United States transferred 5,700 detainees held for alleged ISIS affiliation from Northeast Syria to Iraq, where they are at risk of enforced disappearance, unfair trials, torture, ill-treatment, and violations of the right to life www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...

The European Parliament voted today to usher in changes to EU asylum rules that jeopardize the right to seek asylum. Human Rights Watch detailed human rights abuses in every country on the EU’s “safe countries of origin” list: www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...

A Tunisian lawyer and human rights defender, Ahmed Souab, who was sentenced to prison on terrorism-related charges, will face a new trial on appeal on February 12. Tunisian authorities should immediately drop the unfounded charges and release him www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...

Houthi authorities have arbitrarily arrested over 20 Christians in Yemen over the last three months. The Houthis should immediately release them, along with the hundreds of others they are arbitrarily detaining across the areas of Yemen under their control www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...

HRW: Egyptian authorities during 2025 systematically dismantled basic freedoms and suffocated civic space. Economic crises, coupled with authorities’ underfunding of public services like education and health care, undermined people’s socioeconomic rights www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...

HRW: Israeli forces escalated their atrocities in 2025, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, acts of genocide, and ethnic cleansing. Israeli forces killed, maimed, starved, and forcibly displaced Palestinians and destroyed their homes www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...

Federal immigration enforcement agents unlawfully shot and killed a man in Minneapolis, Minnesota this weekend, marking the second killing by immigration enforcement agents in the city this month. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Amnesty: Algerian authorities returned former parliamentarian and government critic Seifeddine Makhlouf to Tunisia on January 18, despite the fact that he was a registered asylum seeker with UNHCR. This amounts to refoulement—an international law violation www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

The Syrian transitional authorities’ ability to protect minority communities is in question following bloody massacres of civilians in 2025. They must urgently take measures to prevent a repeat of such incidents in NE Syria www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

UN experts condemn Israel’s "continuous assaults" on Birzeit University as an attack on education www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

A Belgian court held a hearing to determine whether to pursue a criminal case against the last living former Belgian official for alleged involvement in the 1961 assassination of the first democratically elected prime minister of the DRC, Patrice Lumumba: www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Iran’s security forces have carried out mass killings of protesters after protests escalated on January 8. Thousands are believed to have been killed, while the government’s severe restrictions on communications have concealed the true scale of atrocities. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Syrian government forces and local Bedouin and Druze armed groups are responsible for grave abuses during clashes in Syria’s southern Sweida governorate in July 2025. Syrian authorities should hold those responsible for abuses on all sides accountable www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

UN experts call on Egypt to lift restrictions on released human rights defenders www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

Some rare good news from Tunisia - journalist Chadha Hadj Mbarek has been released from prison, her sentence reduced to 2 years suspended www.newarab.com/news/tunisia...

Saudi authorities executed at least 356 people in 2025, setting a new record in the country for the highest number of executions in one year since monitoring began www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Around the world, economic inequality is fueling both the rise of authoritarianism and protesters going to the streets to demand change. Tax policy is inextricably bound up with those issues. opiniojuris.org/2026/01/13/a...

New @hrw.org research out tomorrow on inadequate pensions and older people experiencing poverty in Hungary 🇭🇺 - interview testimony from older people 👵🏻👴🏻 - difficulties affording food 🍞🥩🍓☕, gas/electricity 🔌💡, medical supplies 💊🤕 - lots of graphs and charts 📊〽️ Media queries to @kooyjan.bsky.social

Iranian authorities have significantly intensified their lethal crackdown on protesters since January 8, with credible reports of large-scale killings, while imposing a country-wide internet blackout, which has caused severe restrictions on communications. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

HRW: Lebanon’s government should hold to account officials responsible for the January 2025 unlawful extradition of the Egyptian-Turkish poet Abdulrahman Youssef al-Qaradawi to the UAE www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

The Houthis’ stepped-up detentions of civil society and United Nations agency members has contributed to increasing the humanitarian aid crisis in Yemen, already one of the worst situations in the world www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Iranian authorities have unleashed a deadly crackdown on protests which erupted following a sharp currency collapse amid soaring inflation. Security forces have resorted to unlawful use of force and firearms and mass arbitrary arrests. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

UK authorities have severely restricted the right to protest, in contravention of their international human rights obligations, creating an environment in which peaceful dissent is increasingly treated as a criminal act www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

The Egyptian government has severely undermined the rights to education and health by failing to allocate sufficient spending, falling short of constitutional obligations and international benchmarks — contributing to severe shortages and high costs. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Humanitarian workers in Tunisia, on trial for "facilitating the illegal entry and stay" of migrants, were released overnight after 20 months in detention: www.lemonde.fr/afrique/arti...

Elsewhere in the world “The Voice of Hind Rajab”, shortlisted for the Oscar for best foreign movie, has major distributors — but not in the United States or Israel. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...

US federal immigration enforcement agents now commonly operate masked and without visible identification, compounding the abusive and unaccountable nature of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

Egyptian authorities should quash the conviction of economist Abd al-Khaliq Farouk, who on October 2 was sentenced to 5 years for articles and social media posts in violation of his free speech and due process rights. His appeal is scheduled for Dec 25. www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

The US is carrying out a campaign of extrajudicial killings with deliberately lethal strikes on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific oceans without any credible legal basis. HRW has determined the strikes are illegal under international law www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

Qatari government clients and other major businesses are failing to pay contractors on time for projects, leaving migrant workers unpaid. Subcontractors and others in the supply chain are also affected and themselves shortchange workers. www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

HRW: The Israeli military’s repeated attacks on reconstruction-related equipment and other civilian facilities in southern Lebanon throughout 2025 violate the laws of war and are apparent war crimes www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

Iranian authorities are escalating their repression of Baha’is, with a recent series of harsh prison sentences and asset confiscations www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

"If the administration has evidence to show that the people on the targeted boats are smuggling drugs and are a threat to Americans, then why is it not putting survivors on trial in U.S. courts?" www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...

HRW: The detention of an Emirati dissident in Syria raises serious concerns that the United Arab Emirates will pressure Syrian authorities to extradite him www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

A French national arrested more than a year ago for not having a valid permit for the Hajj should have a fair trial and attention for his health needs: www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

The Israeli Supreme Court gave the government its 9th extension to respond to a petition by journalists for access to Gaza—the case was filed in September 2024. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/w...

HRW: Governments that partner with the United States on counternarcotics efforts should join other nations that have publicly objected to the Trump administration’s unlawful strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats. www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

Tunisian authorities arrested three prominent activists in recent weeks after their unjust convictions in a sham trial on charges of conspiracy and terrorism. The authorities should immediately overturn the unjust convictions and release all those detained www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

HRW's submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on Egypt now available online: www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

UN experts shocked by conviction of human rights lawyer Ayachi Hammami in Tunisia: www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

Syrian transitional authorities have taken positive steps on justice, transparency, and rights but failed to prevent continued violence and atrocities. Syrian authorities should credibly address outstanding concerns around security sector reform www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

HRW: The Trump administration’s latest actions on immigration policy appear to be based on punitive hostility toward people of particular nationalities and carry an unmistakable current of racism www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

A CNN investigation found that Israeli forces killed aid seekers near the Zikim crossing in Gaza with indiscriminate fire and bulldozed their bodies into shallow, unmarked graves or left their remains to decompose in the open, unable to be recovered edition.cnn.com/2025/12/03/m...

Ahmed Chebbi, a leading figure in the Tunisian opposition for decades, was arrested at his home today after being sentenced on appeal last week to twelve years in prison for conspiracy against state security—all conspiracy case defendants are now detained. www.lemonde.fr/afrique/arti...

The police in Tunisia on Tuesday arrested Ayachi Hammami, a prominent opposition figure and human rights lawyer, the latest sign of severe backsliding toward authoritarianism www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/w...

French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes was sentenced in Algeria today on appeal to seven years in prison on terrorism related charges. www.lemonde.fr/afrique/arti...

The X “About this account” feature raises serious concerns about user privacy and safety. It exposes location information without meaningful user consent and lacks adequate human rights safeguards www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

The arrest and return of an asylum seeker who took his children to the Club World Cup soccer tournament final on July 13, 2025, raises serious concerns about the safety of noncitizens attending the 2026 World Cup in the United States: www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

The UN has launched a major reform plan to make it more efficient and cost-effective. Unfortunately, it has offered little on how this will impact its already understaffed and underfunded human rights work and the victims it is intended to help. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

El Hishri’s transfer to the ICC marks an important moment for international justice in Libya, after decades in which armed groups committed serious abuses, including in migrant detention centers and prisons, with impunity. apnews.com/article/icc-...