“President Sisi’s pardon of activist Alaa Abdel Fattah is long overdue good news. Though we celebrate his pardon ... Hopefully his release will act as a watershed moment & provide an opportunity for Sisi’s government to end the wrongful detention of 1000s of critics.” www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

“Threatening to revoke the settled status of millions who already have indefinite leave is morally wrong, beyond the legal chaos it would cause — it undermines the very idea of belonging in this country." @sundersays.bsky.social on new Reform UK proposals www.britishfuture.org/reform-attac...

HRW's Europe & Central Asia division is looking for a Europe-based associate to support our work. This is a great opportunity to join our fantastic team. Please share with anyone who might be a good candidate. The application deadline is 9 October 2025 job-boards.greenhouse.io/humanrightsw...

The human rights community has lost a giant and the world a kind soul

Germany’s government is set to make major social security cuts, and replace the only recently-created “Citizen’s Income” with a more punitive “New Income for Jobseekers”. These plans will increase poverty. Human rights can help guide the debate back to what matters. www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Thread on the negative human rights consequences and likely human toll of the German government's proposed cuts and changes to social security

#UK's @phsombudsman.bsky.social finds: 1/ deep flaws in management of Home Office's #Windrush Compensation Scheme 2/ compensation offers should account for private pension losses. #WindrushScandal @hrw.org will say it again: Windrush claimants need access to legal aid. www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

When politicians undermine the European Court of Human Rights, we all lose. With Europe facing some of the gravest threats since the end of WW2, European governments should be bolstering regional institutions, not undermining them. Read my new analysis for @HRW www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

A new Explainer out from @aoifemod.bsky.social and me detailing the UK's ECHR commitments under the 1998 Agreement in response to recent speculation. It is short, because there is very little to say - the UK's obligations are evident on the B/GFA's plain text: caj.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Greece’s burdensome rules for NGOs have been called out by international experts for violating freedom of association. Now the government wants the power to deregister groups who criticise its migration policy. The situation demands EU action, @evacosse.bsky.social says www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

When Europe's leaders attack the European Court of Human Rights, we all lose. My new piece in @euobserver.com With Europe facing some of the gravest threats since the end of WW2, govts should be commending & strengthening regional institutions, not undermining them euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

Stephen Lawrence should be celebrating his 51st birthday today, but he was murdered in a racist attack at just 18. As we look to the horrifying resurgence of racist violence, Stephen’s story serves as a poignant reminder of why racial justice matters. Rest in power, Stephen. Your legacy lives on 🖤

Particularly helpful piece in explaining the effect of the widening of the (already overboard) Terrorism Act 2000 in 2019. It helps explain why people who are protesting against the decision to proscribe Palestine Action are being arrested as though they are encouraging support for the group

Suicidal thoughts are common, hugely complex and can happen to anyone. Using words that suggest they are a sin can add to stigma and fear of talking about them. On #WorldSuicidePreventionDay, words matter.

Thread on the state we're in. This is - should be - a national emergency. But the UK government drags its feet on measures that could make a difference.

Almost a third of the people in Germany’s homeless shelters are babies and children. In Europe’s largest economy, and one of the world’s richest countries. Thread from @dimr.bsky.social (German Institute of Human Rights) 👇🏾

For the past four years, the Taliban have intensified attacks on women and girls' rights in Afghanistan, amounting to what UN experts have labeled “gender apartheid.” The UN Human Rights Council should urgently establish an accountability mechanism to address impunity and advance justice.

🧵 We welcome the Opinion of the Advocate General in CJEU saying that EU Member States must allow legal gender recognition! Read the full joint statement with @ilgaeurope.bsky.social on our website: www.tgeu.org/landmark-opi...

At #HRCelections2025 event, @hrw.org asks if #Mauritius & UK govts will recognize Chagossians right of return to #Chagos so they can rebuild their homeland❓ Will UK recognize to Chagossians right to reparations or crimes & other harms UK & US have inflicted on them❓

At #HRCelections2025 event @hrw.org asks UN Human Rights Council candidate #Italy: Italy obstructs NGO sea rescues & enables Libya forces to intercept migrants & refugees & take them back to Libya to face arbitrary detention & other abuses. Will Italy pledge to protect human rights of all people?

@hrw.org published a Q&A on #reparations for historical & ongoing colonial atrocities ahead of a AU-CARICOM summit. A unified African-Caribbean rights-based position on reparations shaped w civil society & communities would be a gamechanger for the reparations movement. www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Would leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) actually help the Government to control migration? Liberty Director Akiko Hart chats to @cocobyname.bsky.social and @MrNishKumar.bsky.social to set the record straight. Listen to new Pod Save the UK now. #Politics #UK #Immigration #ECHR

The rescue organization SOS MEDITERRANEE reported that a Libyan Coast Guard patrol boat opened fire on their ship as it was heading toward a boat in distress. This is an alarming demonstration that the Libyan Coast Guard is not a reliable search-and-rescue corps. Learn more ⤵️

🚨 New @hrw.org report documents years of serious abuses by security forces in #Mauritania against West & Central African migrants, while those same authorities received equipment/support 💰 from the EU & #Spain to bolster border control & prevent irregular migration 🧵👇 www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

A couple of thoughts on Farage's mass deportation "plan" 1. Leaving the European Convention and Court of Human Rights would leave the UK in the same club as Russia and Belarus. Is that what he aspires to? Is what the UK aspires to?

Protesters arrested for supporting Palestine Action should not be prosecuted until a legal challenge to a ban on the group has been heard, organisations including Greenpeace and Human Rights Watch @hrw.org have told the attorney general for England and Wales www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

David Hockney

The anniversary of the Taliban's takeover is not just a date – it is a reminder of the broken promises of the international community. www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

“The State Department glosses over the Hungarian government’s escalating efforts to undermine democratic institutions and the rule of law, including severe curbs on civil society and independent media, and abuses against LGBT people and migrants. “

Submission from @hrw.org to UN CESCR on Germany, covering: - ESC rights protections - international cooperation on taxation - Supply Chains Due Diligence Act - the social security system - low-wage work - the gender pay and pension gaps - the right to cultural artefacts www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

It is moving to see thousands of people, many of them retired, gathering to protest an unjust state decision to designate Palestine Action a terrorist organisation, knowing that they faced arrest for doing so. The UK Parliament and Government should listen to them.

When it comes to the instrumentalisation of migrants, EU countries need to direct their measures towards the hostile actors not punish the migrants & refugees who are being used for political gains. #ICYMI Read more in the latest position paper from @fra.europa.eu: europa.eu/!8QWdt9

Today, we joined 8 other organisations to deliver a petition to President @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu‬, signed by 32,000 people, urging the EU Commission not to drop its anti-discrimination Directive. Equal rights are under attack. The EU must lead, not step back!

Paintings like this capture the essence of London far better than any photo

A recent Italian Constitutional Court ruling upholding sanctions on sea rescue groups threatening rescue efforts. Yet it has a silver lining: the ruling finds that the imperative to save lives justifies rescue ships disregarding state orders that would put people at risk www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

Greece's Asylum Suspension Denies Rights and Puts Lives at Risk, @hrw.org says. Read my colleague @evacosse.bsky.social's post for more info www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

Great video from our friends @savechildrenuk.bsky.social The government must scrap the two-child limit.

As the #UCBill (without PIP) returns to UK Parliament for its third (and final?) reading, my post for @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/07... The watered-down version of the Bill will still negatively affect many with disabilities and long term health conditions. The government should scrap it.

After protestors were arrested on Saturday for holding Palestine Action signs, worth reading this analysis that looks at the debate in Parliament when the law that allows proscription was introduced and the Labour government of the day assured MPs it would not be used to curb the right to protest...

Concerning news from #Kent where the council has removed all transgender-related books from the children's sections of its 99 libraries. It shows that the issue of #BannedBooks is only increasing in the #UK: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 1/3 @katiedd.bsky.social

Germany’s interior minister wants to negotiate directly with the Taliban to send Afghan migrants deported from Germany back to Afghanistan. Deporting anyone to a place where they face risk of abuse shows a blatant disregard for basic human decency.

1/15 🧵 Today, the UK government will ask MPs to railroad through social security legislation that makes cuts to disability-related benefits to the next stage. @hrw.org joins 80+ other orgs asking MPs to reject the UCPIP Bill. It is bad news for human rights. www.ucpipbill.co.uk/wp-content/u...

Our new @hrw piece on how a good EU law on the rights of people affected by corporate abuse in global supply chains is being gutted - and how EU member states want to replace it with window-dressing: www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

📘 Defending Defenders — our new Human Rights Compass policy brief is out. Human rights defenders are among the most exposed — and the most essential — voices in our democracies 🕊️ As repression rises and allies retreat, this is a blueprint to act 🛡️ 🔗 progress-change-actionlab.org/human-rights...

#Hungary 🇭🇺 "After refusing to arrest Netanyahu, an ICC fugitive, when he visited the country, Hungary is now doubling down on impunity by leaving the court altogether," says @hrw.org‬: "The EU and ICC members should press Hungary to reconsider". buff.ly/CyVmRfG

Yesterday I presented the report of the LIBE Committee's visit to Budapest in April. Findings: Hungarian citizens can no longer rely on an independent judge, impartial media, and their fundamental freedoms. Orbán is destroying them all. And it is only getting worse. Link to the report:

As NATO summit begins, worth reading these useful ideas from @amnesty.org secretary general connecting security and human rights www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

Pretty devastating analysis by @nytimes.com on how USAID cuts have fallen. We knew from our partners that human rights, rule of law and civil society funding were badly hit. These numbers confirm it www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

🏳️‍🌈 Pride is more than a march 🏳️‍🌈 #Hungary’s leaders should reverse bans, repeal discriminatory laws, and ensure Budapest #Pride can proceed safely and visibly. Pride is not a threat; hate is. @cristianfergo.bsky.social www.hrw.org/news/2025/06...

UK Parliamentarians should reject the government’s plan to cut disability benefits, and be clear that budget savings should not come at the cost of the rights—especially the right to social security—of people with disabilities. Human dignity must come first. @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/06...