Incredible news today that Sisi pardoned Alaa Abdel Fattah, Egypt's most prominent political prisoner who has been imprisoned more or less continuously since 2014. He should be released once Sisi’s decision is published in the Official Gazette www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Earlier this year, Rights & Wrongs told the story of how Roger, a Venezuelan citizen with no criminal record, ended up detained in El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act. Today, we're re-sharing his story with a stunning update. 🔊⤵️ Spotify: https://bit.ly/47Vi341 Apple: https://apple.co/4nijEWx

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has reportedly issued a presidential pardon for the imprisoned Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah. He is set to be released once Sisi’s decision is published in the Official Gazette. www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

A federal judge has blocked the removal of unaccompanied Guatemalan children, at least 76 of whom the Trump administration attempted to expel overnight. Human rights and US law do not allow the government to whisk children seeking protection away without due process. www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Brazil passed a landmark law this week to protect children online — the ECA Digital will compel tech companies with services used by children to prioritize privacy and safety by default. A victory for children’s rights!📱🌐 #StudentsNotProducts

Japan takes a step forward: the Japan Association of Athletics Federations issued a new Human Rights Policy and Code of Conduct to combat abuse in sports, ahead of the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. 🇯🇵🏃‍♂️   Read more: www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...   #WorldAthletics #AthletesAgainstAbuse

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...

#EU: new #India strategy, same old silence on repression EU leaders should reflect on long-term cost of overlooking #Modi's authoritarian drift, link closer ties to rights progress: hrw.org/news/2025/09... #EUIndia @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu @kajakallas.bsky.social

Everyone means everyone. We believe in free speech, across all media, everywhere in the world.

"There can be no doubt that states are bound under the Genocide Convention, which Israel is violating, to take action now." HRW's Omar Shakir discusses this week's UN Commission of Inquiry report and the growing consensus among experts about Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza:

Two Salvadoran human rights defenders are being held incommunicado in prison after being arrested for peacefully protesting in May.   Foreign governments should step up their condemnations of abuses in El Salvador and press the Bukele administration to drop unsubstantiated charges.

EU Commission's proposal in front of #Israel's crimes in #Gaza is already very little, very late But "waiting for #Germany" shouldnt be an option @aussenminister.diplo.de @germanyintheeu.bsky.social: Either you back VdL's proposal or you lock EU in complicit silence euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

🌎 Latin America remains the world’s most dangerous region for environmental defenders, per a new report from @globalwitness.org. In 2024, at least 146 land and environmental defenders were killed or disappeared. Over 80% of them were in Latin America. ⤵️

“Land and environmental defenders – those protecting our forests, rivers, and lands across the world – continue to be met with unspeakable violence. They are being hunted, harassed, and killed – not for breaking laws, but for defending life itself.” -Laura Furones, @globalwitness.org

NEW: Israeli forces occupying parts of southern Syria since December 2024 have carried out a range of abuses against residents, including forced displacement, which is a war crime. Read more: www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

#Israel forces occupying southern #Syria have destroyed homes, forcibly displaced civilians, in absence of immediate threat. These are war crimes. @kajakallas.bsky.social: #EU should press for accountability & seek sanctions on officials responsible of violations. www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

US President Donald Trump has ordered National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee, saying he is doing so “because of the crime that’s going on.” Local police report crime rates in Memphis are at a historic 25-year low. This is a dangerous and unwarranted decision.

The third anniversary of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in Iran is a stark reminder — concerned governments should pursue justice for serious human rights violations and crimes during and since the 2022 protests.

New UN Commission of Inquiry report reinforces the consensus among experts around Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. As the Israeli govt escalates its assault on Gaza City & destroys Gaza’s remaining civilian infrastructure, states have a duty under Genocide Convention to act.

"Israel has committed genocide in #Gaza" - concludes UN Commission of Inquiry. All states have legal obligations to end the genocide & punish those responsible. "The absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity" www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel... #HRC60

Congolese military forces and a coalition of abusive militias are threatening the security of civilians in South Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. All governments in the region should prioritize safe passage for civilians to escape fighting.

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president, has been convicted of plotting a coup. The historic ruling is the first time a former president was tried for an attempted coup in Brazil, showing nobody should be above the law.

The sentence against former president Bolsonaro is a landmark for Brazil, which has a history of coup attempts that went unpunished. Brazil´s Supreme Court defended people´s right to vote and for their vote to be counted. It affirmed nobody is above the law. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Journalists working in Yemen are being deliberately targeted by warring parties. In a new report, HRW documents violations against journalists and media institutions, including the use of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and torture. Read more: https://t.co/v5wUz1HJiw

#Rwanda: @europarl.europa.eu adopts strong reso condemning detention of opposition leader Victoire Ingabire & other members of her party, calling for inquiries into deaths of opposition supporters. Great to see #Rwanda's repression finally on EP's agenda. www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pres...

1/3 #Gaza: the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging the EU Council & Commission to: - Suspend the #EU - #Israel trade deal - Sanction Ben Gvir, Smotrich & settlers - Support the ICC, activate the EU blocking statute against US sanctions - Halt arms exports amid risks of complicity ...

A Russian bomb killed at least 24 people in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday after hitting a crowd of people collecting their pension payments. Indiscriminate attacks are a violation of international law.

In the absence of international action, people from around the world are embarking on flotillas aimed at breaking Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza. Governments should protect flotilla participants and press Israel to end its unlawful blockade of Gaza.

It was a pleasure to join today’s discussion on school violence in Brazil at the National Council of the Public Prosecutor's Office. I spoke about how censorship of human rights education undermines safety and how the Council's Recommendation nº 114 can help prosecutors build protective schools.

There is nowhere safe to go in Gaza. Israeli forces have ordered thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City to evacuate as the military prepares another major assault. States should act to prevent genocide in Gaza and press Israel to reverse course.

Egypt: Mass Crackdown Targets Online Content Creators www.hrw.org/news/2025/09... “This is part of the government’s relentless attempt to criminalize all forms of expression that do not conform with its political or social views.”

At long last: @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu to propose sanctions on Israeli ministers, suspension of #EU - #Israel trade deal It took 2 years of unspeakable crimes, 60K+ killed, famine, growing consensus on #genocide It will go on, unless #Merz & #Meloni stop blocking EU action #SOTEU

NEW: The Islamist armed group Islamic State in the Sahel Province has escalated attacks on civilians in Niger since March 2025. The attacks violated international humanitarian law and are apparent war crimes. Read more:

Egyptian authorities have since July carried out an abusive campaign of mass arrests and prosecutions targeting online content creators. Authorities arrested or prosecuted at least 29 people for online content, including at least 19 women and a child www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

The Trump administration announced last month it would remove gender-affirming care from the health care services covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The move erodes health care coverage for people who rely on FEHB, and it threatens the dignity of transgender recipients ⤵️

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.

Police in Nepal have used lethal force to suppress youth protests, killing at least 19 people and injuring over 300. The “Gen Z”-led protests were organized following a widespread social media ban, with many also expressing anger about pervasive political corruption and nepotism in government.

Extreme weather events forced the Solomon Islander people of Walande to abandon their island home, which is now submerged in the sea. As Pacific leaders attend the Pacific Islands Forum in Solomon Islands this month, they should center voices from displaced communities.

More than 2,000 people have been killed following a deadly earthquake in Afghanistan. The Taliban have imposed rules that make it difficult for female aid workers to help with rescue efforts. Taliban authorities should ensure that women are involved in all relief work.

Next week, Pacific leaders gather in Solomon Islands for the Pacific Islands Forum. As single communities across the Pacific face sea level rise + coastal erosion without assistance or support, @hrw.org calls on Pacific leaders to adopt the Pacific Guidance on Internal Planned Relocation:

NEW: HRW geospatial analysis shows a large increase of graves in Kanombe Military Cemetery in Kigali, Rwanda since the M23 armed group and Rwanda Defence Force offensive on Goma and Bukavu in eastern DR Congo in Jan 2025. 1/12🧵⤵️

EU's complacency w/ #Israel crimes in #Gaza is an insult to victims, enabler to more crimes & a blow to EU's credibility. Yeah yeah it's known which states block action. But @ec.europa.eu's leadership should be politically held into account for enabling complicity. www.politico.eu/newsletter/b...

Clashes in Indonesia between protesters and security forces have killed at least seven people and injured dozens more since August 25. This week, the Indonesian Women's Alliance gathered to protest the government's repressive approach. Arti Tjakranegara spoke more ⤵️

Burkina Faso has passed a law banning homosexual acts. Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, the leader of the country’s transitional military government, should reject the law and ensure the rights to dignity, freedom, and equality are protected for all.

Kabwe/ Zambia: Province & district authorities just closed 4 Chinese processing plants for environmental law violations. This is a significant step by the Zambian govt. Processing lead-contaminated waste endangers resident's health. www.hrw.org/news/2025/03...

For 50 minutes on August 29, large slogans projected on a building in Chongqing, one of China’s major cities, urged the Chinese people to “rise up against fascism” and “take back our own rights.” The cleverly executed feat was unprecedented. Read more:

In the early hours of August 30, unidentified perpetrators bombed the home of Job Sikhala, a prominent critic of Zimbabwe’s government. Zimbabwe authorities should take necessary steps to protect Job Sikhala, his family, and other government critics.

A devastating earthquake has killed more than 800 people in Afghanistan, making the country’s already dire humanitarian situation even worse. Governments should prioritize sending humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to help alleviate the crisis.

Clashes in Indonesia between protesters and security forces have killed at least seven people and injured dozens. The Indonesian government’s announcement of new allowances and benefits to members of parliament resulted in peaceful protests, and police responded with tear gas and water cannons.

Renewed attacks on civilians in #Darfur #Kordofan require int'l actors & #EU to redouble action & leadership on #Sudan crisis. ⚖️ Full accountability & sanctions on those responsible for crimes ⛑️ Mobilize support for robust mission to protect civilians www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...