Until recently, Uyghurs who escaped repression at home felt safe in Türkiye, but as China-Türkiye relations warm & the Erdoğa government cracks down on refugees & migrants, many are growing fearful. New @hrw.org report on Uyghurs in Turkiye www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Soeharto a national hero? Focus on his terrible human rights record - Media censorship - Tight restrictions on freedom of association & assembly - Highly politicized, controlled judiciary - Widespread torture - Attacks on rights of minorities - Massacres of alleged communists - Numerous war crimes

President Prabowo’s choice of Soeharto as a "national hero" sends a deeply troubling message to Indonesians & the world. Soeharto never faced charges for the crimes he oversaw. To date there's been virtually no accountability for widespread abuses committed under his rule www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Activists condemn award by ex-son-in-law President Subianto, branding it betrayal of Soeharto's victims and democracy.

Our @ajiunit.com investigation into Myanmar’s civil war is online. It exposes abuses on the battlefield and beyond aje.io/junta

A 10-year-old Cambodian boy died from an explosion after reportedly bringing home an item from a field in Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province near the Thai border. The blast seriously injured his father. Both 🇹🇭 & 🇰🇭 should commit to end the use of cluster munitions. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Indonesia's former military dictator Suharto ruled for more than 3 decades & was never held to account for corruption or widespread human rights abuses including the massacres of alleged communists. Now, President Prabowo proclaims him a "national hero". Impunity prevails www.bbc.com/news/article...

Cambodian authorities are using the Thai-Cambodia border conflict as a pretext to intimidate those who express their views on social media. 16+ social media users have been arrested & charged with treason or incitement + 3 journalists have been arrested for their coverage www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Australian state of Victoria has passed landmark legislation to establish the nation's first treaty with indigenous peoples in a historic step towards justice, truth & self-determination. New from @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

When Afghan Women United took the field last week in Morocco for their first games in 4 years, it wasn't just about playing a match. Their return to compete after the Taliban banned all sports for women & girls is a true victory for human rights. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Threats to academic freedom in the UK - Sheffield Hallam University terminated a project about Uyghur forced labor after Chinese state security officers reportedly interrogated a staff member in Beijing & a Chinese company named in a report filed a defamation lawsuit. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Xi's regime doesn't just go after any dissent in China, it also tries to silence dissident voices abroad. The latest example? Puma Shen. "Beijing is reaching beyond its borders and seeking to declare certain lawful speech and activities as off-limits for Taiwan’s people.” - Maya Wang / @hrw.org

"Dismantling the Taliban’s institutionalised system of gender persecution & addressing the country’s myriad human rights crises demands urgent, principled & sustained international attention & action – not normalisation of the de facto authorities" UN SR on Afghanistan www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

The Chinese government’s investigation of Taiwanese legislator Puma Shen reflects escalating efforts to intimidate Taiwanese people about exercising their rights. This is a blatant example of cross-border application of abusive Chinese laws. New from @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

I absolutely love our tenth anniversary cover, beautifully illustrated by @badiucao.bsky.social, paying homage to the Gen Z protesters across Asia and the way they’ve embraced One Piece as a symbol of their determination for freedom and resistance 💪🏼

The Vietnamese government should recognize that critical reporting isn’t a crime. In fact, it’s a mark of a mature government if it can learn from criticism. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/w...

Good news! South Korea's census has been updated & will recognize same-sex relationships in national statistics for the first time. @hrw.org urges the government to build on this progress by passing a comprehensive anti-discrimination law & legalizing same-sex marriage. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

As Xi & Trump meet, democratic leaders attending the APEC summit should strongly reaffirm human rights & democratic principles & pledge to establish an Asia Democracy Defense Fund to mitigate the harm to human rights defenders & civil society in the region. thediplomat.com/2025/10/trum...

Deeply concerning to hear a BBC journalist is barred from leaving Vietnam & interrogated about her reporting. Reporting is not a crime. Starmer needs to raise this with To Lam at their meeting in London today + Vietnam's broader crackdown on dissent. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Yet another allegation of sexual harassment incident by a visiting official from Vietnam - this time in Seoul at a banquet for a defence dialogue. This follows similar incidents involving Vietnamese officials in Chile & New Zealand. When will these claims be investigated? www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

This weekend, governments will head to Hanoi to sign the deeply flawed UN Convention on Cybercrime. @hrw.org and partners issue new recommendations on how governments can prevent and mitigate the human rights risks posed the treaty www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Vietnam’s long record of cracking down on online dissent sadly makes it a fitting host for the signing ceremony of the deeply flawed UN Convention against Cybercrime this weekend. Read more in this @thediplomat.com oped by @hrw's @deblbrown.bsky.social & me thediplomat.com/2025/10/un-t...

New @hrw report: The Taliban is systematically dismantling Afghanistan's media landscape through intimidation, threats & arbitrary arrests of journalists. Media workers in precarious situations in exile fear forcible return to Afghanistan & persecution. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

[email protected] urges Malaysia to reopen its investigation into the disappearance of Myanmar activist Thuzar Maung and her family, who were allegedly abducted from their Selangor home in 2021. Now, the Myanmar junta has them in custody. www.malaysiakini.com/news/758711

Russia, using drones, attacked a UN Convoy in Ukraine. The very next day, they posted video evidence of the attack for the world to see, and not for the first time. Latest for @hrw.org: www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Absolutely chilling. A refugee family of five who vanished from their home in KL, 2 years on surface in Myanmar - their arrest & detention confirmed by the junta. Malaysian authorities should investigate how this prominent refugee & her family ended up in Myanmar. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

“The Malaysian authorities should publicly press Myanmar’s junta to free Thuzar Maung and her family and investigate how this prominent refugee ended up in Myanmar.” - Elaine Pearson (@elainepearson.bsky.social), Asia director at Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Goods news. Three Singaporean women who led a peaceful pro-Palestinian march through the streets acquitted on grounds they did not know that the route they took was prohibited under the Public Order Act. www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/th...

Vietnamese police have re-arrested former political prisoner Huynh Ngoc Tuan for his comments on social media & charged him with “conducting propaganda against the state.” The authorities have persecuted him for decades because he exposes social injustice in Vietnam. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Lately governments of all stripes have been on a charm offensive with Hanoi, hoping Vietnam’s policy of “bamboo diplomacy” will bend their way. But they should also recognize Vietnam is among the most repressive countries in SE Asia. My take in @japantimes.co.jp www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2...

Chinese authorities since 2024 have forcibly returned at least 406 people to North Korea, where they are at grave risk of persecution and ill-treatment. Beijing should allow the UNHCR access to North Koreans in China & publish data on North Koreans detained or deported. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

The Albanese - Trump meeting will be tough. Australia needs support from the very superpower that is undermining global principles & institutions Australia has long held dear. So how should @albomp.bsky.social approach it? @dgavshon.bsky.social writes here 👇 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Sri Lanka’s tax policies played a driving role in the country’s devastating 2022 economic crisis & have contributed to the chronic underfunding of education & other public services - new @hrw.org report www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Today, @hrw.org released the 1st major report on tax, documenting how policies that favor the rich drove Sri Lanka into economic crisis & starved its public education system. UN tax treaty negotiations are historic chance to address a root cause. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

WATCH executive director @fborello.bsky.social in Colombo to launch @hrw.org new report “Tax Giveaways, Struggling Schools: How Low Taxes Drove Sri Lanka’s Economic Crisis & Squandered its Education Lead,” Speech + panel discussion here from 1600hrs IST www.facebook.com/share/17U1u8...

New @hrw.org research shows Cambodian microfinance institutions, backed by international investors such as IFC, are targeting Indigenous communities with predatory lending & debt collection practices. What can the World Bank do about it? I write here for @devex.com 👇 www.devex.com/news/cambodi...

Horrendous. In Myanmar's Sagaing Division, the military uses motorized paragliders to drop bombs on a crowd gathered to celebrate a Buddhist festival killing civilians including children. www.bbc.com/news/article...

The Chinese authorities’ prosecution of Gao Zhen both violates his basic rights & indicates a step back toward China’s painful past. Critique about Mao’s brutal legacy, once tolerated, now seems to be off-limits as President Xi Jinping tightens his ideological control. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Two Vietnamese officials accused of sexual attack evade extradition to New Zealand. I can guarantee that this wont be reported on in Vietnam - as we wrote previously, Vietnam is yet to have a #MeToo reckoning which is why cases like this persist. abcnews.go.com/Internationa...

Is the death penalty a priority issue for Australia or not? Previously they have said it is - so PM Albanese should be urging Singapore to halt an execution scheduled to occur on the day of the Australia-Singapore Annual Leaders meeting in Canberra on October 8. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Spoke to @france24.com about China's chilling new ethnic unity bill which could be used to facilitate intensifying ideological controls, target ethnic & religious minorities including by erasing minority language rights & foster control beyond China’s borders. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddws...

"UN Human Rights Council members have sent a clear message to victims, their families & all those bravely fighting for justice in Afghanistan that their voices have been heard & that their suffering is neither invisible nor erasable" @hrw.org on new Aghanistan mechanism www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Good news - UN Human Rights Council adopts landmark resolution creating an independent mechanism to investigate past and ongoing rights abuses in Afghanistan. Those responsible for serious crimes in Afghanistan now or in the past will one day face justice in court. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

See below for @hrw.org response to the life sentence for the Thai gunman who killed Cambodian former opposition MP Lim Kimya in cold blood on a Bangkok street. All those responsible should be brought to justice despite their political connections. 👇 www.bbc.com/news/article...

This week marks a grim 60 years since Indonesia’s mass killings. The 1965-66 massacres were among the darkest days in Indonesian history. Marxism & communism remain banned & continue to be applied to target government critics. No one was held to account for the killings. www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Afghans were already isolated from the world but with this new internet shut down, now they are completely cut off. The longer the Taliban internet shutdowns continue, the more harmful the consequences for both the people and the country. More from @hrw.org 👇 www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Since 2004 transgender people in Japan who wanted to legally change their gender needed to apply to a family court. Now a court has ruled that the requirement that transgender people alter the appearance of their genitals to change their legal gender is unconstitutional www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

It’s beyond disappointing to see Singapore bending over backwards to please Beijing by rejecting pro-democracy leader Nathan Law at the border. bbc.co.uk/news/article... My quote responding to this news below 👇

No tolerance for free expression in Vietnam. Activist Trinh Ba Phuong is serving 10 years in prison. Authorities have now added another 11 year prison term, convicting him of "anti-state propaganda" because he made & hid a sign in his cell condemning the Communist party. www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Cambodian lenders have marketed microfinance loans as a pathway out of poverty, but they have pushed Indigenous families into over-indebtedness. These loans have cost many people their land, their health, and sometimes their lives. New @hrw.org report www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...