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Click to expand Image The Guna Indigenous community of Ukupa in Panama during a flood in December 2024. © 2024 Emigdio Morris

The Guna Indigenous community of Ukupa in Panama has announced a plan for the relocation of their entire village out of harm’s way after December flooding rendered homes in the area uninhabitable. Community members chose relocation as a measure of last resort after the floods and now seek government and international support.

This is not the first time a Panamanian community has requested relocation assistance. In 2010, the Guna community sought help to move from their flood-exposed and crowded island, Gardi Sugdub, to a mainland site in a dignified way. Over a decade later in 2024, the Panamanian government finally gave Guna community members keys to new homes. The years-long process was fraught with challenges, leaving the community uncertain of their future.

The Ukupa community now faces a similar limbo without a designated new site or clear course of action. On January 14, officials with Panama’s Housing Ministry evaluated the community’s needs and committed to consult with them about housing design. These are positive steps, but more systematic planning and follow-through is needed.

As the climate crisis accelerates, more communities like Gardi Sugdub and Ukupa will face hazards like severe flooding and request support. Human Rights Watch has called on Panama to develop a less ad hoc approach and establish a national planned relocation policy to confront these challenges that is culturally sensitive and rights-respecting.

Despite important strides hosting consultations, such a policy does not yet exist. Panama can address this gap and lead by example globally. The government should learn from Gardi Sugdub and follow global rights-based guidance to develop a robust, inclusive national policy that ensures affected communities are not only relocated safely, but are also empowered to rebuild their lives with dignity. Indigenous and local leaders should have a seat at the table throughout the process.

The Ukupa community’s plea for assistance underscores the urgency of a national planned relocation policy. Without it, the cycle of displacement will only worsen as climate change accelerates. A national policy would have eased Gardi Sugdub’s challenges and could now help Ukupa.

Panama’s leadership should act decisively and develop a national policy to protect the rights of coastal communities facing the climate crisis.

Click to expand Image Demonstrators hold up a banner bearing the effigy of Tunisian President Kais Saied that reads ''Tyrant,'' while others wear masks representing Tunisian women jailed or detained by the authorities including Bensedrine , during a protest in Tunis, January 14, 2025.  © 2025 Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto via AP Photo

On January 14, prominent activist and former president of Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission, Sihem Bensedrine, began a hunger strike while detained in Manouba prison. “I will no longer stand the injustice that strikes me. Justice cannot be based on lies and calumnies, but on concrete, tangible evidence,” she said in a message relayed by her lawyers.

Bensedrine has fought the abuses of successive governments for four decades and was imprisoned under former presidents Habib Bourguiba and Ben Ali. Now she is detained under Tunisia's authoritarian president, Kais Saied, in a clear case of retaliation for her human rights work. 

A judge ordered the detention of Bensedrine on August 1, 2024, in connection with her role as head of the Truth and Dignity Commission between 2014 and 2018. She faces charges of “using her position to gain unfair advantage for herself or a third party,” “fraud,” and “forgery,” related to the Commission’s final report. According to her lawyers, her detention is solely based on a 2020 complaint accusing her of falsifying the report. She faces prosecution in four other cases related to her work as commission president. 

Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission, established in 2013 at the outset of the democratic transition, was mandated with investigating human rights violations and corruption that happened from 1955 to 2013, and to propose measures for accountability, remedy, and rehabilitation. Yet it faced many challenges and obstacles in fulfilling its mandate. Although the commission transferred 205 cases of grave human rights abuses to specialized chambers, leading to prosecutions, no judgments have been issued.

Saied's election and takeover of the judiciary ultimately halted Tunisia’s transitional justice efforts altogether.

Bensedrine has been in pre-trial detention for almost six months, and a judge will decide in the coming days whether to extend her detention further. Tunisian authorities should release her and drop all charges, given they relate to her work as commission president.

The date Bensedrine began her hunger strike, January 14, originally commemorated the historic mobilization of Tunisians against authoritarianism, which resulted in the 2011 ouster of autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. Following his July 2021 power grab, Saied changed the public holiday to December 17, in a symbolic rupture with the decade of democratic transition. Nevertheless, this past January 14, dozens of people demonstrated on the central Habib Bourguiba Avenue, holding portraits or wearing masks with the effigy of political prisoners – including Bensedrine.

Click to expand Image The Constitutional Court building, in Quito, Ecuador, February 7, 2024. © 2024 Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo

Ecuador’s Constitutional Court recently made public a ruling upholding the rights of a transgender girl whose private school in Santa Elena failed to support her during her gender transition. The court ordered comprehensive remedies after finding that the school discriminated against the girl, failed to act in accordance with her best interests, and violated a wide range of other rights, including her right to education.

In its ruling, the court refers to the girl as C.L.A.G in order to protect her identity. In 2017, C.L.A.G.’s parents sought the school’s support, requesting psychosocial assistance and gender diversity training for the school’s staff. While initially cooperative, the school later failed to consistently use her preferred name, refused her access to the girls’ bathroom, required her to wear the boys’ uniform, and asked her parents to produce a diagnosis of gender dysphoria or “transsexuality.”

The girl’s parents turned to the District of Education, which issued recommendations to the school to better accommodate her gender identity. The school rejected them, and C.L.A.G’s parents turned to the courts. After receiving unfavorable decisions from lower courts, the parents filed an appeal before the Constitutional Court.

Among its remedies, the court ordered the Ministry of Education and other key authorities to develop and disseminate a mandatory protocol for respecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans children in schools within six months. The protocol must include guidelines on the use of a child’s preferred name, dress, and bathroom use consistent with their gender.

This ruling comes as Ecuador struggles to fully implement remedies ordered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Paola Guzmán Albarracín v. Ecuador to prevent school-related sexual and gender-based violence. The Ministry of Education’s strategy on comprehensive sexuality education – a cornerstone of its prevention efforts – aims to equip students with essential information on topics such as puberty, healthy relationships, and gender identity. It has faced resistance from some teachers and officials, as well as groups that rail against so-called gender ideology.

In 2024, the Ministry of Education caved in to external pressure and temporarily removed materials from its “Sexualipedia” platform, which included age-appropriate content on gender identity. Some content has been restored, but episodes on gender identity remain offline, awaiting “scientific validation.”

C.L.A.G.’s case underscores the need for clear policies to ensure all students, including trans children, can access their right to education without discrimination. Ecuador should develop and implement the protocols ordered by the court, ensuring students receive accurate, inclusive information on gender identity. This will have an important impact on the safety and dignity of countless students and Ecuadoran society.

Click to expand Image Detainees behind cell bars at the police Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok, Thailand, January 21, 2019. © 2019 AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

(Bangkok) – A group of 48 Uyghur men who have been held for over a decade in Thai immigration detention face risks of enforced disappearance, long-term imprisonment, torture, and other severe mistreatment if Thailand forcibly sends them to China, Human Rights Watch said today. The Uyghurs appear to be at imminent risk following recent moves by Thai immigration officials, including telling the detainees to complete new paperwork and photographing them, steps that the group believes are in preparation for their forcible transfer.

“Successive Thai governments have kept the Uyghurs in inhumane detention, while under pressure from the Chinese government to send them to China,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The current administration of Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra can end this abusive cycle by immediately releasing the detained Uyghurs and allowing them to travel to a safe third country.”

In March 2014, Thai police in Songkhla province, near the Malaysia border, arrested about 220 Uyghur men, women, and children, charged them with immigration violations, and soon transferred them to an immigration detention facility in Bangkok. In several separate incidents around the same period, authorities arrested dozens of other Uyghurs and placed them in immigration detention facilities around the country. In July 2015, about 170 of the Uyghur women and children detained in Songkhla were released to Turkey. A week later, however, Thai authorities forcibly transferred over 100 Uyghur men to Chinese authorities, who flew them to China.

The 48 Uyghurs who remain in detention have been held for more than 10 years, in squalid conditions with poor hygiene and inadequate medical care, under constant fear that they might also be transferred to Chinese custody. Five Uyghurs detained since 2014 have died in detention, including a newborn and 3-year-old.

In a letter obtained by media from the 48 detainees dated January 10, 2025, the Uyghur group said: “We could be imprisoned, and we might even lose our lives. We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from this tragic fate before it is too late.” They are now on a hunger strike.

The Thai government is obligated to respect the international law principle of nonrefoulement, which prohibits countries from returning anyone to a place where they would face a real risk of persecution, torture or other serious ill-treatment, a threat to life, or other comparable serious human rights violations. Refoulement is prohibited by the United Nations Convention against Torture to which Thailand is a party as well as customary international law, and the prohibition is incorporated in Thailand’s 2023 Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances.

Uyghurs are Turkic-speaking Muslims, most of whom live in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China’s northwest. The Chinese government has long been hostile to expressions of Uyghur identity. Over the last 10 years, China’s repression of Uyghurs has increased significantly as authorities have intensified a widespread and systematic campaign of human rights abuses against them, amounting to crimes against humanity. The authorities have subjected the population to arbitrary detention, unjust imprisonment, mass surveillance, forced labor, and severe movement restrictions. An estimated half million Uyghurs remain imprisoned as part of the ongoing crackdown, in which the authorities have routinely conflated everyday peaceful conduct, such as prayer or contacting relatives abroad, with terrorism and extremism.

Uyghurs considered to have left China illegally are, if returned, viewed with intense suspicion and subject to detention, interrogation, torture, and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

In a 2022 report, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights documented these intensifying abuses and concluded that China’s actions may amount to crimes against humanity.

Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and has no effective national mechanisms to assess asylum claims. Thai immigration authorities have repeatedly refused to allow the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) access to the men, preventing them from exercising their rights to seek recognition of their refugee status. The Thai government’s prolonged detention of the Uyghurs also violates international human rights law prohibitions against arbitrary detention, Human Rights Watch said.

“The Thai government should be helping people fleeing persecution, not jailing them, and certainly should not be violating international law and sending them into harm’s way,” Pearson said. “The Thai authorities should immediately allow the United Nations refugee agency to screen the 48 Uyghurs and ensure their onward travel to a safe third country.”

Click to expand Image A school guard walks in the corridor of a school which was heavily damaged after a Russian airstrike in Mohrytsia, Ukraine, August 14, 2024. © 2024 Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo

Today the United States endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, a political commitment to protect education during war. By signing, the US joins 120 countries working together to protect students, teachers, and schools from violent attacks.

Attacks on schools occur in almost every armed conflict around the world. Each year, thousands of students and teachers are killed and injured, schools destroyed, and children denied the future only education brings.

By signing the declaration, countries promise to investigate and prosecute attacks that violate the laws of war, help victims, try to continue education during wartime, restore access after attacks, and protect schools from military use.

In the decade since the declaration was first launched, more than a dozen countries have revised their military guidance to ensure more protection for schools and education. Several have prosecuted people responsible for attacking schools. UN peacekeepers have stopped deploying in schools.

US policy already supports the declaration’s key elements – for example, the US military includes schools in its official “no strike” lists, recognizing that schools not being used for military purposes are protected civilian property under the laws of war.

Signing the declaration puts the US on the right side of a global movement its main military allies have already joined. Given its influence, the US move could help expand the group of countries putting their political muscle behind children and their education, encouraging allies, such as Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea to join. Signing better allows the US to use the declaration’s guidance, written by military officers, to urge other countries to respect the laws of war, including when it trains other militaries. Protecting schools globally also protects the US’ significant investments in international education before, during, and after conflict.

The US signing of the declaration couldn’t be more timely or relevant. In the past year, almost every school in Gaza has been damaged or destroyed. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, more than 3,790 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed. Countries that have not yet endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration should move quickly to do so, and show that schools, teachers, and students are off-limits in times of war.

Click to expand Image President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during a press conference in Strasbourg, France, September 17, 2024. © 2024 Philipp von Ditfurth/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Photo

This week, Human Rights Watch joined 170 other human rights and environmental organizations and trade unions calling on the European Commission and its President Ursula von der Leyen to actively protect the European Union’s existing corporate accountability laws.

The statement was made in response to President von der Leyen’s announcement on November 8, 2024, that in order to improve EU competitiveness, she would reduce reporting requirements for companies by 25% and introduce an “omnibus” proposal that could weaken the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and two other corporate sustainability reporting and classification laws adopted during her first mandate at the helm of the commission. The CSDDD is the EU’s corporate accountability law requiring large corporations to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence in their global supply chains.

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Civil society organizations have warned that the omnibus bill could act as a trojan horse for political groups opposed to the law to remove important climate and human rights provisions from the CSDDD once back in parliament.

Company lobbyists and conservative politicians argue that compliance costs and reporting obligations are too expensive and stifle businesses. But data shows that the cost of due diligence for large companies is less than 0.01% of their revenue, while between 2016 and 2023, the largest listed EU-based companies made enough profit to distribute $1.501 trillion to their shareholders.

The EU should look to create a human rights economy, where it would be responsible for prioritizing the long-term greater interest of people and the planet through equitable distribution of resources and environmental sustainability over maximization of profits for the benefit of a few.

Therefore, instead of revisiting these essential laws, the European Commission and member states should work to integrate them into national law and enforce them. The EU should encourage a race to the top to protect human rights, the environment, and climate, all while providing companies with a level playing field through clear expectations, legal certainty, and timely and comprehensive guidelines on implementation.

The EU has been a global leader in developing legislation to hold companies accountable for human rights and environmental abuses; now is not the time to step back.

Click to expand Image A cell at Cairns watch house in Queensland, Australia where the authorities detained children in 2024. © 2024 Inspector of Detention Services, Office of the Queensland Ombudsman (“Cairns and Murgon watch‑houses inspection report: Focus on detention of children”)

(Bangkok) – The Australian government increasingly violated the rights of children in the criminal justice system in 2024, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Authorities in Queensland and Western Australia detained children in facilities designed for adults, while the Northern Territory government lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 years to 10.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in  her  introductory  essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.

“The Australian government’s treatment of children in its criminal justice system went from bad to worse in 2024,” said Annabel Hennessy, Australia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “These increasing violations are a blot on Australia’s human rights reputation globally.”

In May, a parliamentary inquiry report recommended establishing a Human Rights Act to ensure effective protection of human rights under Australian law.Australia’s cruel treatment of asylum seekers remains a serious and persistent rights concern, with the federal government violating its international obligations by sending those who attempt to arrive by boat to offshore detention in Nauru.The Northern Territory government announced it would resume the use of spit hoods – head coverings – on children in detention. Australia’s human rights commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, said in 2023: “The use of spit hoods poses significant risks of injury and death.”The federal government rarely used its sanctions regime against those implicated in human rights abuses abroad. The Australian government has yet to sanction any Chinese officials.

As the only Western democracy without a national human rights act or charter, the Australian government should promptly introduce a new national Human Rights Act, Human Rights Watch said.

Click to expand Image The moon rises as a man sits atop a pile of rubble it al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip on November 15, 2024, amid ongoing hostilities in Gaza. © 2024 Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images.

(Jerusalem) – The Israeli military killed, wounded, starved, and forcibly displaced Palestinian civilians in Gaza in 2024, and destroyed their homes, schools, hospitals, and infrastructure at a scale unprecedented in recent history, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza were killed and wounded. The military forcibly displaced Palestinians from their homes, a crime against humanity, and Israeli authorities deliberately deprived civilians of food, water, and other objects necessary for survival in Gaza, comprising atrocity crimes, acts of genocide, and mounting evidence of genocidal intent.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies. 

“Israel’s decades-long systematic repression of Palestinians worsened dramatically and plunged civilians in Gaza into a horrifying abyss, but possibilities for international justice are emerging,” said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Continued weapons sales to Israel by its partners despite vast evidence of its unchecked atrocity crimes are putting those countries and officials at risk of direct complicity.”

In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, and the leader of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Deif, for the attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, that included war crimes and crimes against humanity.The Israeli authorities continued to commit the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution through their repression of Palestinians. In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion finding that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and that all illegal settlements should be evacuated and dismantled.In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the UN reported that Palestinians killed 6 Israeli settlers and 16 soldiers, while Israelis killed 719 Palestinians, from October 7, 2023, to October 7, 2024, far more than in any other year on record based on UN data available since 2005.Evidence emerged throughout 2024 of ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian detainees deported from Gaza to detention facilities in Israel.Armed groups in the Gaza Strip are holding an estimated 100 hostages, including the bodies of over 30 people believed to have died during the hostilities. In August, captors intentionally killed six Israeli hostages, apparently to prevent their rescue by approaching Israeli forces. Human Rights Watch found that Hamas’ military wing—the Qassam Brigades—and at least four Palestinian armed groups committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians during the October 7, 2023 assault on southern Israel.In October 2024, the Israeli parliament passed legislation aimed at preventing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating in areas under Israeli sovereignty and banning communication with UNRWA staff , endangering access to humanitarian aid and basic services to Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory. The ban will take effect in early 2025.

All countries which provide weapons to Israel, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, should suspend weapons transfers due to the Israeli military’s repeated, unlawful attacks on civilians. Countries should defend the ICC; execute its arrest warrants; and increase public and private pressure on the Israeli government to stop violating the laws of armed conflict, comply with its obligations as well as the ICJ’s binding orders and advisory opinion, and ensure that aid can be taken into Gaza and safely distributed and that Palestinians in Gaza can access basic services. 

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(New York) – The events of 2024 have shown that even in the darkest times there are those who dare to resist oppression and demonstrate the courage to seek progress, said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch, today in releasing the organization’s World Report 2025. In the face of rising authoritarianism, repression, and armed conflict, governments should respect and defend universal human rights with more rigor and urgency than ever, and civil society should remain steadfast in holding them accountable.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies. 

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“Governments that are outspoken about protecting human rights, but ignore the abuses of their allies, open the door to those who question the legitimacy of the human rights system,” Hassan said. “That view irresponsibly and dangerously lets abusive governments off the hook. This isn’t a moment to retreat.” 

The past year was marked by armed conflicts and humanitarian crises that exposed the fraying of international protections for civilians and the devastating human cost when it is flouted. This includes horrific instances of international inaction and complicity in abuses that further human suffering, most notably in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, and Haiti.

The year also highlighted an often-disregarded reality that liberal democracies are not always reliable champions of human rights at home or abroad, Hassan said. US President Joe Biden’s foreign policy has demonstrated a double standard when it comes to human rights, as it continues to provide weapons to Israel despite widespread violations of international law in Gaza while condemning Russia for similar violations in Ukraine.

In Europe, economic stagnation and security have been used as a pretext by a growing number of countries to justify their selective jettisoning of rights, especially of marginalized groups and migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, while failing to take credible action to improve economic and social rights.

Racism, hate, and discrimination drove many elections in 2024. In the United States, Donald Trump won the presidency for a second time, raising concerns that his new administration would repeat and even magnify the serious rights violations of his first term. In some places, such as Russia, El Salvador, and the Sahel, authoritarian leaders tightened their grip, leveraging fear and misinformation to stifle dissent and entrench their rule.

Yet in other countries, there were glimmers of democratic resilience, Hassan said, as voters rejected populist agendas and held leaders and their parties accountable. In Bangladesh, student protests led to the resignation of Sheikh Hasina, its long-time repressive leader. Despite violent crackdowns, the protesters persevered, forcing the formation of an interim government that has promised reform. In South Korea, thousands took to the streets to protest President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law, which the National Assembly overturned a mere six hours later.

While it is too soon to tell what Syria’s future holds, the flight of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad illustrates the limits of autocratic power. Autocrats who rely on other governments to maintain their repressive rule are susceptible to their benefactors’ shifting political calculations.

Among the crucial human rights events of the year:

The Taliban intensified their crackdown on women and girls and minority groups. In 2024 they closed one of the last remaining loopholes in their ban on education for older girls and women by forbidding them from attending medical school.A new national security law in Hong Kong, imposed by China, was used to hand down prison terms to several dozen people in a mass trial. In Xinjiang, hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs remain under surveillance, imprisonment, and forced labor.Violence in Haiti reached catastrophic levels with criminal groups intensifying large-scale, coordinated attacks, killing thousands of people, recruiting children, and raping women and girls.In Sudan, the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) resulted in widespread atrocities against civilians, including mass killings, sexual violence, and forced displacement. The RSF’s ethnic cleansing campaign in West Darfur resulted in crimes against humanity.In Gaza, Israeli authorities have imposed a blockade, committed numerous unlawful attacks and caused forced displacement, which amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity. They have deliberately deprived Palestinians of access to water required for survival, which is a crime against humanity and may amount to the crime of genocide.Russia continued its large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, hospitals, and other infrastructure, killing and injuring many civilians. Russian authorities in occupied areas have forcibly and methodically sought to erase Ukrainian identity.

“Let us say the unspoken part out loud: when governments fail to act to protect civilians at dire risk, they not only abandon them to death and injury, but they also undermine protections to people worldwide, ultimately leading to a situation where everyone is worse off,” Hassan said. “This race to the bottom exacts a toll that is far reaching, often extending well beyond those directly affected by the conflict to include forcing people from their homes, preventing healthcare and aid workers from reaching civilians in need, denying children an education, and creating even greater risks for people with disabilities.

Hassan said that the past year reinforced the importance of looking to governments across regions to display bold leadership on human rights and accountability – and they will need to do so more often. When governments call out violations of international law, as South Africa did in bringing a case to the International Court of Justice alleging Israel’s violations of the Genocide Convention in Gaza, or several states contest the Taliban in Afghanistan for violating the United Nations convention on women’s rights, it can raise the bar for its enforcement.

The international courts offering a path to justice for victims and survivors in Myanmar, Israel and Palestine, and Ukraine; the activists who are fighting for change in Georgia, Bangladesh, and Kenya; and the voters rejecting authoritarianism in key elections like Venezuela – all of these are reminders that the fight for rights is very much alive.

“When rights are protected, humanity flourishes,” Hassan said. “When they are denied, the cost is measured not in abstract principles but in human lives. This is the challenge, and the opportunity, of our time.”

Click to expand Image A woman walks holding a placard as activists demonstrate against female child marriages, in Tahrir Square, central Baghdad, July 28, 2024.  © 2024 Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP via Getty Images

(Beirut) – The Iraqi government ramped up attacks on rights by passing or attempting to pass draconian laws that would restrict Iraqis’ freedoms throughout 2024, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.

“Iraq has an opportunity to enact structural reforms that would enhance basic rights and help preserve the country’s relative stability,” said Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Instead, they seem focused on legislating away Iraqis’ freedom, ramping up executions, and repressing dissent.”

Iraq’s parliament debated an amendment to the Personal Status Law that would allow Iraqi religious authorities, rather than state law, to govern marriage and inheritance matters at the expense of fundamental rights. If passed, the amendment would have disastrous effects on women’s and girls’ rights guaranteed under international law by allowing marriage for girls as young as 9, undermining the principle of equality under Iraqi law, and removing divorce and inheritance protections for women.On April 27, parliament passed an amendment to the Law on Combating Prostitution, punishing same-sex relations with between 10 and 15 years in prison. The amendment also sets prisons terms of 1 to 3 years for people who undergo or perform gender-affirming medical intervention and for “imitating women.” The law also provides for up to 7 years in prison and a fine of up to 15 million dinars (about US$11,450) for “promoting homosexuality,” which is not defined.Iraqi authorities dramatically increased the scale and pace of unlawful executions in 2024, without prior notice to lawyers or family members and despite credible allegations of torture and violations of the right to a fair trial.The closure of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) in September left survivors feeling uncertain about the future of ISIS accountability in Iraq. Outstanding issues include whether evidence collected by UNITAD will be preserved, as well as the need to exhume mass graves, provide for the return of displaced people, and compensate those whose homes and businesses were destroyed during the conflict.

The Iraqi authorities should reject the proposed amendment to the Personal Status Law, repeal the anti-LGBT law, and set a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

Click to expand Image Demonstrators wave Tunisian flags and raise placards during a demonstration organized by the Tunisian Network for Rights and Freedoms in Tunis, Tunisia, on September 22, 2024.  © 2024 Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto via AP

(Beirut) – The Tunisian government exacerbated its repression of critical voices and accelerated its crackdown on civil society groups, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Authorities undermined the integrity of the October presidential election, escalating politically motivated arrests and arbitrary detentions, including of prospective challengers, and amending the electoral law just days before the vote.

“It is clear that Tunisian authorities deployed all their efforts to silence, prosecute, and imprison President Kais Saied’s critics and opponents in order to favor his re-election,” said Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “They have simultaneously targeted members of civil society and the media who dared question his policies, effectively tightening the noose around Tunisia’s hard-won civic space.”

As of November, over 80 people were detained on political grounds or for exercising their rights, including political opponents, activists, lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders, and social media users.Security forces continued abuses against migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees with impunity, as denounced by the UN in October. Deaths at sea of refugees and migrants fleeing to Europe continued. In May, authorities arbitrarily arrested members of organizations providing aid to asylum seekers and refugees. The European Union continued support to Tunisian authorities for migration control purposes despite ongoing violations.Tunisia is still facing an economic crisis with high public debt and inflation, affecting economic, social, and cultural rights. As of June, at least several hundred people were in prison solely for writing checks they were later unable to pay, however a new law adopted in July introduced important reforms and paved the way for the release of more than 500 people.  

Human Rights Watch called on Tunisian authorities to release those arbitrarily detained and allow civil society organizations and the media to operate freely. Tunisia’s international partners should speak up and urge the government to uphold human rights and cease funding abusive migration controls. 

Click to expand Image A man walks past an exchange office in Cairo, Egypt, March 6, 2024.  © 2024 AP Photo/Amr Nabil.

(Beirut) – The government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt entered its second decade with wholesale repression, systematically detaining and punishing peaceful critics and activists, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Egypt’s severe economic crisis had devastating effects on people’s access to economic, social, and cultural rights while authorities thrived on a lack of accountability and public scrutiny.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies. 

“Egyptian authorities have shown no real will to end a zero tolerance policy toward peaceful dissent and criticism,” said Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The Egyptian government acts as if it can resolve the dire economic crisis by entrenching an environment of fear rather than fulfilling people’s social and economic rights.”

The authorities prosecuted dozens of protesters and activists during 2024, including in relation to Palestine solidarity demonstrations. In July, the authorities arbitrarily detained more than 100 people amid online calls for protests, which did not materialize, in response to price hikes and power cuts. Independent organizations and advocacy work remain severely curtailed under the draconian restrictions of Egypt’s 2019 NGO law.Despite agreeing to some US$57 billion in grants and loans in 2024, the government’s economic approach, which prioritizes spending on lavish, opaque infrastructure projects including those led by the military, undermines people’s economic, social, and cultural rights. Prices are skyrocketing, poverty is increasing, and access to food and electricity is decreasing amid an unprecedented reliance on foreign debt from international partners and financial institutions.Egyptian authorities lifted asset freeze orders and allowed prominent human rights defenders, such as Gamal Eid, Hossam Bahgat, and others, to travel abroad for the first time since 2016, when they were prosecuted alongside dozens of other human rights advocates and organizations in the “foreign funding” case. An investigative judge said in March that the investigations were closed and charges dropped; however, several human rights defenders, in this and other cases, still faced harsh, arbitrary prosecutions, asset freezes and travel bans.

The Egyptian authorities should end systematic repression of critics and repeal repressive laws banning peaceful assembly and curtailing the work of independent organizations. It should disclose financial information about large, opaque military-run projects and fulfill people’s economic, social, and cultural rights. During Egypt’s Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council in January, member states should demand Egypt address its abysmal human rights record. 

Click to expand Image Newspaper front pages featuring president-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake on display in Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 23, 2024. © 2024 AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena

(Bangkok) – The government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, which took office on September 23, 2024, has promised to address longstanding human rights issues that have plunged Sri Lanka into repeated crises, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2025. Dissanayake has pledged to introduce more equitable economic policies and to repeal the notoriously abusive Prevention of Terrorism Act, but he has not backed accountability for widespread rights violations during Sri Lanka’s 1983-2009 civil war between the government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies. 

“Sri Lanka’s multiple crises are connected by entrenched impunity for rights violations, discrimination against minority communities, and laws and institutions that seek to silence critics,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “President Dissanayake has an opportunity to make real progress on rights if he carries out his campaign pledges, but he also needs to address the legacy of past conflicts and continuing abuses against Tamils, Muslims, and others on which he has been troublingly silent.”

While an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout helped stem the immediate crisis after the Sri Lankan government defaulted on its foreign debt in 2022, the United Nations estimated that a quarter of households were suffering food insecurity in 2024.Policies pursued by the outgoing administration of President Ramil Wickremesinghe under the IMF program shifted the burden of recovery largely onto people with low incomes. The Dissanayake government has pledged to combat corruption and create more equitable economic policies.Police and other security agencies harassed and threatened activists and human rights defenders with impunity during 2024, particularly in predominantly Tamil areas in the north and east, including undue restrictions and interference in the financing of civil society organizations.In May, the UN human rights office issued a report calling for the international community to undertake prosecutions and other accountability measures to address thousands of unresolved cases of enforced disappearance that occurred over decades during the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) uprisings, and the LTTE armed conflict. The UN Human Rights Council has extended a mandate to monitor human rights violations and collect evidence of crimes during the civil war. 

President Dissanayake should begin to address Sri Lanka’s many human rights problems by fulfilling and building upon the pledges he made during his party’s election campaigns.

Click to expand Image A police vehicle set on fire by alleged supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party during clashes in Karachi, Pakistan, October 13, 2024. © 2024 AP Photo/Fareed Khan

(Bangkok) – Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, which took office in February 2024, is perpetuating a longstanding crackdown on free expression and civil society, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Blasphemy-related violence against religious minorities, fostered in part by government persecution and discriminatory laws, intensified in 2024.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.

“The space for free expression and dissent in Pakistan under the Sharif government is shrinking at an alarming pace,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Pakistani authorities are repeating a decades-long cycle of power grabs and victimization of opponents at the expense of everyone’s human rights.”

Throughout 2024, Pakistani authorities intermittently blocked social media platforms such as X, cracked down on opposition parties, and detained hundreds of activists, some on charges of violence. Journalists faced intimidation, harassment, and surveillance for perceived criticism of the government. Government threats and attacks created a climate of fear among journalists and civil society groups, with many resorting to self-censorship.The Pakistan government frequently enforced blasphemy law provisions that provide a pretext for violence against religious minorities and leave them vulnerable to arbitrary arrest and prosecution. Mob and vigilante attacks on people for alleged “blasphemy” killed at least four people. The authorities continue to target members of the Ahmadiyya religious community for prosecution under blasphemy laws and specific anti-Ahmadi laws.Soaring poverty, inflation, and unemployment jeopardized rights including to health, food, and an adequate standard of living for millions. Austerity measures under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) program resulted in additional hardship for low-income groups. The authorities used a colonial-era Land Acquisition Act to evict low-income communities to facilitate development projects.

The Pakistani government should take concrete steps to protect everyone’s rights by ending arbitrary restrictions on freedom of expression and removing discriminatory laws that promote violence against religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said. Foreign governments should press the Sharif government to make a genuine commitment to human rights and democracy.

Click to expand Image The town of Chunggang, North Korea, as seen from the Chinese border town of Linjiang, February 29, 2024. © 2024 PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

(Bangkok) – North Korea’s government under Kim Jong Un in 2024 retained repressive Covid-19-era policies that restrict movement and trade and blocked humanitarian organizations from entering the country, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.

“North Korea’s severe restrictions on movement and trade have exacerbated shortages of food, medicine, and other essential goods, extending the country’s humanitarian crisis,” said Lina Yoon, senior Korea researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Concerned governments and international institutions need to refocus on North Korea’s dire human rights situation and urge the United Nations Security Council to advance the human rights dimension of its nuclear proliferation activities.”

The government’s abusive Covid-19-related restrictions imposed between 2020 and 2023 blocked most sources of income for a large majority of the population, reducing people’s ability to buy already-scarce goods, including food and medicine. Border guards remained under orders to “unconditionally shoot” anyone trying to leave the country without permission. News reports indicate increased North Korean use of anti-personnel mines at its border with South Korea in the first half of 2024, which are intended, in part, to deter its soldiers and citizens from defecting.North Korea’s totalitarian government escalated ideological control over its citizens, banning the use of language perceived to be of South Korean or foreign origin, and harshly punishing those who watch foreign movies or attempt to contact people abroad.Heavy flooding in August destroyed homes and infrastructure crucial to food production, compounding the humanitarian crisis.The 10th anniversary of the landmark 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry report renewed international interest in boosting accountability for rights abuses in North Korea. However, Russia vetoed the mandate of a UN Security Council Panel of Experts to track the enforcement of sanctions on North Korea. In November, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that requested a high-level plenary meeting featuring testimony from civil society representatives and other experts to address the human rights violations being committed in North Korea.North Korea’s expanded military cooperation with Russia, including sending materiel and troops to support Russia’s war with Ukraine, provided another example of the interconnection between North Korea’s security and human rights issues. The deployment of soldiers to a conflict in which Russia has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other atrocities was reportedly carried out in exchange for oil and technology related to North Korea’s nuclear and weapons and missile programs. In January, two North Korean soldiers were captured by Ukraine, confirming North Korea’s involvement in the conflict.

North Korea should reopen its borders, invite aid organizations into the country, and accept monitored international assistance, Human Rights Watch said. Concerned governments should call for UN-backed reporting on connections between North Korea’s human rights abuses and its nuclear weapons program, and increase support for civil society groups advocating for the rights of North Koreans.

Click to expand Image Students take part in a protest march to demand justice for those killed during anti-quota protests in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 3, 2024. © 2024 KM Asad/LightRocket via Getty

(Bangkok) – Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel Prize laureate Mohammed Yunus, has set up a commission to investigate enforced disappearances and pledged reforms and accountability for rights abuses under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian rule, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. During the crackdowns on student-led protests over three weeks in July and August, over 1,000 people were killed and many thousands injured due to excessive and indiscriminate use of ammunition by security forces.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.

“Bangladesh’s interim government has taken significant strides toward a democratic and rights-respecting future, but its progress could evaporate without deep institutional reform and international support,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The interim government needs to protect Rohingya refugees, support credible investigations and reparations for enforced disappearances, and provide for civilian oversight over security forces.”

Activists have raised concerns that security forces have continued to carry out abuses, including arbitrary arrests of opposition supporters and journalists and denying them due process and proper access to legal counsel.While the interim government acceded to the United Nations Convention on Enforced Disappearances, security forces have failed to release those unlawfully detained or provide answers to their families about what happened to them.Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled Myanmar and are living in refugee camps are at risk of violence at hands of armed groups and gangs. Unregistered refugees risk hunger and do not seek health care out of fear that they will be returned to Myanmar.

The interim government should reform institutions in line with international human rights standards with the help of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, disband the notorious Rapid Action Battalion, reform security forces to ensure independent oversight and accountability, and pursue justice for the victims of enforced disappearances and their families. It should also ensure unfettered access for human rights monitors to the Chittagong Hill Tracts and work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to register Rohingya refugees so that they can access protection, medical care, and food rations.

Click to expand Image Demonstrators chant slogans during a protest against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside the National Assembly in Seoul, December 7, 2024. © 2024 Jean Chung/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(Bangkok) – South Korea maintained its positive human rights record in 2024 despite an increasingly acrimonious political environment and persistent concerns about women’s rights, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. The prompt impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yeol following his unexpected and short-lived imposition of martial law on December 3 demonstrated the resiliency of the country’s democratic institutions.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies. 

“South Korea’s democratic system of checks and balances was severely tested in 2024, and passed the test,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities now need to refocus on the persistent discrimination against women and minorities and other rights concerns, while playing a bigger role in promoting human rights on the world stage.”

Before his impeachment, the administration of President Yoon frequently used criminal defamation cases and South Korea’s overbroad National Security Law to target political opponents, unions, and the media, eroding the freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, rights that his martial law decree would have suspended. The Yoon administration also eroded human rights protections for women and girls; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people; racial minorities; migrants; older people; and people with disabilities.

The government inadequately addressed underlying gender discrimination and inequality in the country, where women face a large gender wage gap.South Korea’s digital sex crime epidemic persisted, including a surge of cases involving the distribution of nonconsensual deepfake sexual images of women and girls. Though the government adopted legislation toughening penalties for offenders, women are frequently unable to obtain legal recourse or government protection.The Supreme Court ruled that the country’s National Health Insurance Service must extend dependent benefits to same-sex partners. Yet, the government appointed an opponent of minority and LGBT rights, Ahn Chang-ho, as the next chairman of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.The Yoon administration announced some measures to better promote human rights in North Korea, but did little on the United Nations Security Council to draw attention to Pyongyang’s dismal rights record. Yoon’s government also pledged financial incentives to companies that hire North Korean escapees, but most North Korean escapees in South Korea still face discrimination, receive inadequate government support, and often struggle to make a living.

The South Korean government should pass a comprehensive anti-discrimination law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, age, race, disability, religion, and other characteristics, Human Rights Watch said. It should hold those responsible for digital sex crimes involving deepfakes to account, provide comprehensive sexuality education, and take meaningful steps to promote gender equality.

Click to expand Image A cell at Cairns watch house in Queensland, Australia where the authorities detained children in 2024. © 2024 Inspector of Detention Services, Office of the Queensland Ombudsman (“Cairns and Murgon watch‑houses inspection report: Focus on detention of children”)

(Bangkok) – The Australian government increasingly violated the rights of children in the criminal justice system in 2024, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Authorities in Queensland and Western Australia detained children in facilities designed for adults, while the Northern Territory government lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 years to 10.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.

“The Australian government’s treatment of children in its criminal justice system went from bad to worse in 2024,” said Annabel Hennessy, Australia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “These increasing violations are a blot on Australia’s human rights reputation globally.”

In May, a parliamentary inquiry report recommended establishing a Human Rights Act to ensure effective protection of human rights under Australian law.Australia’s cruel treatment of asylum seekers remains a serious and persistent rights concern, with the federal government violating its international obligations by sending those who attempt to arrive by boat to offshore detention in Nauru.The Northern Territory government announced it would resume the use of spit hoods – head coverings – on children in detention. Australia’s human rights commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, said in 2023: “The use of spit hoods poses significant risks of injury and death.”The federal government rarely used its sanctions regime against those implicated in human rights abuses abroad. The Australian government has yet to sanction any Chinese officials.

As the only Western democracy without a national human rights act or charter, the Australian government should promptly introduce a new national Human Rights Act, Human Rights Watch said.

Click to expand Image Refugees are taken in trucks from Joda, on the Sudanese border, to Renk, in South Sudan. © 2024 Sipa via AP Images

(Nairobi) – Civilians in East Africa and the Horn bore the brunt of armed conflicts between government forces and opposition armed groups in 2024, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Throughout the region, the authorities have harassed activists and government critics and suppressed dissent. 

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies. 

“Armed forces and armed groups in Sudan and Ethiopia have deliberately targeted civilians and critical infrastructure with near total impunity,” said Mausi Segun, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Regional and international bodies should urgently take concrete measures to help protect civilians and increase scrutiny of those responsible for serious violations.”

Atrocities by warring parties in Sudan and Ethiopia killed and injured thousands of civilians, with 12 million displaced in Sudan alone, and damaged or destroyed considerable civilian infrastructure. The warring parties’ willful obstruction of humanitarian assistance exacerbated famine in Sudan. Ethiopian government forces in the Amhara region committed widespread attacks against medical professionals, patients, and health facilities.In Kenya, the authorities abducted and killed dozens of peaceful anti-finance bill protesters with impunity, and threatened to shut down civil society and donor organizations for allegedly supporting the protests.In Ethiopia, the authorities suspended human rights organizations and intensified the harassment, intimidation, and arrests of journalists, human rights defenders, and opposition figures, forcing many into exile.In Eritrea, the government continued to subject its population to indefinite forced conscriptions, and increased repression of its citizens abroad.South Sudan’s transitional government postponed elections and failed to carry out meaningful reforms, further entrenching impunity for abuses.Historically marginalized communities faced further erosion of their rights. Uganda’s Constitutional Court upheld the discriminatory 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act. In Tanzania, the government forcibly relocated Indigenous Maasai communities from their ancestral lands in Ngorongoro.Authorities in Tanzania arbitrarily arrested hundreds of opposition supporters, restricted on social media access, banned independent media, and were implicated in the abduction and extrajudicial killing of at least eight government critics in the lead-up to local elections in November. 

 

 

Residents walk past a burnt car as they evacuate the Delmas 22 neighborhood the morning after an attack amid ongoing criminal violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, May 2, 2024. © 2024 Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo

(Mexico City) – Haiti’s crisis has reached catastrophic levels, with allied criminal groups intensifying large-scale, coordinated attacks on the population and key state infrastructure, nearly paralyzing much of the country and worsening the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies. 

“Throughout 2024, criminal groups killed, kidnapped, and used sexual violence to control Haiti’s population, already overwhelmed by rising poverty, hunger, and lack of access to essential services,” said Nathalye Cotrino, Americas senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The appointment of a transitional government and deployment of a UN-authorized Multidimensional Security Support mission to support the Haitian National Police have yet to improve security or restore the rule of law.”

In late February, the major criminal groups, united under the Viv Ansam (Living Together in Creole) coalition, launched coordinated attacks on major prisons, police stations, government offices, and key infrastructure such as healthcare and education facilities in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. These attacks nearly paralyzed the country and the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance for close to three months.Criminal groups increased their recruitment of children, taking advantage of widespread hunger and poverty. As of October, at least 30 percent of criminal group members were children. They participated in extortion, looting and severe acts of violence, including murder and kidnapping, but also faced abuse within the criminal groups. Haiti’s transitional government lacks a strategy and the resources to ensure that all children are protected, including through access to education and justice, and legal pathways out of criminal groups.Criminal groups’ use of sexual violence is now widespread. Between January and October, nearly 4,000 girls and women reported sexual violence, including gang rape, mostly by members of criminal groups. Survivors have little access to protection and care services due to limited institutional resources and the disruption by violence of essential services, particularly health care.In June, the UN-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, led by Kenya, began operations in Haiti with about 400 officers, well below the expected 2,500. While the MSS has supported the Haitian National Police anti-crime operations and developed key human rights safeguards, the mission faces significant financial and logistical challenges.Criminal groups intensified coordinated attacks in October and now control around 85 percent of Port-au-Prince and its metropolitan area and have expanded their control into the Ouest and Artibonite departments. In 2024, criminal groups killed at least 5,601 people, according to the UN. Half of Haiti’s population struggles to afford food, making it one of world’s most acutely food insecure countries, and over 700,000 Haitians—25 percent of them children—are internally displaced.

The international community should urgently support a comprehensive, rights-based response to Haiti’s crisis, focused on restoring security, upholding the rule of law, and guiding the country back to democracy, while meeting people’s immediate needs. Following the transitional government’s request to transform the MSS into a UN mission, the United Nations Security Council should urgently authorize and rapidly deploy a full-fledged United Nations mission to Haiti. The Mission should be part of a broader strategy that includes human rights safeguards, monitoring mechanisms, and accountability measures to prevent past harm and address the legacy of previous interventions.