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Rohingya Genocide Case Moves to Judgment
On January 29, the three-week hearings on the merits of Gambia’s genocide case against Myanmar before the International Court of Justice came to a close. The case, filed in 2019, alleges that Myanmar’s atrocities against ethnic Rohingya in 2016 and 2017 violate the Genocide Convention of 1948.
During the hearings, Gambia argued that the extreme brutality, pervasive sexual violence, targeting of children, and widespread burning and destruction of villages by Myanmar’s military against the Rohingya population are among the indicators of genocidal intent: to destroy the Rohingya, in whole or in part, on the basis of their identity as a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
Judges also heard direct testimony in closed session from Rohingya from the villages of Min Gyi (Tula Toli), Chut Pyin, and Maung Nu in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State. They recounted children being shot, stabbed, and thrown in fires, as well as gang rape and families forced into burning buildings, atrocities that the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and others had previously reported.
Myanmar was represented at the hearings by Ko Ko Hlaing and Thida Oo, whom the United States, Canada, and other governments have sanctioned for their roles as ministers in the military junta. They argued that the 2016-2017 military operations were targeted counterterrorism operations and that no genocidal intent can be established.
Rohingya watching in the courtroom and from afar have long sought accountability for military atrocities, particularly as Rohingya remaining in Myanmar still face grave risk. Since the 2021 military coup, the junta has committed widespread abuses nationwide.
The case “is not about esoteric issues of international law,” Gambian Justice Minister Dawda Jallow said in his opening remarks. “It is about real people, real stories and a real group of human beings, the Rohingya of Myanmar.” They dream of being able to live in peace and safety in their homeland, he said. “Myanmar has denied them that dream. In fact, it turned their lives into a nightmare, subjecting them to the most horrific violence and destruction one could imagine.”
While a judgment in the case is not expected for at least six months, the hearings marked a critical moment in the Rohingya’s pursuit of justice, with accounts of their suffering being heard by the world’s top court.
Greek Immigration Bill Demonizes Civil Society
The Greek government has introduced an immigration bill with measures that explicitly link nongovernmental groups and humanitarian workers with criminal conduct, when in reality they are helping people in distress trying to reach Greece.
The bill would amend the migration code to make membership in a nongovernmental group an aggravating factor for several existing offenses, with draconian penalties. For members of an nongovernmental group it imposes a minimum of 10 years in prison and a €50,000 fine for facilitating illegal entry or exit; upgrades transportation of an undocumented migrant from a misdemeanor to a felony punishable by at least 10 years and a minimum €60,000 fine per person; and turns facilitating unlawful stay into a felony punishable by up to 10 years.
The bill is being introduced just as a seven-year legal battle concluded in January with the full acquittal of 24 aid workers who were baselessly charged with felonies for their life-saving search and rescue operations.
By singling out and imposing harsher penalties on aid workers, the bill stigmatizes humanitarian work and could deter groups from providing life-saving support.
The Migration Minister would also be able to remove an organization from the official registry based solely on a criminal prosecution against a member. Without registration, an organization cannot effectively operate in Greece. Greece’s existing burdensome registration framework for nongovernmental groups, introduced in 2020, has been criticized by the Council of Europe and UN special rapporteurs.
The bill also creates a new registry that would require the certification of all employees and volunteers of these groups. The bill effectively grants the minister broad power to decide what “certification” entails and to set the conditions at their own discretion. Furthermore, the authorities could revoke the residence permits of legal residents who are members of these groups based solely on being a “suspected perpetrator,” bypassing the presumption of innocence.
These proposed measures constitute an unjustified interference with protected rights including the freedom of association, violating Greece’s international and regional rights obligations. In March 2023, the UN special rapporteur Mary Lawlor noted that aid workers in Greece face the misuse of criminal law to a “shocking degree.” This bill codifies that harassment.
The law should protect those who provide humanitarian assistance, rather than providing authorities with tools to prosecute them. Parliament should reject these abusive provisions and ensure that any new legislation protects civic space.
Myanmar: Junta Atrocities Surge 5 Years since Coup
(Tokyo) – Myanmar’s military junta has committed widespread repression and abuse in every facet of life in the country since seizing power on February 1, 2021, Amnesty International, Fortify Rights, and Human Rights Watch said today. The military’s atrocities since the coup, which include war crimes and crimes against humanity, escalated over the past year as the junta sought to entrench its rule through abusive military operations and stage-managed elections.
United Nations Security Council members, governments in the region, and other concerned states should better support Myanmar’s people and act to hold the junta accountable for its crimes. The heavily controlled elections, held in three phases between December 28, 2025, and January 25, 2026, have been widely dismissed as fraudulent and organized to ensure the military-backed party’s electoral victory.
“It’s no accident that this election has been made possible through increased human rights abuses, from arbitrary detention to unlawful attacks on civilians, which has been the military’s modus operandi for decades,” said Ejaz Min Khant, human rights specialist at Fortify Rights. “As this crisis stretches into its sixth year, governments should focus on accountability and justice efforts for the many crimes committed by Myanmar’s military, without which the country cannot move forward.”
Since the coup, the junta has systematically banned dozens of political parties and detained more than 30,000 political prisoners. In January, the junta reported that it had taken legal action against more than 400 people under an “election protection” law passed in July criminalizing criticism of the election by banning speech, organizing, or protest that disrupts any part of the electoral process.
The elections have served as a centerpiece for the junta’s attempts to crush all political opposition, derail efforts to restore civilian rule, and entrench the military-controlled state. As expected, and by design, preliminary election results indicate a landslide victory for the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party.
China and Russia, the junta’s primary suppliers of aircraft and arms, both sent election observers to the polls. The two countries have long supported the junta while blocking international action on military atrocities at the UN Security Council. Malaysia, last year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said the bloc has not sent observers to certify the polls.
In expanded military operations ahead of the elections, the junta in 2025 ramped up its use of airstrikes, including deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in violation of international humanitarian law. Airstrikes have hit schools, hospitals, religious sites, and camps for displaced people, killing thousands over the past year.
The military has also increasingly used armed drones, paramotors, and gyrocopters in unlawful attacks, creating new threats to civilians. On October 6, a military paramotor attack on a Buddhist festival in Sagaing Region killed at least 24 people, including three children. More than 135 paramotor attacks have been reported since December 2024. Myanmar is one of very few countries that continue to use internationally banned cluster munitions and antipersonnel landmines.
“The past five years are a bleak illustration of the Myanmar military’s failed strategy to assert control by killing and terrorizing civilians,” said Joe Freeman, Myanmar researcher at Amnesty International. “Military air and drone strikes reached new highs in 2025 as the junta intensified its already brutal campaign against opposition areas, leaving more and more people living in fear of bombs falling from the sky.”
Since enacting a conscription law in February 2024, the junta has used abusive tactics such as abducting young men and boys and detaining family members of missing conscripts as hostages. The military’s recruitment and use of child soldiers has surged since the coup.
Since the coup, more than 2,200 people have reportedly died in junta custody, although the actual figure is likely higher. Torture, sexual violence, and other ill-treatment are rampant in prisons, interrogation centers, military bases, and other detention sites, with reports of rape, beatings, prolonged stress positions, electric shock and burning, denial of medical care, and deprivation of food, water, and sleep. In July, Ma Wutt Yee Aung, a 26-year-old activist, died in Insein prison due to reported lack of medical treatment for long-term head injuries from torture.
Following the March 2025 earthquake that struck central Myanmar, the junta obstructed access to lifesaving services in opposition-held areas. The junta’s years of unlawful attacks on healthcare facilities and health workers severely hampered the emergency response. Despite announcing a ceasefire, the military carried out more than 550 attacks in the two months following the quake.
Military abuses and spiraling fighting have internally displaced at least 3.6 million people. Foreign aid cuts, skyrocketing prices, and restrictions on medical care and humanitarian supplies have exacerbated malnutrition, waterborne illness, and preventable deaths. Over 15 million people are facing acute food insecurity, with Rakhine State especially impacted.
Millions who have fled the country face increasing threats and risk of forced returns.
Since late 2023, Rohingya civilians have been caught amid fighting between the junta and ethnic Arakan Army forces. The Arakan Army has imposed oppressive measures against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State, including forced labor and arbitrary detention.
Since the coup, trafficking, scam centers, unregulated resource extraction, drug production, and other illicit operations have proliferated. Online scam centers along Myanmar’s border with Thailand—run by global criminal syndicates led by Chinese nationals—largely rely on human trafficking, forced labor, and torture to run their scams, which are part of a multibillion-dollar industry across the region.
The military’s widespread and systematic abuses have been fueled by decades of impunity and insufficient international efforts to end its violations.
Accountability measures underway at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court (ICC) are vital but remain limited to atrocities prior to the coup. In November 2024, the ICC prosecutor requested an arrest warrant for commander-in-chief Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing for alleged crimes against humanity committed in 2017; the judges have yet to issue a public decision on the request.
The UN Security Council has been largely deadlocked, failing to follow up on its December 2022 resolution, which denounced the military’s post-coup abuses, with tangible measures due to opposition from China and Russia.
Security Council members should outline targeted accountability measures to be taken against the junta for its refusal to comply with the council resolution and numerous other international calls. Holding regular open meetings on Myanmar can help build momentum for a follow-up resolution referring the whole country situation to the ICC and instituting a global embargo on arms and jet fuel.
“Five years after the coup, Myanmar’s human rights and humanitarian catastrophe faces dwindling foreign assistance and attention,” said Shayna Bauchner, Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Ending this crisis requires sustained international pressure, meaningful accountability, and concrete humanitarian, political, and technical support for those in Myanmar and the millions forced to flee.”
Sexual Violence Survivors in Haiti Left Without Care
Sexual violence by criminal groups is not new in Haiti: Human Rights Watch has documented how criminal groups have used widespread sexual violence in recent years to terrorize communities and assert control. However, the intensity and brutality of these attacks are worsening and, for those who survive, resources are increasingly scarce according to a new report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Since 2015, MSF has treated nearly 17,000 survivors at its Pran Men’m clinic in Port-au-Prince. Since 2022, the yearly number of survivors seeking care has roughly tripled. According to the report, criminal groups carry out most attacks, often involving multiple perpetrators, firearms, death threats, and sexual assaults committed during broader attacks on entire neighborhoods. Many survivors have also been attacked while forcibly displaced, living in makeshift sites where insecurity and the risk of further violence are constant.
What stands out in the report isn’t only the scale of the abuse, which remains largely underreported, but how few survivors can access health care and support quickly enough. MSF reports that most survivors face critical delays in accessing lifesaving care. Since 2022, 67 percent of survivors have arrived at Pran Men’m clinic more than three days after the assault, missing the window to receive HIV post-exposure prophylaxis and significantly increasing their risk of infection. Nearly 59 percent arrived after five days, losing the opportunity to access emergency contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Safe shelters are scarce, referrals to service providers often fail due to unstable funding, and service providers’ eligibility criteria frequently exclude survivors with more complex needs, such as pregnant women, women with children, or those requiring ongoing medical care, leaving them with few or no safe options. As a result, too many survivors are sent back into the very conditions that exposed them to violence in the first place.
MSF and Human Rights Watch have urged Haitian authorities to strengthen the health system and ensure timely, survivor-centered care, particularly in areas affected by criminal violence, and to ensure survivors’ access to justice and reparations. Given the massive cuts to humanitarian assistance by the United States and other major donors, which have had a global impact on health services, Haiti’s international partners should increase and stabilize funding for emergency health and protection services, including safe shelter. Acting now would reduce harm and help ensure survivors are not forced back to dangerous conditions.
Uganda: Post Election Assault on Political Opposition
(Nairobi) – Ugandan authorities have intensified attacks on the country’s main opposition party since presidential elections took place on January 15, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today.
Authorities have conducted mass arrests of National Unity Platform supporters and forcibly disappeared two senior leaders, who remain missing. Since January 15, the military has laid siege to the home of the party president, Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, restricting access to and from the premises, assaulting his wife and staff, and destroying property. Kyagulanyi is the closest rival to President Yoweri Museveni, who was declared the winner for a seventh presidential term in the recent elections.
“Uganda’s longstanding pattern of abuse against opposition has risen to alarming levels,” said Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The Ugandan government needs to stop cracking down on dissent and ensure that people with opposing views are safe.”
On January 16, Kyagulanyi posted online that he had managed to escape his home after soldiers raided his compound and switched off electricity and CCTV cameras. He has since been in hiding.
Just over a week later, on January 23, Kyagulanyi said in an X post that armed men once again raided his home in his absence; he posted four photographs of the alleged damage. His wife, Barbara Kyagulanyi, had recorded a video of the moment the men arrived. It shows at least six uniformed men carrying weapons inside her grounds and approaching her house. She later told the media that the men grabbed her by her hair, tore her clothing, sat on her, and demanded that she open her phone, which she refused.
President Museveni’s son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the head of the Ugandan military, had threatened to kill Kyagulanyi. Boasting on X on January 19 that the government had already killed 22 NUP “terrorists,” he said that he was “praying the 23rd is Kabobi [Bobi Wine].” However, he denied that his soldiers assaulted Kyagulanyi’s wife.
At around 11:30 p.m. on January 14, soldiers detained Jolly Jackline Tukamushaba, the opposition party’s deputy president for Western Uganda, at a hotel in Muhanga. Tukamushaba was running for a position in parliament. At the time of her detention, she, her daughter, and two other supporters were working in a hotel room to finalize documents needed for her participation in the elections the next day.
Patricia Ashaba, Tukamushaba’s daughter, told Human Rights Watch that seven armed men in military uniforms raided the hotel room that night and held them all at gunpoint. “They told all of us, ‘Kneel down, and hands up, put your phones in front,’ and pointed guns at us,” Ashaba said.
The soldiers confiscated the election-related documents as well as money and ordered Tukamushaba to go with them, put her in a waiting van, commonly referred to in Uganda as a “Drone”, and drove off with her. Ashaba has not heard from her mother since. Tukamushaba was unable to participate in elections the following day.
Kyagulanyi posted a video on Facebook on January 18 that apparently shows Tukamushaba being taken. In the video, filmed at night from a balcony, a woman climbs into an unmarked white van closely followed by a man carrying a rifle and another wearing uniform. Several other men wait nearby and then enter the van.
David Lewis Rubongoya, National Unity Platform’s secretary general, reported the second enforced disappearance the following day, on January 15. In a post on X, the party’s secretary general said that a group of armed men had taken the party’s deputy president for Northern Uganda, Lina Zedriga Waru, from her home on the outskirts of Kampala.
Her son, Frank John Bosco Lemi, told Human Rights Watch that around 6 p.m. on January 15, neighbors alerted him that something was wrong and that Zedriga had been taken away by soldiers in two vehicles belonging to the military. He said he reviewed security footage, which Human Rights Watch has not seen, that showed eight soldiers in two vehicles taking her away. Lemi also said that the following day, the soldiers came back to their home, without his mother. He escaped when they entered the house.
At a January 23 court hearing, which was held after Lemi petitioned the High Court in Kampala on his mother’s behalf, the military denied holding her. The matter was adjourned to January 28, pending a response from the police.
An enforced disappearance occurs when authorities, or those acting on their behalf, deprive someone of their liberty and then refuse to acknowledge it, or to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the person concerned. International law strictly prohibits enforced disappearances in any circumstance and states have an obligation to investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible.
Uganda has an appalling record of conducting enforced disappearances, particularly of political opposition, and the authorities should urgently investigate the latest apparent enforced disappearances of opposition leaders, Human Rights Watch said.
The 2026 elections were marred by rights abuses. Security officers reportedly beat and arrested hundreds of people during opposition rallies, including journalists, arrested a prominent human rights activist, and indefinitely suspended at least 10 nongovernmental organizations on vague and unsubstantiated grounds. The government ordered a blanket internet shutdown two days before the election, severely restricting access to critical information about the elections for Ugandans.
Media reports indicate that at least 118 supporters of National Unity Platform members were charged in court on January 19 with “election-related offences”, including unlawful assembly and conspiracy.
The enforced disappearances of opposition figures in the aftermath of the repressive elections is reminiscent of similar abusive practices after the 2021 elections.
In 2022, President Museveni pledged to send strong messages to Uganda’s security agencies that unlawful detention, torture, and other abuses of detainees are unacceptable, and to ensure that those responsible for rights violations within the security forces are prosecuted. There are no public records of any such accountability processes.
Both Ugandan and international law prohibit, in absolute terms, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances, and guarantee the right to freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, as well as non-discrimination based on political opinion. The Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act of 2012, and the Human Rights (Enforcement) Act of 2019, further criminalize torture and provide for personal liability for public officers who commit human rights violations.
“Opposing Museveni is not a crime,” said Budoo-Scholtz. “Uganda’s international partners should raise concerns publicly and privately and urge Museveni’s government to end this crackdown and hold those responsible for abuses to account.”
Budapest Mayor Charged for Holding Pride March
This week, prosecutors filed criminal charges against Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony for organizing the city’s 2025 Pride march. They are seeking a criminal fine and proposing the case be decided without a trial. The mayor’s prosecution is another example of the erosion of the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hungary.
The charges follow a Budapest police ban on the June 19, 2025 Pride march, which cited Hungary’s amended “child protection” laws and a scheduling conflict with another demonstration. Mayor Karácsony announced that the march would take place as a municipal event, which does not require police approval, and led the peaceful march, with record-breaking attendance, on June 28.
Prosecuting an elected mayor for organizing a peaceful assembly sets a dangerous precedent, signaling that officials and citizens alike may face arbitrary punishment for exercising fundamental freedoms. In the city of Pécs, a teacher and human rights activist also faces potential criminal charges for organizing a local Pride march despite a police ban.
Attacks on the rights of LGBT people in Hungary have intensified. In March 2025, parliament outlawed Pride and authorized facial recognition of organizers and participants, exposing them to fines of up to €500. In April, parliament adopted constitutional amendments that elevated “child protection” above nearly all other rights, granting the government sweeping discretion to curtail freedoms, including of assembly. It also defined gender strictly as biological sex at birth, denying the existence of transgender identities. A 2021 law banning LGBT content for children in, for example, schools and media, prompted the European Union to take Hungary to the EU Court of Justice where a ruling is imminent.
This prosecution also underscores broader rule of law concerns. Since 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has systematically weakened the independence of Hungary’s judiciary, cracked down on independent media and civil society, demonized migrants, and curtailed women’s and girls’ rights. The government repeatedly bypasses parliament, governing by decree.
Hungary’s democratic backsliding and attacks on rights demand urgent action. The charges against Mayor Karácsony should be dropped, and EU institutions should step up the use of conditionality mechanisms and infringement proceedings to hold Hungary accountable. The European Council should also move its rule of law scrutiny of Hungary under the long-stalled Article 7 procedure toward a vote.
Allowing authorities to normalize bans on and punish peaceful assemblies undermines everyone’s rights and the rule of law itself.
Risk of Atrocities Looms in South Sudan Amidst Renewed Civil War
On January 25, South Sudan’s military called on civilians, aid workers, and United Nations personnel to evacuate from opposition-controlled areas in Jonglei state. Key army officials and allied forces have ramped up incendiary rhetoric amid ethnic based mobilization by all sides, elevating the risks of new atrocities.
The army’s evacuation directives came ahead of a new offensive in opposition-controlled areas of Nyirol, Uror and Akobo counties. Fighting between South Sudan’s military, the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), and armed youth known as the white army has intensified in northern Jonglei since December 2025, displacing more than 100,000 people.
Fighting continues in other regions with civilians bearing intensifying violence, repeated displacement, government aerial bombardments, and severe restrictions on humanitarian access, including a government-imposed no-fly zone in opposition-held areas since January 1.
Renewed pressure on aid organizations in a region facing flooding, food insecurity, and limited health access is also threatening lives.
While international humanitarian law requires that parties give civilians effective warnings where possible, such warnings never justify indiscriminate attacks on civilians or unlawful forced displacement.
The directives leave older people, people with disabilities, and anyone unable or unwilling to flee at particular risk. The danger is compounded by rhetoric from senior officials including Gen. Johnson Olony, deputy chief of disarmament and demobilization of the SSPDF and leader of the government-allied Agwelek militia, who on January 24 was reported urging forces to “spare no lives… not even the elderly… not even a chicken.” Such language is an incitement to commit war crimes and echoes past atrocities where older people, and others unable to flee were shot, burned alive, or left to die.
Targeting civilians and wantonly destructing or pillaging civilian property are war crimes, and all superiors and commanders are responsible for preventing and punishing war crimes by subordinates or may be criminally liable for not doing so. While the government has walked back General Olony’s comments, it should ensure credible disciplinary measures.
The UN Mission in South Sudan, under pressure to reduce its presence in the country, should, where feasible, maintain its presence, intensify long distance patrols, and ensure regular public reporting on abuses.
Urgent, coordinated action from regional and international actors is essential to avert yet further abuse and suffering for civilians in South Sudan.
The Absence of No is Not Yes: Italy’s Flawed Sexual Violence Bill
Italy’s new draft law on sexual violence represents a serious step backward from a consent-based approach to addressing sexual abuse. Rather than consolidating consent as the basis for assessing sexual violence, the revised text shifts the burden back onto victims, requiring them to demonstrate explicit denial of consent for an act to be considered sexual assault.
This approach runs counter to Italy’s obligations under international law, including the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention). Article 36 of the Convention provides that “consent must be given voluntarily as the result of the person’s free will assessed in the context of the surrounding circumstances.” As a party to the Istanbul Convention, Italy is obliged to amend its legislation to base definitions of sexual violence on the absence of freely given consent.
In November, the lower house of parliament voted to amend the Criminal Code to do just that. The bipartisan initiative initially sought to introduce the principle that sex without genuine consent constitutes rape, raising hopes that Italy would finally bring its legislation into line with international human rights standards.
But Matteo Salvini, the leader of Lega, one of the ruling parties, warned that the proposed law, in his view, “leaves too much room for individual interpretation” and “personal vendettas, by women and men, without any abuse.” On January 22, Giulia Bongiorno, a Lega politician and head of the Senate’s justice committee, introduced an amendment that removed consent as a defining element of the offense.
The revised text re-introduces the notion that only explicit refusal can establish sexual violence, weakening criminal accountability for sexual acts committed against a person’s will. This regressive measure is particularly concerning given the scale of violence against women in Italy. More than one in four women surveyed by the National Institute of Statistics said they experienced physical or sexual abuse in 2025, based on preliminary results. Requiring proof of an explicit ‘no’ ignores that many survivors are unable to physically resist or verbally refuse due to fear, shock, or coercion.
Lawmakers should revert to the original bill, and adopt a Criminal Code amendment that clearly defines sexual violence on the basis of the absence of freely given consent.
US: New, Sweeping Foreign Aid Rules Undermine Global Rights
(Washington DC) – The Trump administration has issued sweeping new rules that use foreign aid as a cudgel to force recipients to abandon work on reproductive rights, transgender rights, and diversity initiatives, Human Rights Watch said today. The rules, set to take effect in 30 days, will undermine important work to uphold the rights of vulnerable people all over the world.
“The Trump administration is demanding that aid recipients abandon important human rights work or lose funding,” said Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. “This dangerous misuse of foreign assistance will mean a loss of health services, information, and solidarity for people around the world and will deepen discrimination against marginalized groups.”
Vice President J.D. Vance announced the new “Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance Policy” on January 23, 2026. He introduced it as an expansion of the Mexico City Policy—better known as the “global gag rule”— an existing extremely harmful policy that restricts abortion care in foreign aid programs.
The new policy framework is even more draconian, Human Rights Wach said, and expands its scope beyond abortion care to also bar work on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and transgender rights by aid recipients. The State Department has issued three rules to implement this policy. The new policy extends to all non-military foreign assistance, not just global health assistance as was the case for the previous global gag rules.
The rules’ extraordinarily broad scope also now include multilateral organizations, like UN agencies and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The rules state that these entities will not be allowed to provide abortions or gender-affirming care or provide referrals or information or provide advocacy about abortion care, gender-affirming care, or transgender rights and their wider acceptance in society.
Many positive anti-discrimination efforts or other forms of diversity, equity and inclusion, or “DEI” work, are also banned for aid recipient organizations, even using other funding. US foreign aid recipients are also required to “flow down” the terms of these rules to any sub-grantees.
The rules also restrict US-based non-governmental organizations working in other countries, another expansion of their reach. They may also impose some restrictions on assistance to foreign governments.
It is still unclear how much the US will spend on non-military foreign assistance in 2026, but the administration’s draft budget and “America First Global Health Strategy” suggest massive cuts compared with recent years. However, at least some $50 billion in US foreign assistance funding, which Congress has agreed to appropriate, will likely still be dispersed.
Groups receiving US government assistance that provide essential services such as health care or education will have to make agonizing decisions, Human Rights Watch said. Complying with these restrictions will require them to abandon work that addresses the needs of transgender and gender non-conforming people, as well as work that helps people who need safe abortion care.
They will also have to abandon important work to secure better representation for disenfranchised ethnic groups or genders. Even given those high costs, it will be difficult for many groups to refuse the funds given the massive funding gaps in many countries for health care, food aid and other humanitarian assistance, for example.
The new restrictions are fundamentally at odds with the larger goals of many US foreign assistance programs, Human Rights Watch said. For example, reaching public health, economic, or education goals such as eradication of a disease or improved uptake of a medication often require addressing the stigma and discrimination against women and girls or gender, racial or religious minorities that create barriers to accessing services.
The Trump administration has already gutted US foreign assistance, including by terminating the US Agency for International Development, which has caused upheaval and loss of services across the globe.
“While previous administrations tied health funding to anti-abortion policies, this move by President Trump is an unprecedented attempt to weaponize US foreign assistance in the service of ideological goals,” Yager said. “It undermines human rights and weakens the services people depend on, and other countries should explore ways to counter these harmful conditions.”
Italy: Shipwreck Trial Opportunity For Justice
(Milan, January 27, 2026) – The trial, due to start this week, of 6 Italian officers for a 2023 shipwreck in which at least 94 people died is an important opportunity for justice for deaths of migrants and asylum seekers at sea, Human Rights Watch said today. The trial, following a postponement, is scheduled for January 30, in Crotone, Italy.
Two Italian Coast Guard officers and four Customs Police (Guardia di Finanza) officers are accused of negligence leading to a shipwreck and multiple counts of manslaughter in what has become known as the “Cutro shipwreck” after a nearby village.
“The Cutro shipwreck trial is a crucial opportunity to secure truth and justice for survivors and families of victims, and to help avoid future deaths,” said Judith Sunderland, acting deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It is not only the individual officers who are on trial, but also Italian state policies that prioritize deterring and criminalizing asylum seekers and migrants over saving lives.”
The courtroom where the trial is taking place is not far from where the wooden vessel sank in rough weather in the early morning hours of February 26, 2023. Only 80 people survived and 94 bodies, including of 35 children, were recovered. An unconfirmed number of passengers were never found. Survivors estimate that the boat was carrying between 180 and 250 people, most from Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan.
The EU border agency, Frontex, had alerted Italian authorities about the boat hours before it sank. Despite indications of distress—the observable lack of life jackets, thermal readings indicating a large number of people on board, and worsening weather conditions—Italian authorities did not activate a search-and-rescue operation. Taking a law enforcement approach, the Customs Police dispatched two patrol boats to intercept the boat, but they returned to port due to rough seas.
Following an investigation that took more than two years, the Crotone public prosecutor indicted the officers in July 2025. Sixty-five survivors together with six search and rescue organizations—EMERGENCY, Louise Michel, Mediterranea Saving Humans, Sea-Watch, SOS Humanity, and SOS MEDITERRANEE—are civil parties to the case.
More than 33,200 people have died or been reported missing in the Mediterranean Sea since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration. The failure by Italy and other EU countries to respond promptly and appropriately to migrant boats in distress, as allegedly in the case of the Cutro shipwreck as well as the June 2023 shipwreck near Pylos, Greece, has contributed to this staggering death toll.
As the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Safi v. Greece made clear, Italy, as a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, is bound by obligations under the right to life, to take steps to safeguard the lives of those within its jurisdiction. That includes with timely rescue responses when lives are at risk.
Italian authorities also have obligations stemming from the International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea and the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue to act upon situations of distress at sea. The EU Regulation on Maritime Border Surveillance lists factors relevant to determining a situation of uncertainty, alert, or distress, including the seaworthiness of the vessel, the number of people on board in relation to the type of vessel, and the weather and sea conditions.
“This case should be a wake-up call for Italian and European authorities,” Sunderland said. “When lives are at risk at sea, the obligation is to prioritize bringing them to safety as a matter of urgency.”
US: Second Unjustified Killing by Federal Agents in Minneapolis
(Washington, DC) – Federal immigration enforcement agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis, Minnesota this weekend, marking the second killing by immigration enforcement agents in the city this month. Federal officials reportedly blocked state officials from accessing the scene, raising concerns that the federal government is not acting in good faith to ensure an independent and comprehensive investigation, Human Rights Watch said today.
“The fatal shooting of another Minneapolis resident by federal agents follows weeks of violent and abusive immigration enforcement actions throughout the city,” said Ida Sawyer, crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch. “The continuously unchecked actions of these agencies are endangering residents, with devastating consequences.”
US Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive-care nurse and US citizen, at around 9 a.m. on January 24. Pretti appeared to be observing and filming agents minutes before they shoved him, sprayed him in the face with a chemical agent, beat him with a metal canister, and fatally shot him.
The killing comes two and a half weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer killed 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis, which Human Rights Watch determined was unjustifiable. Both killings come amid a surge of federal agents to Minnesota, as part of abusive immigration enforcement operations that have spread fear and sparked widespread protestwidespread protest in communities across the United States.
Human Rights Watch analyzed and verified eight videos taken from different angles showing Pretti before, during, and after the shooting. Researchers also reviewed two witness statements submitted in federal court.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that the agents defensively shot Pretti. In a news conference hours after the shooting, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stated that Pretti, who was reportedly a legal firearm owner with a permit to carry in Minnesota, approached officers with a handgun and “reacted violently” when they tried to disarm him. Human Rights Watch analysis of the videos and witness testimony contradict Noem’s account. There is no available evidence that Pretti did anything to threaten the lives of the officers that would justify the intentional use of lethal force under international human rights standards.
The first video, filmed at 8:58 a.m., shows Pretti filming agents in the street in front of a senior center on Nicollet Avenue, and one agent pushing him back toward the sidewalk.
One witness said in a statement that Pretti was directing traffic and observing agents when an agent told Pretti and the witness to back up, and another agent threatened observers with pepper spray. The witness said that Pretti approached them “just with his camera out. I didn't see him reach for or hold a gun.” Another witness, a pediatrician, stated that they saw Pretti yelling at agents, but “did not see him attack the agents or brandish a weapon of any kind.”
Video footage confirms this. It shows an agent shoving one of the two other observers and then shoving Pretti. Pretti puts his arm around the observer who was shoved, in what appears to be an attempt to help them, as the agent then shoves the third observer. Pretti then places himself between the third observer and the agent. The agent sprays a chemical irritant directly into Pretti’s face from arm’s length and at the other observers, as Pretti holds his phone in his right hand and holds up his left hand defensively. Pretti staggers and falls toward the observers, with his back to the agent, who continues to spray him. Pretti appears to either reach for one of the observers or their backpack as an agent shouts, “Get back.”
Five more agents surround Pretti and the others, pulling Pretti to the ground. Two agents struggle with Pretti as he appears to be face forward on his knees. Two more agents move in on Pretti as they continue struggling. An agent lunges for Pretti’s waistline near his right hip. Video shows the other agent near Pretti’s head repeatedly striking him with a small canister. One of the men repeatedly screams that Pretti has a gun, and another male voice can be heard saying, “Gun, gun, gun!”
Simultaneously, the agent reaching for Pretti’s waistline removes a gun from Pretti’s right hip, quickly stepping back with it. Another agent standing next to the agent who removed the gun draws his handgun from his holster, and pivots around to Pretti’s rear pointing it in Pretti’s direction as two other agents try to restrain Pretti. A shot is heard as the agent who unholstered his own firearm continues to move around Pretti. At the time of the shot, he is the only agent within view who has unholstered his firearm, while the agent holding Pretti’s firearm carries it away.
After the shot, Pretti reels up, planting his right foot with his left knee still on the ground; his left hand swings from the center of his waist to his left side and his right hand is around his back on his right side. As the agent who unholstered his weapon stands over Pretti from behind, three more shots are fired in quick succession. The handgun’s slide is seen moving to the rear, indicating rounds are being discharged from the weapon. The agents around Pretti back away, as the agent who struck Pretti with the canister also unholsters his firearm. It is not clear if he fires his weapon. In total, agents fired 10 shots, based on Human Rights Watch’s video analysis.
Approximately 24 seconds after an agent fires the last round at Pretti, agents approach Pretti’s body. One agent searches Pretti’s body and shouts, “Where’s the gun? Where’s the fucking gun?” The agent points in the direction the agent who disarmed Pretti had moved and shouts, “You’ve got the gun?” A male voice responds, “I’ve got the gun.” The agent searching Pretti’s body then shouts that he needs scissors.
Approximately 90 seconds after the shooting, agents begin to remove Pretti’s clothing and call for a medic; a man arrives with a bag, saying “medic,” and agents tending to Pretti remove material from their bag. An agent calls for chest seals, a bandage commonly used to treat a puncture wound to the chest.
According to the statement from the pediatrician witness, agents first prevented the pediatrician from checking on Pretti, but subsequently permitted them to assess Pretti and administer CPR until emergency personnel arrived. The pediatrician said Pretti did not have a detectable pulse.
International human rights law stipulates that law enforcement officers should only intentionally use lethal force as a last resort, when strictly unavoidable to protect life. International human rights standards also require a prompt, effective, thorough, independent, impartial, and transparent investigation of a potentially unlawful death.
DHS policy, which applies to Border Patrol agents, only permits the use of force when no reasonable alternative appears to exist, and prohibits the use of lethal force unless the officer reasonably believes there is an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.
There is a serious risk that no comprehensive and independent investigation of this killing will be conducted, Human Rights Watch said. Investigations are reportedly being led by DHS Homeland Security Investigations. But the day of the killing, senior federal officials, including Noem, US Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, raced to defend the killing, claiming that Pretti “reacted violently,” “violently resisted,” and was a “domestic terrorist.” Bovino stated that it looked “like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
Federal officials also seem to be impeding state-level efforts to investigate. The superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), which would typically investigate killings in the state, including incidents involving federal officers, declared in a court filing that DHS agents “blocked” the BCA “from accessing the scene,” though they had a signed search warrant. The superintendent expressed concern about whether federal officials were properly protecting evidence. Referencing photos circulated online by DHS of a gun, the superintendent expressed particular concern that the gun "does not appear" to have been "protected according to normal law enforcement processes." On January 24, a federal judge temporarily blocked DHS “from destroying or altering evidence” of the shooting.
Concerns about an adequate investigation are amplified as authorities have apparently refused to properly investigate Good’s January 7 killing. On January 8, the BCA reported that it was closing its investigation after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it would lead the investigation alone and no longer allow the BCA access to evidence. But 10 days later, Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the US Justice Department was “not investigating” the shooting. At least six federal prosecutors and one FBI agent reportedly resigned amid reports that the FBI and the US Attorney’s office in Minnesota were ordered to investigate Good and her wife instead of investigating ICE.
To ensure an independent and comprehensive investigation, the FBI and DHS should fully cooperate with Minnesota state investigators, including by sharing evidence and the names of witnesses and involved officers.
With the integrity of federal oversight in question, it is essential for Congress to exercise its oversight and appropriations authority to ensure that federal agencies respect human rights, including by complying with restrictions on the use of force. Congress can, for example, make DHS funding contingent on minimum safeguards to protect against excessive use of force, other rights violations, and impunity.
Congress should hold oversight hearings to investigate DHS conduct, including alleged abuses and killings, and consider halting funding for immigration enforcement operations until this is completed. Lawmakers should also support reconstitution of internal oversight offices and staffing that the Trump administration has weakened.
Regardless of what steps Congress might take, these agencies should halt their large-scale operation in Minneapolis and refrain from opening a similar effort anywhere else, Human Rights Watch said.
“Nationwide patterns of abuse by ICE and Border Patrol reveal a dangerous and expanding security force operating with impunity,” Sawyer said. “Urgent action, particularly Congressional oversight, is needed to protect US communities from violence, discrimination, and unlawful detention, and to ensure that their rights to free expression and assembly are respected.”
US to Cut Veterans’ Abortion Access
Another Trump administration rollback on abortion access goes into effect on February 1, this time for US veterans, including 2.1 million women. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reversed a Biden administration reform that allowed veterans to access abortion care as part of their health benefits package.
The rule, published at the end of December 2025, means that VA health benefits will not cover abortion or even abortion counseling for veterans and for others on their insurance. The only exception is when a physician certifies that a woman’s life is in danger.
There is no exception for grave risks to a pregnant person’s health.
For conditions like severe hypertension, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, or certain mental health issues, and complications during pregnancy such as gestational diabetes, the line between health-threatening and life-threatening is blurry. Women should not have to wait for a condition to escalate to the point where their life is at risk.
It’s a dangerous place to put pregnant people, as the Texas family of Tierra Walker, whose story ProPublica covered, knows. When she became pregnant, Walker experienced seizures and dangerously elevated blood pressure. She asked multiple doctors as her symptoms worsened if she should have an abortion, recognizing that she was at risk of preeclampsia, a life-threatening condition. But not one of the 90 doctors she saw agreed to counsel her on abortion, or the health benefits. She died of preeclampsia, which is usually resolved by ending a pregnancy, leaving behind a teenage son.
The Center for Reproductive Rights notes that this new rule also undermines this population’s higher rates of mental and physical health conditions linked to high rates of sexual violence. Rape is also not an exception to the VA prohibition.
The rule says it intends to “ensur(e) the VA provides only medically necessary and appropriate care.” But abortion care is often “medically necessary” and for women’s agency to be respected, abortion must be treated as “appropriate care.” Veterans and their families should have access to the health care they really need.
Delay on Tracing Cattle Endangers Brazil’s Amazon
January 2026 was meant to be when the government of the Brazilian state of Pará would roll out a new system, initially announced in 2023, to ensure the traceability of all cattle across its vast herd. A system to track cattle from birth is a critical reform to ensure cattle are no longer raised on illegally deforested land in Brazil’s Amazon. On December 1, 2025, Para’s animal health control agency proudly said that all cattle moved in the state would need to be traceable starting in January 2026.
But the next day, Pará Governor Helder Barbalho postponed implementation of the program until December 31, 2030. Barbalho complained that international markets had not rewarded Pará for its effort to develop the traceability system. He did not explain, however, how maintaining the current lack of transparency, and undermining years of preparatory work by his own government, would help the state develop sustainable cattle ranching.
Cattle ranching is the main driver of deforestation in Pará and other states in Brazil’s Amazon. In October 2025, Human Rights Watch reported that cattle ranchers had illegally seized land, devastating the livelihoods of lawful residents in the Terra Nossa smallholder settlement and the Cachoeira Seca Indigenous territory—both in Pará—affecting residents’ rights to housing, land, and culture.
Through the analysis of cattle transport permits issued by the Pará government, Human Rights Watch identified five cases in which illegal ranches in Terra Nossa and Cachoeira Seca supplied cattle to ranches outside these protected areas. Those ranches then subsequently sold the cattle to slaughterhouses belonging to the giant JBS firm. The cattle ranches investigated in these territories are illegal under Brazilian federal law.
In November 2024, our researchers met in Belém, Pará’s capital, with the officials responsible for developing the state’s Official Individual Traceability System of Bovines. They described the program as a state government priority and emphasized that the system was designed to strengthen Pará’s competitiveness in export markets such as the European Union and Japan.
But the delay deprives ranchers and slaughterhouses in Pará of a system to monitor their supply chains to ensure that cattle are not raised on farms where there has been illegal deforestation and abuses against Indigenous peoples and other local communities.
Governor Barbalho should reverse his decision. Doing so would protect Pará’s Amazon and the communities who depend on the rainforest for their survival.
Bhutan Leader Seeks European Investment as Political Prisoners Languish
As Bhutan’s prime minister Tshering Tobgay tours Europe this week seeking investments in the “Gelephu Mindfulness City” mega-project, European leaders should urge him to release the 30 remaining political prisoners from his country’s notorious jails.
The 30 men have been held in cruel conditions for decades, after convictions for “treason” following unfair trials that included torture, with no access to a defense lawyer. In March, a UN committee examined a sample of cases, found that their detention is unlawful, and urged their release. Several are in very poor health, and one died recently in custody. Prisoners’ relatives said that only those who can somehow pay for them receive even basic medicines such as paracetamol.
Their cases date back to the period before Bhutan’s 2008 democratic reforms. In 1990, 90,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese were stripped of citizenship and expelled from the country amid widespread state violence. Several of the prisoners are accused of participating in protests at that time. Other cases relate to alleged membership of the Druk National Congress, a banned pro-democracy group. The most recent ones originated in early 2008, when a group of young men who had grown up as refugees in Nepal were arrested after they entered Bhutan to campaign for their right to return.
Most were sentenced to life in prison without parole, and can only be released if the king commutes their sentence.
King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck could end the unjust suffering of these prisoners and their families with a stroke of a pen. Both he and his father have done so before, but political prisoners’ families say the king’s office has told them not to even bother applying for clemency.
On January 26, Tobgay will attend a business forum in Brussels hosted by Jozef Síkela, EU commissioner for international partnerships, before traveling on for meetings in Frankfurt and Prague.
Commissioner Síkela, other officials meeting the prime minister, and European investors who are thinking of buying into Bhutan’s vision of “mindfulness” and “harmony” should look beyond the glossy marketing, and use their leverage to press for the release of the political prisoners brutally held in the “kingdom of happiness.”
Japan Court Finds North Korea No ‘Paradise on Earth’
In a January 26 ruling, a Japanese district court held the North Korean government liable for grave human rights violations against Koreans and Japanese citizens lured to North Korea through its “Paradise on Earth” campaign, ordering it to pay 22 million yen (US$1.42 million) to each plaintiff. Eiko Kawasaki, now 83, and three others filed the lawsuit in 2018, saying that they were deceived into going to North Korea, where they endured lives of extreme hardship.
Between 1959 and 1984, approximately 93,000 Zainichi Koreans—ethnic Koreans in Japan—and Japanese citizens migrated to North Korea under this program. The North Korean government, mostly through Chongryon, a pro-Pyongyang organization based in Japan, enticed them with claims that North Korea was a “paradise on earth,” guaranteeing housing, food, education, and employment.
Survivors have testified that North Korean authorities swiftly exerted total control over every aspect of their lives, restricting speech, residence, study, and work, rationing food, and censoring contact with families in Japan.
Those suspected of disloyalty faced severe punishment, including imprisonment with forced labor or as political prisoners, enforced disappearances, even death. Eiko, who arrived in North Korea at age 17 in 1960 remained trapped for 43 years before escaping in 2003.
In 2022, a Tokyo district court initially rejected the plaintiffs’ claims, citing a lack of jurisdiction over North Korea and the expiration of the statute of limitations. On appeal, however, the high court ruled in 2023 that Japanese courts did have jurisdiction and that the North Korean government violated the plaintiffs’ fundamental rights. The case was returned to the Tokyo district court to review the extent of damages that the North Korean government owes the plaintiffs, although enforcing payment will be challenging. The North Korean government did not participate in the proceedings.
North Korea remains one of the world’s most repressive states. A 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry found that its government has committed crimes against humanity through systematic abuses. The Japanese government should build on this ruling to press Pyongyang to allow remaining “Paradise on Earth” victims and their families to resettle in Japan and to hold North Korean officials accountable for their crimes.
ICC’s Work Vital for Justice in Darfur
On January 19, International Criminal Court (ICC) Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan briefed the United NationsSecurity Council on her office’s ongoing investigation in Darfur, Sudan.
Deputy Prosecutor Khan had to attend the briefing remotely after not being granted a visa to brief the Council in person in New York City. That decision came in the wake of the Trump administration’s sanctions imposed against a number of ICC officials, including Khan in 2025.
The briefing took place as the situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate. In October 2025, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out mass killings and other grave abuses in North Darfur’s capital, El Fasher. Khan reported to the Council her office’s findings of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in El Fasher by the RSF during its siege and control of the city, warning that RSF is replicating a “pattern of atrocities” in different parts of Darfur. Khan also called onstates to provide “additional assistance and investment of resources” to support the court’s investigative work in Darfur.
The office of the prosecutor has been investigating serious crimes in Darfur since 2005, following a referral by the Security Council. In 2025, 20 years after the referral, the ICC convicted Ali Kosheib, a former leader of the “Janjaweed,” a militia created by the government of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, on numerous counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur in 2003-2004. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
This long-awaited conviction provided the first opportunity for victims in Darfur to see a measure of justice before the ICC. With the current impunity-fueled conflict in Sudan, the ICC has a vital role in bringing further justice. The US sanctions, however, risk undermining the court’s ability to carry out its global mandate.
After Khan’s briefing, ICC members on the Security Council jointly noted with regret Khan’s inability to brief them in person and reiterated their commitment to safeguard the principles enshrined in the court’s founding treaty.
Security Council and ICC members should stand by their words and redouble efforts to support and protect the court, including by taking concrete steps to ensure continuation of the court’s critical work, providing adequate resources, and urging the Trump administration to revoke its ICC-related sanctions regime.
Syria: Civilian Protection Lacking in Northeast Escalation
(Beirut) – Both sides in the conflict between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Northeast Syria need to protect civilians and respect human rights in their operations, Human Rights Watch said today.
The parties should not arbitrarily block aid delivery or destroy or block access to critical infrastructure. They should fully support displaced people, including Islamic State (ISIS) suspects and family members unlawfully detained in camps, and ensure that anyone in their custody is not harassed, arbitrarily arrested, or mistreated.
“In the propaganda ping-pong between the SDF and Syrian government forces around who is committing which abuse, civilians are paying the highest price,” said Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Taking or holding territory militarily shouldn’t come by violating the rights of people living there.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed eight people and reviewed videos shared online and reports from other groups about conditions for civilians.
On January 6, 2026, Syrian transitional government forces and the SDF started fighting in two predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo. A wider military confrontation began on January 17, with the Syrian transitional authorities gaining control of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor governorates and moving towards areas in al-Hasakah governorate. On January 18, transitional authorities and the SDF reached an agreement to stop hostilities.
The agreement also gave transitional authorities full control of international borders and oil and gas fields as well as the full integration of SDF members into Syrian security forces. However, observers said, the ceasefire has been broken multiple times, with ongoing negotiations on aspects of the agreement. On January 20, both parties said they would respect a four-day ceasefire.
Both sides have previously committed grave human rights abuses in similar contexts, including extrajudicial killings, recruitment of children, and desecration. Both parties appear to have committed abuses that violate international law in the current escalation, Human Rights Watch said.
Parties should take all feasible measures to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian objects during military operations. The laws of war strictly prohibit indiscriminate attacks. Attacks must also be proportionate, meaning that any anticipated civilian casualties or damage to civilian buildings should not be excessive considering the concrete military advantage anticipated.
The parties should ensure that civilians are allowed to flee and ensure that they are safe and have access to aid even if they refuse to leave.
The Syrian government has provided so-called humanitarian corridors in Aleppo to allow civilians to flee. However, two residents told Human Rights Watch that the passages were attacked by snipers and affected by shelling from both sides. One resident said that the Asayish (the Kurdish internal police) and SDF blocked people from using the humanitarian corridor due to renewed fighting.
The creation of humanitarian corridors does not relieve parties of their obligation to avoid civilian casualties and allow aid to those who remain, Human Rights Watch said.
As of January 18, 6,000 people had arrived at displacement locations in Aleppo and al-Hasakah governorate, while approximately 7,000 were in transit, according to the International Organization of Migration. Two residents from Kobane, a Kurdish-majority city in Aleppo governorate also known as Ayn al-Arab, said many of those displaced have no access to shelter or sufficient food. The United Nations said that those displaced “face critical shortages of food… and fuel for heating, underscoring the urgent need for life-saving assistance.”
Human Rights Watch has received credible reports that people in Aleppo and al-Hasakah had no access to electricity or water for several days during the clashes. One Kobane resident said on January 21 that they had no access to water or electricity for four days, since the transitional authorities took control of the Tishreen Dam. Another Aleppo resident said that when clashes occurred, the electricity was cut off. The weaponization of water and electricity in ways that disproportionately impact civilians is a war crime, Human Rights Watch said.
Videos reportedly showing Syrian security forces arresting dozens of Kurdish residents in Aleppo began circulating online on January 10. While the SDF claim these are civilians, Syrian transitional authorities claim they are fighters. According to Syrians for Truth and Justice and the Kurdish Lawyers’ Union, dozens have lost contact with their relatives and their whereabouts remain unknown.
Human Rights Watch has not been able to verify the situation or affiliation of those taken. Under international law, detainees must be treated humanely and should be promptly released at the end of active hostilities. Parties are prohibited from arbitrarily arresting civilians and should immediately and unconditionally release unlawfully detained civilians and allow them to return. All have the right to be in touch with their families.
Both parties have exchanged allegations of extrajudicial killings. Human Rights Watch reviewed three videos showing apparent extrajudicial executions and desecration of bodies. In one, posted online on January 18, transitional authorities apparently enter al-Tabqa prison in Raqqa governorate, as two bloodied bodies of men in civilian clothes, one barefoot, lay on the ground.
Syrian authorities claim that the SDF killed detainees prior to withdrawing. The SDF denied responsibility, saying they had transferred prisoners days earlier. Human Rights Watch could not verify the circumstances.
In another video, posted online on January 10, fighters reportedly affiliated with the transitional authorities throw a body, reportedly of a female fighter, from a building in Aleppo as the man filming the scene says: “God is great.” It is unclear whether she was alive when thrown from the building. Desecration of bodies violates the laws of war.
Human Rights Watch has not verified these videos. Nevertheless, the footage raises serious concerns and requires further investigation.
Northeast Syria was also the site of major offensives by the US-led coalition against ISIS. Until January 19, more than 28,000 people, allegedly relatives of ISIS members, remained unlawfully detained in life-threatening conditions in the al-Hol and Roj camps in northeast Syria. About 12,500 are foreigners from more than 60 countries. About 8,500 people are in detention centers across northeast Syria.
On January 20, the Syrian Defense Ministry took control of the camps, after the SDF withdrew. At least 120 prisoners, including several women with their children, escaped, Syrian authorities said. On January 21, the Defense Ministry said it had control of al-Hol camp and other prisons, and that entrance by anyone was prohibited. Roj camp remains under SDF control.
Women inside these camps told Human Rights Watch of raids on the camps, violence, and looting. Aid delivery to al-Hol has been blocked for days, they said, leaving food and water shortages. Aid workers said their groups were forced to pull out due to the unrest.
Parties in effective control of the camps and detention facilities must ensure that aid is allowed in and that camp residents are not mistreated. All those unlawfully detained should be released, with the authorities responsible for ensuring their safety until they reach a safe location.
On January 21, the United States announced an operation to transfer up to 7,000 ISIS detainees to Iraq, saying they had already transferred 150, including third-country nationals. The announcement made no mention of family members in al-Hol and Roj camps.
Detainees transferred to Iraq are at risk of enforced disappearance, torture, and ill-treatment. Countries whose nationals are held in prisons and camps for ISIS suspects and family members should urgently assist their citizens who want to return home or to reach countries where they are not at risk of inhumane treatment.
“These developments have opened a Pandora’s box of complications not just associated with the failure to resolve post-ISIS issues, but broader crises around the transitional authorities’ ability to protect minority communities in Syria,” Coogle said. “So long as these questions remain unresolved, we can continue to expect instability in Syria.”
Finland’s Prime Minister Should Confront Repression in China Visit
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s scheduled January 25-28 visit to China, accompanied by over 20 Finnish business leaders, is the latest in a wave of trips by democratic governments seeking closer trade relations with Beijing. Recent visits by leaders from Ireland, Sweden, France, Germany, and Canada follow a familiar script: trade and investment dominate the agenda while human rights concerns receive little more than symbolic mention.
This renewed push for engagement reflects a wider challenge among democracies hoping to diversify economic relationships and reduce dependence on the United States. But if democratic backsliding and coercive politics from the Trump administration are causing unease, aligning more closely with an openly authoritarian China should provoke even stronger alarm across Europe.
Finland’s Joint Action Plan with China (2025–2029) exemplifies this imbalance. It outlines ambitious cooperation on innovation, green technology, and trade, with only vague references to human rights. This approach ignores the growing ways in which China’s repression affects Finland directly.
The Chinese government remains one of the world’s most abusive, both at home and abroad. Its ongoing crimes against humanity in Xinjiang involves arbitrary detention, pervasive surveillance, and forced labor of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims. This poses problems for Finnish industries. Finland’s clean energy and tech sectors risk exposure to tainted supply chains, even with the European Union regulation prohibiting forced labor imports scheduled to take effect in late 2027.
China’s labor rights abuses extend well beyond Xinjiang. Its low-rights development model has helped drive a global race to the bottom in labor rights, contributing to localized job losses that fuel resentment and populism in Europe and the United States.
In Hong Kong, where people previously enjoyed liberties comparable to those in Helsinki, they now fear long prison sentences for criticizing the government. In Tibet, religious and cultural rights remain under attack. China’s muzzling of dissent increasingly targets activists abroad, including in Europe. This undermines open debate and policymaking, especially crucial these days considering China’s role in supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Orpo’s visit is more than a diplomatic engagement; it is a test of whether Finland can navigate between two major powers while defending its own core interests, which should include a defense of democratic values and human rights.
Help Needed for Flood-Affected Women in Southern Africa
Prolonged heavy rains have caused deadly flooding across Southern Africa. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed, most of them in Mozambique, where more than half a million have already been displaced. Gender inequality already leads to women being disproportionately affected by climate disasters.
This week, I visited some of the school buildings that are being used as accommodation centers for flood-affected people in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, and the situation is alarming. Women with babies and young children make up most of the displaced communities. Official statistics show that over half of those affected are children, and at least 11,000 are pregnant women.
The centers I visited are overcrowded and face shortages of essential household items, lack of food and clean water, limited supply of hygiene products and private washing facilities, and inadequate or no access to health services and protection support. For women and girls, this exacerbates the risk of gender-based violence, exploitation, and abuse.
As more accommodation centers are opened across the country, Mozambican authorities should step up their efforts and provide displaced people with access to basic services. Even where capacity is strained, authorities remain responsible for prioritizing the safety, health, and dignity of women and girls and for coordinating available national and international support. Monitoring and accountability mechanisms should also be in place so that women and girls can safely report wrongdoing.
The floods have also damaged critical infrastructure, including roads and bridges, worsening access conditions, hampering rescue efforts, and limiting access to clinics and hospitals. Mozambican media has already reported cases of women who gave birth in precarious conditions while they desperately waited for rescue teams to save them from the flooded areas.
Disaster management authorities and international partners should focus on the specific needs of pregnant women and girls and access to sexual and reproductive health services during flood recovery efforts across the region. Disaster risk reduction efforts should respect the Maputo Protocol on the rights of women in Africa and ensure that women participate in the management and mitigation process.
The authorities should recognize the special needs of women and girls affected by the flooding and act decisively to meet those needs.