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Deadly Attack in Nigeria Highlights Persistent Insecurity
On the night of March 29, gunmen attacked the Angwan Rukuba community in Nigeria’s Plateau state, killing over 28 people and injuring many others, according to the state governor. The attack, which targeted a densely populated area, highlights persistent patterns of violence in northern Nigeria, where killings, kidnappings, and limited state protection leave communities extremely vulnerable.
According to news reports, the attackers fired indiscriminately on people as they tried to flee. Authorities described the attack as a criminal act in a conflict-prone area and promised to ensure the perpetrators are found and held to account. They should now follow through and implement effective strategies to identify and respond to threats, protect communities, and ensure justice.
Plateau state, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, has long experienced recurrent intercommunal violence rooted in tensions over land, political representation, and the contested distinction between “indigene” and “settler” communities. Often framed along ethnic and religious lines, particularly between predominantly Christian farming communities and largely Muslim pastoralist groups, these divisions have fueled ongoing reprisal attacks between the communities. But authorities have failed to break the cycle of violence, refraining from bringing perpetrators of serious crimes in these attacks to justice.
The intercommunal conflict has increasingly overlapped in recent years with bandit-style raids, which are widespread in the North West region and often involve killings and kidnappings for ransom, for which there has been little or no accountability. Armed insurgent groups such as Boko Haram have also carried out horrific attacks in the northern region.
Though circumstances vary by location, the recurring features of these attacks, including indiscriminate killings and weak state responses, demand the authorities’ urgent and comprehensive action. Without stronger protection, genuine accountability, and sustained efforts to address the root causes, countless lives will continue to be lost and cycles of insecurity will persist.
Special Prosecutor’s Death at Critical Moment in Central African Republic
The Central African Republic’s Special Criminal Court announced the death of its first Special Prosecutor, Toussaint Muntazini, on March 25 after a long illness. His passing is a profound loss for victims of serious crimes.
Muntazini, a Congolese military judge and former attorney general of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, will be remembered as a leader in the fight against impunity in two of the world’s most neglected conflicts. In Congo he was pivotal in advancing the country’s efforts to investigate and prosecute serious crimes through its military courts. As the military’s attorney general at the time, Muntazini was the high-ranking official responsible for overseeing the domestic legal process that facilitated the surrender and transfer of Thomas Lubanga to the International Criminal Court for war crimes committed in Congo’s Ituri province.
In the Central African Republic, Mutanzini was appointed Special Prosecutor to the Special Criminal Court in 2017. Established in 2015 and integrated into the national domestic system with international support, the court was designed to investigate and prosecute serious violations committed in the country since 2003. After arriving in Bangui, Mutanzini crafted the court’s prosecutorial strategy, and his office went on to open preliminary investigations that led to the court’s first trials.
The Special Criminal Court faced enormous challenges in those early days, operating amid ongoing violence, with limited resources and acute insecurity. Muntazini lived under tight protection and rarely left the court’s compound. But his commitment and determination demonstrated that justice was possible even during an active conflict. The Special Criminal Court’s hybrid model, with national and international staff working side by side, offered a chance for local ownership while drawing on much needed global expertise. The Special Criminal Court complements the ongoing work of the International Criminal Court in the Central African Republic and is proof that justice, while slow, is possible.
Muntazini’s determination helped dismantle the country’s long culture of impunity, where cycles of atrocity have driven conflict for decades. His passing leaves a gap at a pivotal moment, as the court’s mandate faces growing funding pressures. The international community should defend Mutanzini’s legacy by pushing for meaningful justice and accountability efforts in his native Congo while ensuring that the Special Criminal Court has the resources it needs to continue its critical work.
Burkina Faso: Crimes Against Humanity by All Sides
(Nairobi, April 2, 2026) – The Burkina Faso military with its allied militias and an Al Qaeda-linked armed group have killed more than 1,800 civilians and forcibly displaced tens of thousands since 2023, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. These atrocities, including the government’s ethnic cleansing of Fulani civilians, amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity for which senior leaders on all sides may be liable.
The 316-page report, “‘None Can Run Away’: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Burkina Faso by All Sides,” documents the devastating impact on civilians of an armed conflict that has received scant global attention. Researchers documented 57 incidents involving Burkinabè military forces and allied militias known as the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDPs), and the Islamist armed group Jama’at Nusrat al‑Islam wa al‑Muslimin (JNIM) since the current military junta seized power in September 2022. Human Rights Watch issued a question and answer document to explain the legal issues involved.
Play Video Read a text description of this videoNarrator: There’s a brutal conflict going on in West Africa that many people have never heard of. In Burkina Faso, government forces have been fighting Islamist armed groups for more than a decade. All sides have made attacks on civilians a key part of their strategies, killing thousands. More than 2 million people have been displaced by the fighting.
Soundbite: “That day, 25 people died on the spot. Some were cut up by the impact of the airstrike; others had their heads cut off. Some died from choking on the dust they inhaled after the strike. After the strike, everyone started to flee.”
Narrator: So why haven’t many people heard about this crisis? Burkina Faso’s military government has banned or silenced local and international media and created a climate of fear to deter people from speaking out.
Soundbite: “The VDPs [government-backed militia] surrounded us, they told us to watch what they were going to do. There were people who had been stabbed with iron bars. When they finished stabbing, they slit their throats.”
Narrator: Human Rights Watch spent a year and a half documenting 57 attacks across Burkina Faso. We spoke with nearly 400 witnesses over the phone or in neighboring countries where they had fled and documented the killing of at least 1,800 civilians between 2023 and 2025. But this may be the tip of the iceberg.
Narrator: Since President Ibrahim Traoré took power in a military coup in 2022, he has made the fight against Islamist armed groups his main objective.
Narrator: The military has armed tens of thousands of people in a militia called the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland, commonly known as VDPs. If a community has VDPs, JNIM, one of the main Islamist armed groups, often targets the entire population.
And government forces have massacred civilians simply for living in areas that JNIM controls.
Narrator: The military and VDPs have especially targeted ethnic Fulani people whom they accuse of supporting JNIM.
Entire Fulani communities have been attacked and forcibly displaced, and their property looted, acts that amount to ethnic cleansing.
Soundbite: They [VDPs] told us: “It’s [President] Ibrahim Traoré who sent us to kill you.” And they began slitting the throats of people in front of us. They called us “terrorists,” which we are not.
Narrator: Military abuses have fueled recruitment by JNIM and the cycle of retaliatory attacks has led to widespread violence against civilians. All sides have committed abuses that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. To seek justice for these crimes, we needed to identify who was responsible.
Narrator: So, we used AI to go through thousands of hours of footage from Burkina Faso’s state-owned news channel and a social media platform used by JNIM. The software we developed identified key information about JNIM, military units, and the names of people involved in specific attacks. This information, along with witness accounts, allowed us to identify members of the Burkinabé armed forces and JNIM who were in a position of command during each attack.
Narrator: These include: Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, the president of Burkina Faso, and top military commanders. It also includes the leaders of JNIM, such as Iyad Ag Ghaly, Amadou Kouffa, and Jafar Dicko.
Narrator: None have been held accountable. States should investigate these serious international crimes, and the International Criminal Court should bring perpetrators to justice. Accountability and civilian protection cannot wait.
“The scale of atrocities taking place in Burkina Faso is mind-boggling, as is the lack of global attention to this crisis,” said Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “The junta is committing horrific abuses itself, failing to hold those responsible on all sides to account, and curtailing reporting to obscure the suffering of civilians caught in the violence.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 450 people in Burkina Faso, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Mali, and by phone about grave abuses between January 2023 and August 2025. Researchers also carried out extensive open-source analysis, examining satellite imagery, thousands of hours of audiovisual footage, and official documents to verify incidents and identify commanders on all sides.
April 2, 2026 “None Can Run Away”Under President Ibrahim Traoré, the junta has carried out a broad crackdown on the political opposition, peaceful dissent, and independent media, fostering an atmosphere of terror and severely restricting the flow of information about the conflict and its toll.
Since 2016, JNIM and other Islamist armed groups have waged an insurgency against successive governments in Burkina Faso as part of a broader offensive across Africa’s Sahel region. JNIM has killed civilians and looted property leading the junta to conduct brutal counterinsurgency campaigns.Murder and other grave abuses against civilians, often from communities accused of supporting the opposing side, have become a key tactic of the junta as well as of JNIM.
In one of the deadliest incidents, the Burkinabè military and allied militias killed more than 400 civilians in December 2023 in about 16 villages near the northern town of Djibo during an operation known as “Operation Tchéfari 2 (Warriors’ Honey in Fulfulde).” “[The militia] opened fire,” said a 35-year-old woman. “My two daughters died on the spot.” Bullets seriously injured her and her 9-month-old son. She heard a militia member say: “Make sure no one is breathing before heading out.”
The military and militia have targeted Fulani communities because of their alleged support for Islamist armed groups, resulting in the ethnic cleansing of entire communities.
In November 2023, government-allied militias killed 13 Fulani civilians, including 6 women and 4 children, in the western village of Bassé. “All the bodies, except for that of my son, were grouped together in the courtyard, blindfolded with their torn clothes and their hands tied behind their backs… riddled with bullets,” said a 41-year-old man. “My son …was lying on his stomach. He had been shot in the back of the neck.”
JNIM has used widespread threats and violence to dominate and punish communities as part of efforts to expand territorial control in rural areas. On August 24, 2024, JNIM killed at least 133 civilians, including dozens of children, in the central town of Barsalogho, accusing the whole community of supporting the VDPs.
“[JNIM fighters] shot continuously, as if they had plenty of ammunition,” said a 39-year-old man. “People were falling like flies. They came to exterminate us. They did not spare anyone.” Five of his family members were killed in the attack.
JNIM has besieged dozens of towns and villages across Burkina Faso, blocking the movement of goods and people, resulting in hunger and illness. The armed group has planted improvised explosive devices on roads, and destroyed bridges, water sources, and communications infrastructure.
All sides are responsible for the war crimes of willful killing, attacks on civilians and civilian objects, pillage and looting, and forced displacement, Human Rights Watch found. They have also committed murder and forced displacement as part of attacks on a civilian population, amounting to crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said.
Human Rights Watch found that President Traoré, supreme commander of the armed forces, and six senior Burkinabè military commanders may be liable as a matter of command responsibility for grave abuses and should be investigated. Iyad Ag Ghaly, the JNIM supreme leader who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes in Mali in 2012-2013, and four JNIM commanders may be liable as a matter of command responsibility for abuses by JNIM in Burkina Faso and should also be investigated.
Members of all warring parties in the country have near-total impunity. Victims and their families said they do not trust national justice institutions or cannot access them. Government officials have either denied or downplayed allegations of abuse, especially by military forces and militias, and failed to conduct credible investigations.
Governments have taken little action in the face of these atrocity crimes, Human Rights Watch said. Burkina Faso’s international partners—including the United Nations, African Union, European Union and its member states, and the United States—should address Burkina Faso’s longstanding cycles of abuse and impunity. They should promote accountability, including by imposing targeted sanctions against abusive commanders that Human Rights Watch identified. The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC should open a preliminary examination into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by all parties in Burkina Faso since September 2022.
“The world needs to recognize the magnitude of the atrocities unfolding in Burkina Faso to bring them to an end,” Bolopion said. “Regional bodies and partner governments should work with, and press, Burkina Faso’s authorities to tackle grave abuses by all sides and provide genuine accountability.”
Iran: Thousands of Prisoners at Risk
(Beirut) – Thousands of detainees in Iran, including political prisoners and children, are at risk of injury and death from US and Israelistrikes, as well as atrocities by Iran’s authorities, including mass, arbitrary, and secret executions, Human Rights Watch and Kurdistan Human Rights Network said today.
For decades, Iran’s authorities have carried out large-scale arbitrary detentions with impunity, detaining both real and perceived dissidents as well as debt prisoners. During the weeks preceding the start of the armed conflict on February 28, 2026, Iran’s authorities had carried out mass arbitrary detentions of tens of thousands of protesters, including children, as well as real and perceived dissidents, human rights defenders, lawyers, and medical workers. Many were held in secret and unofficial detention facilities run by security and intelligence bodies and subjected to enforced disappearances.
“Prisoners, including thousands of arbitrarily detained people in Iran, are facing dual threats, violence at the hands of authorities who have a track record of prison massacres and US and Israeli bombs,” said Bahar Saba, senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Unable to seek safety, detainees, many of whom never should have been detained in the first place, are facing human rights violations, serious injury, and death.”
Human Rights Watch and Kurdistan Human Rights Network spoke with 12 people, including families of prisoners, human rights defenders, and informed sources with knowledge about several prisons, and reviewed reports by other human rights organizations, information shared on social media, official statements, and state media reports.
“We have no options,” said a prisoner whose statement was shared with the organizations. “Here, we can neither protect ourselves from danger nor have [access to] any shelters.”
Since the start of the conflict, detainees, their families, and human rights organizations have repeatedly called on Iran’s authorities to release prisoners, including on humanitarian grounds. While a number of detainees have been released, including after posting exorbitant bail, the authorities have refused to release all those arbitrarily detained, in particular political prisoners, and to grant other prisoners temporary humanitarian leave.
Instead, authorities continue to arrest activists, dissidents, members of ethnic and religious minorities, such as Kurds and Baha’is, and other people for allegedly taking footage or photographs of strikes and sending them to the media. On March 24, the police announced that 446 people had been arrested for “disturbing public opinion, creating fear and anxiety in society, undermining mental security, propaganda for the enemy, and inciting and organizing security-disrupting elements online.”
The authorities have also been carrying out executions, including on politically motivated charges, heightening fears of mass, arbitrary, and secret executions under the shadow of the war. At least eight men were arbitrarily executed on charges such as “espionage,” “armed rebellion against the state through membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran,” and “waging war on God” between March 18 and 31.
Interviewees, including relatives of prisoners, told researchers about the serious threats those detained face from the US and Israel’s military strikes as well as gross human rights violations by Iran’s authorities.
“Prisoners in Evin have been hearing loud and terrifying explosions,” said the relative of a prisoner in the notorious Evin Prison. “They have felt them to have been very close, but their access is even more limited [than people outside] to know where the strikes are actually happening ... one of the nights when there were terrible explosions … at around 2:00 a.m., they could feel over 20 explosion shock waves in their ward in the span of an hour.”
Police stations and security facilities run by the Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have been among the targets hit by Israel and US forces. Some of these facilities are commonly known to hold detainees, in particular those arrested for politically motivated charges, often held incommunicado and in circumstances that amount to enforced disappearances.
Those detained are also facing deteriorating prison conditions in a system already known for poor conditions and systematic and deliberate denial of medical care to prisoners. Sources told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network and Human Rights Watch that since the start of the armed conflict there had been a drop in both the quantity and quality of food and that prisoners were denied access to medication and medical care outside of prison.
“The amount of food prisoners receive has dropped and so has its quality,” a source said. “Even those who have severe medical conditions are not transferred outside [prison] for medical care … prisoners are not even taken to the prison clinic.”
Prisoners who protest deteriorating and unsafe prison conditions are at risk of reprisals and violence. The organizations received information that in at least three prisons, security forces have used force, including lethal force, to quash protests by prisoners who fear for their safety and/or object to poor prison conditions.
Iranian authorities have also been making repeated threats of further atrocities to prevent and stifle any form of dissent. On March 10, Ahmadreza Radan, the commander of the Islamic Republic’s police forces, known as FARAJA, warned, “we will not deem anyone who takes to the streets at the will of the enemies as a protester or anything else, but as the enemy [itself] and will [thus] treat them in the same manner that we would treat the enemy.” He said that security forces had “their fingers on the triggers.”
The next day, the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization issued a statement warning that any protests would be faced “with [even] a harsher blow than that of January 8,” when Iranian authorities carried out massacres of protesters.
Iran’s domestic regulations provide for humanitarian release at times of crisis. A 1986 resolution by the Supreme Judicial Council allows for the conditional release or release on bail of prisoners during wartime emergencies. In addition, article 201 of Iran’s Prisons Regulations provides for the release of prisoners in certain circumstances, for example during other times of “crisis such as natural disasters, unforeseeable incidents, or outbreaks of dangerous infectious diseases.”
Under international humanitarian law, also known as the laws of war, prisons and detention facilities are presumptively civilian objects. Serious laws of war violations committed by individuals with criminal intent—that is, deliberately or recklessly—are war crimes.
UN member states should press Iran’s authorities to immediately release all individuals arbitrarily detained, halt all planned executions, and implement domestic regulations that allow for the release or temporary leave of prisoners on humanitarian grounds, the two organizations said. They should further urge all parties to the conflict to prioritize the protection of civilians.
“Instead of releasing prisoners, authorities are relentlessly arresting real and perceived dissidents and carrying out executions, once again putting on full display their absolute disregard for human life,” said Rebin Rahmani, a member of the broad of directors at Kurdistan Human Rights Network. “Many anxious families do not even know where their loved ones are being held as bombs and missiles hit different parts of cities on a daily basis.”
Risk of Death and Injuries Due to AirstrikesSince February 28, Israel and the US have carried out thousands of strikes across Iran. According to reports by relatives of detainees, media, and human rights organizations, a number of strikes have targeted locations in proximity to prisons, including Evin Prison and the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, Isfahan Central Prison in Isfahan province, Mahabad Prison in West Azerbaijan province, and Zanjan Central Prison in Zanjan province, while at least one, Marivan Prison in Kurdistan province, is reported to have been damaged as a result of a strike.
Relatives of Lindsay Foreman and Craig Foreman, a British couple detained in Iran since January 2025, have reported that on February 28 a strike near Evin Prison resulted in shattered windows and plaster raining down from the ceiling of the ward in which they were being held.
An informed source told Human Rights Watch that prisoners in Zanjan Central Prison, where the arbitrarily detained human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi is held, could also hear the sounds of airstrikes in the city and were terrified as they felt the explosion’s shock waves. On March 31, the Iranian Red Crecent said that its rescue teams had removed survivors from under the rubble after a strike on Zanjan’s Hossienieh Azam, which appears to be only several kilometers from the Zanjan Central Prison. According to information received by Human Rights Watch, Mohammadi’s health has been deteriorating in detention and she may have suffered a heart attack following denial of medical care.
A source with information about a prison in central Iran told the organizations, “The night when there was a strike nearby, everyone was terrified and the guards did nothing to reassure them.”
On March 13, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network raised concerns about the fate of detainees amid a wave of strikes on intelligence and security facilities across Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan provinces. One of the facilities reportedly struck was an IRGC-run intelligence center, Shahramfar base in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. Based on extensive documentation by human rights organizations, the center has included a section used as a detention facility for decades.
An informed source, whose relative had once been held in Shahramfar, told Human Rights Watch that the detention center was a “terrifying facility” used to hold dissidents, and that at any given time, a group of concerned families would be standing outside to inquire about their detained loved ones. The source also said that there was no information about the fate and whereabouts of a friend who had been arrested during the protests and was subsequently held in Shahramfar.
During the Israel-Iran conflict in June 2025, Human Rights Watch documented an unlawful attack by the Israeli forces on Evin Prison, an apparent war crime. The attack resulted in the killing and injury of scores of civilians, including prisoners. Prior to the attack, Iran’s authorities refused to take measures to protect prisoners despite prisoners’ repeated pleas with judicial, prosecutorial, and prison officials to release them or grant them humanitarian leave.
Those arbitrarily detained in Iran include thousands of prisoners held for exercising their human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly; people convicted following grossly unfair trials, which are systematic and widespread; and debt prisoners whose numbers are reported to be over ten thousand. Article 11 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibits the imprisonment of individuals who are unable to fulfill a contractual obligation.
Deteriorating Prison ConditionsDetainees, their families, and human rights organizations have also reported that the situation in prisons across the country, including in the provinces of Alborz, Fars, Gilan, Kermanshah, Lorestan, Qazvin, Qom, Razavi Khorasan, Tehran, West Azerbaijan, and Yazd, has been deteriorating. Prisoners face shortages of food and potable water, as well as limited access to basic necessities, medication, medical care, and visitation rights. Prison shops, where prisoners can buy goods such as food, are also reported to be facing shortages while their prices have significantly increased, so many prisoners can no longer afford them.
In a March 3 letter addressed to the head of the judiciary, the arbitrarily-detained human rights defender Reza Khandan wrotethat, “thousands of unlawfully detained prisoners are held in prisons without any reason, trapped under the threat of bombardments day and night, many services to prisoners have been cut off and if the war continues, shortages or [even] lack of food and hygiene [products] is foreseeable.”
One source with knowledge about a prison in western Iran said that prisoners whose medication for chronic illnesses is provided by their families will soon run out of medication if this situation continues, as families were prevented from visiting jailed loved ones and authorities had not distributed the items families had brought for the prisoners.
Another source with information about a facility in central Iran also said that they faced shortages of medication and that all “transfers to hospitals were cancelled … even a prisoner who fell seriously ill was not transferred outside [for medical care].”
Information received by the organizations from the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary also points to a further deterioration of the facility’s already poor conditions, including overcrowding, reduction of food portions to half their regular size, and lack of access to potable water. An informed source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network that detainees arrested in connection with the protests were held in three halls in the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, each holding 250 to 300 people. Several detainees had been taken to the prison with serious injuries, including bullet wounds, and prisoners were held in insect-infested wards without access to adequate medical care, the source said.
Media and human rights organizations reported that prisoners in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Alborz province have started a hunger strike to protest the deteriorating conditions, particularly the lack of access to sufficient food and medical care.
Prisoners and their familieshave also reported restrictions imposed by the authorities on visitation rights and contact with the outside world, which has further compounded their anxiety. “They have not allowed any family visits since the start of the war,” said one source with knowledge about a prison in western Iran.
“Prisoners who are mothers are particularly anxious for their children outside,” another source said.
Risk of Atrocities, Including Mass Arbitrary, Secret, and Summary ExecutionsSince the start of the armed conflict on February 28, which came in the wake of the countrywide massacres of protesters and bystanders on January 8 and 9, Iran’s authorities have repeatedly threatened further atrocities. These threats are made by high-ranking commanders and state institutions that orchestrated the January massacres, and, as such, should be treated as serious and imminent.
Detainees, many of whom have been arrested in connection with recent protests and held incommunicado or subjected to enforced disappearances remain particularly vulnerable and at risk of torture and ill-treatment. On March 24, the Baha’i International Community reported that authorities subjected Peyvand Naimi, a young Baha’i man arrested on January 8 in Kerman, to torture, including beatings, denial of food and water, prolonged solitary confinement, and mock executions on two occasions to coerce him into making self-incriminating statements.
Based on reports from families of prisoners and human rights organizations, some detainees have been transferred to undisclosed locations, further heightening fears about their fate and safety. In some cases, authorities have refused to provide families with any information about the detainees’ fate and whereabouts, thus subjecting them to enforced disappearances. On March 3, human rights organizations and families of prisoners reported that detainees held in section 209 of Evin Prison, which is controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence, had been transferred to an undisclosed location.
An informed source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network that detainees, both men and women, held in Section 2A of Evin Prison, which is controlled by the IRGC, were transferred to an IRGC base for several days following the start of the conflict. Some detainees were subsequently taken to an official prison, but the source had no information about the others.
Based on information reviewed by Human Rights Watch and the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, the authorities have also significantly increased the presence of security forces in prisons. An informed source with knowledge about a prison in central Iran said that three weeks into the war, senior prison officials told prisoners that prison guards had “pre-authorized shooting orders.”
The source said that in addition to regular prison guards, anti-riot forces were deployed to the prison and authorities had tripled the number of guards stationed in the prison’s watch towers and at entrances. Another source with information about a prison in western Iran said that the prison was filled with security forces and that armed guards with rifles were stationed on the prison roof.
There have also been reported crackdowns within Iran’s detention facilities.
On March 5 and 6, Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that after a military strike in proximity to Mahabad Prison in West Azerbaijan province on March 3, security forces fired tear gas against prisoners who were scared and started protesting seeking to be released. Subsequently, 120 prisoners were transferred to the quarantine section of Miandoab Prison in the same province, where they were held in poor conditions without access to sufficient food.
Two Balochi human rights defenders who had spoken with families of prisoners, and other informed sources in Chabahar in Sistan and Balouchistan, said that security forces used force, including lethal force, after protest broke out in Chabahar Prison on March 18, reportedly killing and injuring several prisoners. The protests are reported to have started following several days without food.
Based on media reports, on March 2, following several strikes around the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, prisoners who attempted to leave their wards in fear were violently repressed. The strikes were reported to have resulted in shattered glasses and damage to walls.
Fears of mass, summary, secret, and arbitrary executions have also been increasing amid a significant escalation in the authorities’ use of the death penalty over the past years, particularly in 2025, including as a tool of political repression and an ongoing communications blackout that further hinders independent reporting.
On March 18, Mizan News Agency, owned and operated by Iran’s judiciary, announced that Kourosh Keyvani, a Swedish-Iranian dual national, had been executed for “intelligence cooperation and espionage in favor of the Israeli government.” Keyvani is reportedly the third man to be arbitrarily executed over allegations of espionage for or collaboration with Israel in 2026. At least 13 men were arbitrarily executed on similar charges in 2025, the vast majority after the 12-day armed conflict with Israel.
On March 19, Mizan News Agency announced that three people—the 19-year-old wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi and two other young men, Saeed Davoudi and Mehdi Ghassemi—had been executed earlier in the day over allegations of involvement in the deaths of two members of security forces during the nationwide protests of December 2025 and January 2026. Their arbitrary executions were carried out following grossly unfair and summary proceedings that lasted just over two months, from the time of arrest to the implementation of sentences.
Human Rights Watch reviewed the verdict issued by a criminal court in Qom against Mohammadi and Davoudi, which shows that both defendants retracted their “confessions” in court saying they were extracted under torture, but the court dismissed their testimony without any investigation. Human Rights Watch received information that Mohammadi was held in stress positions and beaten. Mizan News Agency reported that the executions were carried out “in the presence of a group of people in Qom,” indicating that they were carried out in public, in violation of the absolute prohibition against torture and other ill-treatment.
On March 30, authorities arbitrarily executedAli Akbar Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi, on the charge of “armed rebellion through membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.” The next day, two other men, Pouya Ghobadi and Babak Alipour, were executed on the same charges. The men, codefendants in one case, had been sentenced to death by a revolutionary court in Tehran following a grossly unfair trial.
Human rights organizations reported that the authorities did not provide advance notice to the men’s families and lawyers, in violation of both international law and Iran’s domestic regulations. Two other political prisoners sentenced to death in the same case, Vahid Baniamerian and Abolhassan Montazer, are at imminent risk of execution.
On March 31, Amnesty International reported that another five young men, Mohammad Amin Biglari, Ali Fahim, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani, Amirhossein Hatami, Shahin Vahedparast Kolo, had been transferred from Ghezel Hesar Prison to an undisclosed location, sparking fears of their imminent execution. All five were sentenced to death in connection with alleged offences committed in the context of the December 2025 and January 2026 protests.
Iranian authorities’ track record of committing mass atrocities in prisons has further heightened concerns for prisoners. In 1988, authorities extrajudicially executed thousands of imprisoned political dissidents in prisons across the country, known as the “1988 prison massacres.” The massacres constituted crimes against humanity.
Canada Should Speak Out on Uyghur Forced Labor in China
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s unwillingness to condemn forced labor in China risks reducing pressure on the Chinese government to end its repression of ethnic Uyghurs.
Responding to Member of Parliament Michael Ma’s comments casting doubts on reports of forced labor in China, Carney told the media on March 30 that Canada “takes issues of forced labor and child labor incredibly seriously.” But when asked directly whether forced labor is present in China, Carney said that “there are parts of China that are higher risk.”
Carney’s remarks ignore extensive and consistent documentation of state-imposed forced labor involving Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in China’s supply chains, including cotton, automotive, solar, and critical minerals. The United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and others have for several years reported on crimes against humanity by Chinese authorities in the Xinjiang region.
Carney’s comments also divert from past Canadian government statements expressing concern at forced labor in Xinjiang. In January 2021, Canada’s Global Affairs Ministry issued an advisory warning businesses of forced labor risks there.
In his remarks, Carney also said that “Canada has the most rigorous set of engagements” on child and forced labor. Carney’s government, however, has so far failed to adequately enforce legislation blocking products made with forced labor and has not acted on a proposed supply chain due diligence law modeled in part on legislation in the European Union.
Canada’s forced labor import restrictions also do not include a presumption that products produced in Xinjiang are linked to forced labor and cannot be imported, a key feature of the United States’ Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. US authorities announced last month an investigation into the effectiveness of forced labor import restrictions in 60 countries, including Canada.
In the face of US President Donald Trump’s open hostility toward Canada, Carney has sought to strengthen Canada-China ties to diversify Canada’s trade partnerships. But any pivot toward China needs to prioritize human rights; otherwise, Canada risks facilitating a “low-rights” economy that increases economic, security, and governance risks for Canadian manufacturers and consumers.
As Prime Minister Carney takes Canada forward in a multipolar world, he should make clear that Canada’s foreign and trade policy will be grounded in human rights, including by unequivocally condemning Uyghur forced labor.
Former Army Spymasters Arrested in Bangladesh
Bangladesh police have arrested three former army officers linked to the military-backed government that ruled the country from 2007 to 2009, when hundreds were arbitrarily arrested and many were tortured or killed in custody. As the new government of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman seeks to hold those responsible for past abuses to account, authorities should ensure due process, fair trials, and institutional reform to prevent violations from being repeated.
Recent investigations have implicated senior military and police officers in extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government, which was forced out in 2024 after widespread protests. Bangladeshi security forces have committed countless rights violations over recent decades against the perceived opponents of the government of the day, including previous Bangladesh National Party and army-backed administrations.
On March 23, police arrested Lt Gen (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury. Police have filed cases against him related to 11 alleged offenses, including murder, human trafficking, and fraud in connection with his later civilian career recruiting overseas workers. On March 26, retired Lt Gen (retd) Mamun Khaled, a former chief of Bangladesh’s military intelligence agency known as the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, was arrested on suspicion of crimes including murder and corruption. Mohammad Afzal Naser, another former military intelligence chief, was arrested on March 30, on suspicion of abuses during the suppression of the 2024 protests. All three were key figures during the 2007-2009 military-backed government.
The current prime minister, Tarique Rahman, was allegedly among those tortured during the 2007-2009 military rule. He later spent 17 years in exile before returning to Bangladesh in December and winning a landslide election victory in February.
To build a rights-respecting future, Bangladesh authorities should end military involvement in civilian law enforcement, reform security agencies, curtail surveillance powers, and strengthen the country’s National Human Rights Commission. The government should empower the police and courts to investigate and prosecute past violations without political interference.
Only a rigorous, rights-respecting process without political interference can ensure such crimes never happen again.
Gulf Countries: Conflict, Hardships Leave Migrants in Limbo
(Beirut) – Migrant workers in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries face additional risks to both their lives and their socioeconomic rights due to the current regional conflict, Human Rights Watch said today.
Migrant workers carry out jobs essential to the continued functioning of Gulf economies and services during the conflict, including delivering food and water, providing health care, and maintaining critical infrastructure. Yet some workers are unable to pay for everyday expenses due to loss of income, rising costs, and their lack of access to sufficient social services or social security.
“Millions of migrant workers employed across the Gulf countries are navigating threats to their physical safety and job security amid the conflict,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The conflict has brought new risks to migrant workers while also exposing the gaps in labor and other rights, including those enabled by the kafala (sponsorship) system.”
Gulf states should take emergency measures to mitigate and where necessary compensate for income loss, Human Rights Watch said. The crisis also highlights the urgent need for more structural measures, including to ensure that all workers are paid at least a living wage, that their contracts are respected, and that they can access social security benefits.
Gulf states should also ensure that workers seeking to return to their home countries voluntarily have airfare support. or coordinate with country of origin governments and airlines to provide affordable flight options.
In March 2026, Human Rights Watch interviewed 38 Indian, Nepali, and Bangladeshi migrant workers based in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. They are drivers, delivery workers, security guards, chefs, and cleaners, among the millions of migrant workers working in essential jobs that keep hospitals, markets, and transportation functioning despite heightened risks. Human Rights Watch spoke to family members of Bangladeshis who were killed in Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
Human Rights Watch wrote to all GCC countries to ask about these concerns, but none have provided substantive responses.
“My job is at a hospital, so the work has not stopped,” said a worker at a Qatar hospital. “Sometimes explosions come at night, sometimes during the day. Many thoughts keep running through my mind about what might happen … I have left my child back home.”
As of March 25, conflict-related deaths in Gulf countries have included migrant workers, among them a Pakistani driver, a Nepali security guard, and a Bangladeshi water-tanker driver, according to media and official government reporting. Others have been injured.
Saleh Ahmed, a Bangladeshi national, was killed in Ajman, UAE, after debris from an attack struck his cab in a water tank truck, piercing it and fatally injuring him, family members said. Another Bangladeshi, A.M. Tarek, was struck on the head while descending from a ship’s roof by shrapnel, which killed him instantly after finishing his night shift in Bahrain’s Hidd industrial area.
Human Rights Watch has long called for mandatory life insurance policies so deceased workers’ families are compensated, regardless of the cause, time and place of death.
One injured worker who narrowly escaped death said, “It feels like God saved me.… Otherwise, I would have died like a stray dog.… I feel angry because innocent workers like us are suffering for no reason.” The two workers Human Rights Watch interviewed who had been injured said they received adequate treatment at medical facilities.
While migrant workers acknowledged the effectiveness of Gulf air defense and warning systems in protecting their lives, workers also shared fears about the current security environment. One UAE-based migrant community leader said: “On one hand, migrants are working in fear. On the other, there is constant anxiety about losing jobs.”
“I’m afraid every time I go out to work,” said a Qatar-base delivery worker. “There’s no way of knowing where the next missile will land. But I go anyway.… People like me, we are thinking about one thing and one thing only: how to make the next 10 riyals.” When he receives alerts either from the government or his company’s WhatsApp group, he reroutes or goes home.
While he can log out of the app that assigns him delivery orders if he feels unsafe working, he is required to meet his contractual obligation with the labor supplier company of working 12 hours a day and delivering at least 10 orders.
“This is a commission-based job,” said a Kuwait-based taxi driver. We don’t have salary. The number of rides has dropped.” His daily earnings have been reduced by more than half and are not enough to cover his living and work-related expenses, including payments to the taxi owner, fuel, car maintenance, housing, and food.
Migrant workers based in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar reported increased food prices. They said that while bigger markets are under government scrutiny, low-paid workers generally shop from smaller shops including baqala (corner stores) that did not face the same level of government oversight. One Kuwait-based worker said, “What we used to spend for two months of food supplies won’t even last for one month now.” Workers listed current prices of food items that have doubled or tripled, including for vegetables.
Gulf state employers are required by domestic law to provide meals or food allowances to workers, in addition to wages. The amount is often inadequate even when there are no crises. For example, according to Qatari law, employers that do not provide food are required to provide a minimum allowance of 300 QAR (about US$82) every month, which has not been increased since 2021.
However, in some situations, migrant workers are compelled to cover their own food costs as well. This includes migrant workers who are undocumented, as well as workers who are on what are colloquially referred to as “free” (azad) visas, an arrangement in which companies or individuals sell their visa allocations to workers for profit.
A Bahrain-based unemployed Bangladeshi worker who is on “free visa” arrangement but struggling to find temporary jobs since the onset of the conflict said: “Sometimes I do not even have enough food to eat. Even if it is risky, I have to go out and look for work just to arrange food … but I cannot find any work. So far, I have already brought about 20,000 taka [about $163] from home to survive. I do not know how long this can continue or how long this conflict will last.”
Human Rights Watch analyzed and geolocated a video shared directly with researchers showing scores of people gathered on a street in Bahrain who the person who took the video said, were waiting to be picked up by construction contractors for day-labor work.
A cab driver in Kuwait who pays 70 KD [about $226] every month to his sponsor under the “free visa” arrangement said: “My income has fallen to one-fifth of what it was and does not cover basic costs … Today, I drove for four hours and did not earn anything.”
Gulf states should assess the anticipated adverse economic impact of the crisis on migrant workers and ensure through emergency measures that all workers can realize their economic, social and cultural rights, such as food and housing.
Human Rights Watch also spoke to workers who are facing reduced work or pay or compulsory unpaid leave despite having two-year employment contracts.
Three UAE-based hospitality workers said that hotel occupancy rates have significantly dropped, so companies tell employees to clear pending vacations, take unpaid leaves until further notice, or terminate contracts. One UAE-based chef who still has his job said: “We are down to 3-4 staff from 25-30. Workers on unpaid leave until further notice unable to return home are provided company accommodation, but they must pay for their own food.”
A worker on unpaid leave said, “We don’t receive salary or benefits. The employer is encouraging us to go home but we have to pay for the ticket ourselves and prices are extremely high.”
An Abu Dhabi-based chef from Nepal said: “To lose a job after taking recruitment loans to come here is sad. People pay 300,000-400,000 Nepali Rupees [about $ 2,000-2,686] for these jobs.” Human Rights Watch has documented that most workers across the Gulf pay exorbitant recruitment fees financed via informal loans.
Even some migrant workers who were paid during the first month of the crisis expressed concerns about their job and income security. One Bahrain-based supply company manager said that three of his corporate clients have already told him to cut the salaries by half for over 400 workers.
A Kuwait-based migrant worker said that the restaurant he works in has had a sharp fall in customers and take-home orders: “Staff are working reduced hours and taking pay cuts accordingly. The airport is closed so going home is not an option. The option of traveling via Saudi Arabia is not affordable as ticket prices have skyrocketed.”
Under international human rights law, governments have an obligation to ensure that all workers, including migrant workers, in their countries are paid a fair wage and have access to social security to be able to realize their right to an adequate standard of living, including in times of crisis. Gulf states should also ensure that migrant worker communities are adequately informed about emergency plans and directions during times of crisis, including in workers’ native languages.
Employers should uphold their contractual obligations despite the war, Human Rights Watch said. Businesses vulnerable to externalities in sectors like tourism should also activate contingency plans that acknowledge the inherent instability of the industry and protect workers during business downturns and not shift the burden entirely to the workers, who have families to feed and loans to repay.
Migrants unable to work as per the contract should continue to receive their contractually owed wages. Governments should prioritize supporting small and medium sized enterprises to ensure that they do not pass the business disruption costs to the lowest-paid migrant workers.
“Governments and employers should take concrete steps to protect workers caught in the crossfire thousands of miles from home and who despite significant risks are doing essential jobs across the Gulf,” Page said.
Gulf Countries: Conflict, Hardships Leave Migrants in Limbo
(Beirut) – Migrant workers in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries face additional risks to both their lives and their socioeconomic rights due to the current regional conflict, Human Rights Watch said today.
Migrant workers carry out jobs essential to the continued functioning of Gulf economies and services during the conflict, including delivering food and water, providing health care, and maintaining critical infrastructure. Yet some workers are unable to pay for everyday expenses due to loss of income, rising costs, and their lack of access to sufficient social services or social security.
“Millions of migrant workers employed across the Gulf countries are navigating threats to their physical safety and job security amid the conflict,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The conflict has brought new risks to migrant workers while also exposing the gaps in labor and other rights, including those enabled by the kafala (sponsorship) system.”
Gulf states should take emergency measures to mitigate and where necessary compensate for income loss, Human Rights Watch said. The crisis also highlights the urgent need for more structural measures, including to ensure that all workers are paid at least a living wage, that their contracts are respected, and that they can access social security benefits.
Gulf states should also ensure that workers seeking to return to their home countries voluntarily have airfare support. or coordinate with country of origin governments and airlines to provide affordable flight options.
In March 2026, Human Rights Watch interviewed 38 Indian, Nepali, and Bangladeshi migrant workers based in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. They are drivers, delivery workers, security guards, chefs, and cleaners, among the millions of migrant workers working in essential jobs that keep hospitals, markets, and transportation functioning despite heightened risks. Human Rights Watch spoke to family members of Bangladeshis who were killed in Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
Human Rights Watch wrote to all GCC countries to ask about these concerns, but none have provided substantive responses.
“My job is at a hospital, so the work has not stopped,” said a worker at a Qatar hospital. “Sometimes explosions come at night, sometimes during the day. Many thoughts keep running through my mind about what might happen … I have left my child back home.”
As of March 25, conflict-related deaths in Gulf countries have included migrant workers, among them a Pakistani driver, a Nepali security guard, and a Bangladeshi water-tanker driver, according to media and officialgovernmentreporting. Others have been injured.
Saleh Ahmed, a Bangladeshi national, was killed in Ajman, UAE, after debris from an attack struck his cab in a water tank truck, piercing it and fatally injuring him, family members said. Another Bangladeshi, A.M. Tarek, was struck on the head while descending from a ship’s roof by shrapnel, which killed him instantly after finishing his night shift in Bahrain’s Hidd industrial area.
Human Rights Watch has long called for mandatory life insurance policies so deceased workers’ families are compensated, regardless of the cause, time and place of death.
One injured worker who narrowly escaped death said, “It feels like God saved me.… Otherwise, I would have died like a stray dog.… I feel angry because innocent workers like us are suffering for no reason.” The two workers Human Rights Watch interviewed who had been injured said they received adequate treatment at medical facilities.
While migrant workers acknowledged the effectiveness of Gulf air defense and warning systems in protecting their lives, workers also shared fears about the current security environment. One UAE-based migrant community leader said: “On one hand, migrants are working in fear. On the other, there is constant anxiety about losing jobs.”
“I’m afraid every time I go out to work,” said a Qatar-base delivery worker. “There’s no way of knowing where the next missile will land. But I go anyway.… People like me, we are thinking about one thing and one thing only: how to make the next 10 riyals.” When he receives alerts either from the government or his company’s WhatsApp group, he reroutes or goes home.
While he can log out of the app that assigns him delivery orders if he feels unsafe working, he is required to meet his contractual obligation with the labor supplier company of working 12 hours a day and delivering at least 10 orders.
“This is a commission-based job,” said a Kuwait-based taxi driver. We don’t have salary. The number of rides has dropped.” His daily earnings have been reduced by more than half and are not enough to cover his living and work-related expenses, including payments to the taxi owner, fuel, car maintenance, housing, and food.
Migrant workers based in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar reported increased food prices. They said that while bigger markets are under government scrutiny, low-paid workers generally shop from smaller shops including baqala (corner stores) that did not face the same level of government oversight. One Kuwait-based worker said, “What we used to spend for two months of food supplies won’t even last for one month now.” Workers listed current prices of food items that have doubled or tripled, including for vegetables.
Gulf state employers are required by domestic law to provide meals or food allowances to workers, in addition to wages. The amount is often inadequate even when there are no crises. For example, according to Qatari law, employers that do not provide food are required to provide a minimum allowance of 300 QAR (about US$82) every month, which has not been increased since 2021.
However, in some situations, migrant workers are compelled to cover their own food costs as well. This includes migrant workers who are undocumented, as well as workers who are on what are colloquially referred to as “free” (azad) visas, an arrangement in which companies or individuals sell their visa allocations to workers for profit.
A Bahrain-based unemployed Bangladeshi worker who is on “free visa” arrangement but struggling to find temporary jobs since the onset of the conflict said: “Sometimes I do not even have enough food to eat. Even if it is risky, I have to go out and look for work just to arrange food … but I cannot find any work. So far, I have already brought about 20,000 taka [about $163] from home to survive. I do not know how long this can continue or how long this conflict will last.”
Human Rights Watch analyzed and geolocated a video shared directly with researchers showing scores of people gathered on a street in Bahrain who the person who took the video said, were waiting to be picked up by construction contractors for day-labor work.
A cab driver in Kuwait who pays 70 KD [about $226] every month to his sponsor under the “free visa” arrangement said: “My income has fallen to one-fifth of what it was and does not cover basic costs … Today, I drove for four hours and did not earn anything.”
Gulf states should assess the anticipated adverse economic impact of the crisis on migrant workers and ensure through emergency measures that all workers can realize their economic, social and cultural rights, such as food and housing.
Human Rights Watch also spoke to workers who are facing reduced work or pay or compulsory unpaid leave despite having two-year employment contracts.
Three UAE-based hospitality workers said that hotel occupancy rates have significantly dropped, so companies tell employees to clear pending vacations, take unpaid leaves until further notice, or terminate contracts. One UAE-based chef who still has his job said: “We are down to 3-4 staff from 25-30. Workers on unpaid leave until further notice unable to return home are provided company accommodation, but they must pay for their own food.”
A worker on unpaid leave said, “We don’t receive salary or benefits. The employer is encouraging us to go home but we have to pay for the ticket ourselves and prices are extremely high.”
An Abu Dhabi-based chef from Nepal said: “To lose a job after taking recruitment loans to come here is sad. People pay 300,000-400,000 Nepali Rupees [about $ 2,000-2,686] for these jobs.” Human Rights Watch has documented that most workers across the Gulf pay exorbitant recruitment fees financed via informal loans.
Even some migrant workers who were paid during the first month of the crisis expressed concerns about their job and income security. One Bahrain-based supply company manager said that three of his corporate clients have already told him to cut the salaries by half for over 400 workers.
A Kuwait-based migrant worker said that the restaurant he works in has had a sharp fall in customers and take-home orders: “Staff are working reduced hours and taking pay cuts accordingly. The airport is closed so going home is not an option. The option of traveling via Saudi Arabia is not affordable as ticket prices have skyrocketed.”
Under international human rights law, governments have an obligation to ensure that all workers, including migrant workers, in their countries are paid a fair wage and have access to social security to be able to realize their right to an adequate standard of living, including in times of crisis. Gulf states should also ensure that migrant worker communities are adequately informed about emergency plans and directions during times of crisis, including in workers’ native languages.
Employers should uphold their contractual obligations despite the war, Human Rights Watch said. Businesses vulnerable to externalities in sectors like tourism should also activate contingency plans that acknowledge the inherent instability of the industry and protect workers during business downturns and not shift the burden entirely to the workers, who have families to feed and loans to repay.
Migrants unable to work as per the contract should continue to receive their contractually owed wages. Governments should prioritize supporting small and medium sized enterprises to ensure that they do not pass the business disruption costs to the lowest-paid migrant workers.
“Governments and employers should take concrete steps to protect workers caught in the crossfire thousands of miles from home and who despite significant risks are doing essential jobs across the Gulf,” Page said.
US Central Command Contradicts Cluster Munition Policy
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, condemned on March 17 Iran’s “reckless” use of cluster munitions, calling it an “inherently indiscriminate type of munition.” Human Rights Watch has also confirmed Iran’s use of these weapons in March in populated civilian areas in Israel, which may amount to war crimes.
While Admiral Cooper’s condemnation contradicts current US policy, it could reflect a shift in how the military views cluster munitions.
His comments are in line with the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted by 124 states, which recognizes the weapons’ inherently indiscriminate nature. Cluster munitions typically open in the air, dispersing dozens or hundreds of explosive submunitions or bomblets over a wide area in a way that cannot discriminate between combatants and civilians. At times, bomblets fail to detonate on impact, in effect acting like landmines, waiting for someone to trigger them. Whenever they detonate, bomblets spread hundreds or even thousands of preformed metal fragments.
Although the US military last used cluster munitions in a strike in Yemen in 2009, it has retained the right to use them and maintains stockpiles of these weapons.
The most recent US policy, dating back to President Donald Trump’s first term in 2017, indefinitely delays a phased ban on the United States using what it terms “unreliable” types of cluster munitions. The ban—introduced in 2008 and meant to take full effect in 2019—defines “unreliable” cluster munitions as those with a detonation failure rate of more than 1 percent.
And the United States has continued to sell and acquire other, more apparently “reliable,” types of the munitions, such as those which it says have a failure rate of less than 1 percent. In 2023, President Joe Biden approved a series of transfers of cluster munitions to Ukraine that were transferred via Germany and Poland. Reports emerged in February 2026 that the Pentagon had signed a deal worth at least US$210 million to acquire these weapons from an Israeli government-owned manufacturer.
The United States should immediately destroy its stockpiles, cancel deals to buy more cluster munitions, and confirm the US won’t transfer or use these weapons. Unless such action is taken, any condemnation of an adversary’s use of the weapon will lack credibility
Russia: Internet Shutdowns Escalate
(Berlin, March 31, 2026) – Russian authorities increasingly impose broad mobile internet shutdowns under the pretext of public safety, Human Rights Watch said today. Over the past month, they blocked mobile internet and cellular access in areas of Moscow and Saint Petersburg for almost three weeks.
On March 29, 2026, police detained at least 14 people at a peaceful protest against internet restrictions in Moscow, and 5 more people in other cities. Two said they were beaten. The authorities banned the protests in at least 40 cities across Russia under false pretexts. They also arrested and threatened organizers ahead of the planned rallies.
“Russia’s internet shutdowns and the crackdown on peaceful protesters are blatant violations of Russia’s obligations to respect freedom of expression, of information and of assembly,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
On March 5, internet users in mostly central and southern parts of Moscow reported unavailable cellular network and mobile internet. Mobile service providers said that the issues were due to “externally” imposed restrictions. Users reported that connectivity varied within the affected areas, sometimes from street to street.
On March 11, Dmitry Peskov, a presidential spokesperson, said that “all recent connection and internet restrictions in Moscow were introduced in accordance with [Russia’s] legal framework and aim at ensuring the safety of Russian citizens.” He also said the measures would remain in place for “as long as necessary to ensure the citizens’ safety.”
On March 9, the authorities began blocking mobile internet in Saint Petersburg and the neighboring Leningrad region, following an announcement by the Leningrad region governor about a possible internet slowdown due to the threat of drone attacks by Ukraine.
On March 24, the mobile internet reportedly became available in Moscow. But internet users in Saint Petersburg continued reporting issues accessing the internet, coinciding with the announcement of air raid and internet slowdown state alerts by the Russian System for Warning and Action in Emergency Situations.
Russian authorities have been blocking mobile internet in many regions due to drone attacks since at least spring 2025. The Moscow Times reported that Russia had the most mobile internet shutdowns of any country in 2025.
Human Rights Watch spoke to seven people who confirmed protracted mobile internet blocking in Orel, Vladimir, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novorossiysk, and Moscow. In some regions mobile internet access has been restricted for more than six months. In Nizhniy Novgorod, the authorities have been restricting mobile internet access since May 2025. Regional authorities cited the threat of Ukrainian drone attacks as justification. Ukrainian areas occupied by Russia have also faced such shutdowns.
Mobile internet blocking, especially coupled with a lack of cellular access, affects rights and freedoms of internet users, preventing them from accessing basic services. During the March blocking in Moscow, users could not connect to messengers and maps, use ATMs or taxi apps or pay for services via card machines if they were not connected to landline internet. Users often could not access public Wi-Fi. According to some estimates, Russian businesses lost 1 billion rubles for every day of the Moscow shutdown.
During the recent mobile internet shutdowns, mobile service providers sent out notifications outlining the lists of websites, the so-called whitelists, that should remain accessible when the internet was blocked, but users said that at times, even these censored resources would not load.
The “whitelists,” announced by the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media in August 2025, were to include “all resources essential to everyday life,” said the minister, Maksut Shadayev. In September, the first version of the lists was published, including the websites of state media, state services online, government agencies, Russian social media and streaming platforms transparent to the government. It has been expanded several times to include online shops, food delivery, major taxi services, banks, and other services.
While the criteria for getting on the list are not fully clear, the Ministry compiles it “in consultation with state bodies responsible for security.” All the listed resources are registered and have infrastructure based in Russia, and are obligated under Russian law to share information with state agencies.
Sergei Boyarskiy, head of the State Duma Committee on Informational Technology, Communications and Policies, said that Russian messenger MAX, for instance, is included on the lists as it cooperated with Russian state bodies via closed channels, while Telegram, a foreign platform that authorities have taken steps toward banning, was predictably not included.
The switch to whitelists is an incremental shift in Russia’s online censorship. Previously, authorities fully or partially blocked access to specific sites. The latest approach introduces new challenges to circumventing censorship and accessing information, Human Rights Watch said.
On March 26, Boyarskiy said that internet shutdowns were a “new norm” and shutdowns without access to even whitelisted sources were also possible.
Prior to the March 29 protests, regional authorities in 40 cities rejected notifications of planned assemblies to protest blockings, with bogus pretexts such as COVID-related restrictions, threats of terrorism or drone attacks, snow, tree inspections, repair works, sports festivals, and other government events. Authorities in Yakutsk issued a blanket ban on all events to protest internet restrictions due to “increased attention from malicious actors.”
In the days before March 29, law enforcement searched homes, detained organizers, and issued “warnings” against “violating the law.” Five organizers were sentenced to 15 days of detention for allegedly disobeying law enforcement in Moscow, an administrative offense; a Rostov rally organizer was sentenced to 10 days of detention and was allegedly beaten in custody.
According to International Telecommunication Union data from 2024, internet usage in Russia is predominantly through mobile broadband connections. While landline internet has not been affected to the same extent recently, government internet censorship technology facilitates full landline internet blockings, including by the Federal Security Services without a court order.
The increasing blocking in Russia violates the right to seek, receive, and provide information and ideas through all media, including the internet. Any restrictions imposed on internet access and related communications, whether in the context of potential Ukrainian drone attacks or otherwise, must have a proper legal basis, and be both necessary and proportionate to achieve a legitimate purpose. The protracted internet shutdowns and cell networks shutdown across the regions of Russia, as well as in Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine, cannot be justified and do not comply with international human rights law, Human Rights Watch said.
Russian authorities should restore unrestricted access to the internet and communications networks and end the prosecution of peaceful protesters against internet shutdowns. The international community, foreign governments, and technology companies should support the groups working to ensure access to information online and censorship circumvention.
“A government has no legitimacy to determine what is ‘essential’ for an average internet user in Russia or limit internet access to a handful of state-approved resources,” Williamson said. “Neither should it prevent people from peacefully protesting its assault on their right to access an open and free internet.”
US: New Unlawful US Boat Strike
(Washington, DC) — The United States’ latest strike on a vessel in the Caribbean, which reportedly killed four people, highlights a sustained pattern of unlawful use of lethal force outside any context of armed conflict, amounting to extrajudicial executions, Human Rights Watch said today.
The US Southern Command announced on March 25, 2026, that it had carried out a “lethal kinetic strike” against a boat it said was involved in drug trafficking. The strike is the 47th in a series of lethal strikes by the US military in the Caribbean and Pacific oceans, resulting in a total of 163 people killed.
“These strikes aren’t one-off incidents, they’re part of a pattern of using military force where the law does not permit it, over and over again,” said Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. “The fact that these strikes have faded from public attention does not make these violations any less grave or unlawful.”
International law draws a clear line between armed conflict and law enforcement. There is no armed conflict in the Caribbean or Pacific between the US and any drug-trafficking organization, and so there is no group of people who are a legitimate military target.
Outside of armed conflict, the deliberate, lethal use of force is only lawful when strictly necessary to protect life. Suspected criminals are not otherwise lawful targets for these deliberately lethal US strikes, and no information has been released to the public showing that any of the people targeted and killed posed an imminent threat to the life of any person.
The US government should immediately end this campaign of lethal strikes, Human Rights Watch said. It should also ensure accountability for these unlawful killings, properly assess the harm caused to victims and their families, and provide redress for that harm. If the Trump administration continues to avoid taking responsibility for these unlawful killings, Congress should ensure independent investigations and accountability.
“When unlawful force is repeated over time, it risks becoming normalized,” Yager said. “That’s dangerous because it opens the door to using lethal force whenever and wherever a government wishes and without constraints.”
Iran: Military Stepping Up Child Recruitment
(Beirut) – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is conducting a campaign to recruit children as young as 12 to volunteer to become “homeland defending combatants,” Human Rights Watch said today. The military recruitment and use of children is a grave violation of children’s rights and a war crime when the children are under 15.
On March 26, 2026, an official from the IRGC’s 27th Mohammad Rasulullah Division in Tehran said that a campaign to enlist civilians, called “Homeland Defending Combatants for Iran,” had set the minimum age at 12. Amid thousands of attacks by the United States and Israel across the country, children at military facilities would be at serious risk of death and injury. Iranian officials should revoke the campaign and prohibit all military and paramilitary forces in Iran from enlisting children under 18.
“There is no excuse for a military recruitment drive that targets children to sign up, much less 12-year-olds,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “What this boils down to is that Iranian authorities are apparently willing to risk children’s lives for some extra manpower.”
The campaign aims to attract civilians to provide cooking services and medical care, distribute items, and deal with damaged homes, as well as for security activities such as staffing checkpoints, operational patrols, intelligence patrols, and vehicle convoys, said Rahim Nadali, an IRGC official, in an interview with Iran’s Defa Press News Agency. The advertising poster for the recruitment drive, published by the news agency, also lists these activities and features two children, a boy and a girl, alongside two adults, including a man in a military uniform.
In a televised interview, Nadali said that “[in relation to] intelligence and operational patrols, teenagers and the youth repeatedly have come and said that they want to take part in them. For the Basij checkpoints that you see across cities now, we have had many young people and teenagers demanding to be present in them. Given the ages that were making demands, we have set the [minimum] age at 12. Meaning now there are kids of 12 and 13 who want to be present in this space.”
Applicants can register at Tehran mosques that house Basij bases, Nadali and the recruitment poster said. The Basij force is under the IRGC’s command.
Over the past month, the United States and Israel have reportedly carried out what they say are tens of thousands of airstrikes against numerous Basij and IRGC facilities and multiple Basij checkpoints in Tehran, killing and wounding personnel.
Children in Iran have already been subject to unlawful attacks. Human Rights Watch determined that an unlawful attack on a primary school in Minab, Iran on February 28 that killed dozens of schoolchildren and other civilians should be investigated as a war crime. According to a preliminary US military report, the United States was responsible for the attack. Human Rights Watch has said that Congress should hold dedicated hearings on the US military’s targeting practices.
Iran has for years enlisted children under 18 in the Basij force, and the IRGC sent Afghan immigrant children living in Iran as child soldiers to support the Assad government during the civil war in Syria. Human Rights Watch documented that boys as young as 14 were killed in combat. According to Iranian officials, in the 1980s, authorities recruited hundreds of thousands of children to fight in the Iran-Iraq war, with tens of thousands killed.
The office of the United Nations Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict states that “no matter their role, [children] associated with parties to conflict are exposed to acute levels of violence.”
Iran’s laws explicitly provide for the military recruitment of children as young as 15.
Under the “bylaws and regulations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” individuals must be at least 16 years old to be eligible for employment by the IRGC, including as permanent staff, contractual staff, and special Basiji personnel. Special Basijis are honorary IRGC guards who “possess the qualifications of an [official] guard and… commit to being available full-time to the IRGC when needed.” However, under article 94, children ages 15 and above can qualify as an “active” member, who can “collaborate with the IRGC in carrying out assigned missions” after completing training courses.
In its first report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Child, Iran stated that the country’s laws provide that the minimum age “for the armed forces for the purpose of receiving military training is 16 and the minimum age of employment for the Police Forces is 17.”
The UN Security Council has “strongly condemned” child recruitment and established a reporting system, led by the secretary-general, that considers it a “grave violation” against children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits recruitment of children under 15. An Optional Protocol to the Convention, which Iran signed but has not ratified, provides that 18 is the minimum age for direct participation in hostilities. Iran is bound by customary international law, which provides that recruitment of children under age 15 is a war crime.
“The officials involved in this reprehensible policy are putting children at risk of serious and irreversible harm and themselves at risk of criminal liability,” Van Esveld said. “Senior leaders who fail to put a stop to this can make no claim to care for Iran’s children.”
Iran: Military Stepping Up Child Recruitment
(Beirut) – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is conducting a campaign to recruit children as young as 12 to volunteer to become “homeland defending combatants,” Human Rights Watch said today. The military recruitment and use of children is a grave violation of children’s rights and a war crime when the children are under 15.
On March 26, 2026, an official from the IRGC’s 27th Mohammad Rasulullah Division in Tehran said that a campaign to enlist civilians, called “Homeland Defending Combatants for Iran,” had set the minimum age at 12. Amid thousands of attacks by the United States and Israel across the country, children at military facilities would be at serious risk of death and injury. Iranian officials should revoke the campaign and prohibit all military and paramilitary forces in Iran from enlisting children under 18.
“There is no excuse for a military recruitment drive that targets children to sign up, much less 12-year-olds,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “What this boils down to is that Iranian authorities are apparently willing to risk children’s lives for some extra manpower.”
The campaign aims to attract civilians to provide cooking services and medical care, distribute items, and deal with damaged homes, as well as for security activities such as staffing checkpoints, operational patrols, intelligence patrols, and vehicle convoys, said Rahim Nadali, an IRGC official, in an interview with Iran’s Defa Press News Agency. The advertising poster for the recruitment drive, published by the news agency, also lists these activities and features two children, a boy and a girl, alongside two adults, including a man in a military uniform.
In a televised interview, Nadali said that “[in relation to] intelligence and operational patrols, teenagers and the youth repeatedly have come and said that they want to take part in them. For the Basij checkpoints that you see across cities now, we have had many young people and teenagers demanding to be present in them. Given the ages that were making demands, we have set the [minimum] age at 12. Meaning now there are kids of 12 and 13 who want to be present in this space.”
Applicants can register at Tehran mosques that house Basij bases, Nadali and the recruitment poster said. The Basij force is under the IRGC’s command.
Over the past month, the United States and Israel have reportedly carried out what they say are tens of thousands of airstrikes against numerous Basij and IRGC facilities and multiple Basij checkpoints in Tehran, killing and wounding personnel.
Children in Iran have already been subject to unlawful attacks. Human Rights Watch determined that an unlawful attack on a primary school in Minab, Iran on February 28 that killed dozens of schoolchildren and other civilians should be investigated as a war crime. According to a preliminary US military report, the United States was responsible for the attack. Human Rights Watch has said that Congress should hold dedicated hearings on the US military’s targeting practices.
Iran has for years enlisted children under 18 in the Basij force, and the IRGC sent Afghan immigrant children living in Iran as child soldiers to support the Assad government during the civil war in Syria. Human Rights Watch documented that boys as young as 14 were killed in combat. According to Iranian officials, in the 1980s, authorities recruited hundreds of thousands of children to fight in the Iran-Iraq war, with tens of thousands killed.
The office of the United Nations Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict states that “no matter their role, [children] associated with parties to conflict are exposed to acute levels of violence.”
Iran’s laws explicitly provide for the military recruitment of children as young as 15.
Under the “bylaws and regulations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” individuals must be at least 16 years old to be eligible for employment by the IRGC, including as permanent staff, contractual staff, and special Basiji personnel. Special Basijis are honorary IRGC guards who “possess the qualifications of an [official] guard and… commit to being available full-time to the IRGC when needed.” However, under article 94, children ages 15 and above can qualify as an “active” member, who can “collaborate with the IRGC in carrying out assigned missions” after completing training courses.
In its first report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Child, Iran stated that the country’s laws provide that the minimum age “for the armed forces for the purpose of receiving military training is 16 and the minimum age of employment for the Police Forces is 17.”
The UN Security Council has “strongly condemned” child recruitment and established a reporting system, led by the secretary-general, that considers it a “grave violation” against children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits recruitment of children under 15. An Optional Protocol to the Convention, which Iran signed but has not ratified, provides that 18 is the minimum age for direct participation in hostilities. Iran is bound by customary international law, which provides that recruitment of children under age 15 is a war crime.
“The officials involved in this reprehensible policy are putting children at risk of serious and irreversible harm and themselves at risk of criminal liability,” Van Esveld said. “Senior leaders who fail to put a stop to this can make no claim to care for Iran’s children.”
Mozambique: Navy Linked to Killing of Fishermen
(Johannesburg) – Mozambican navy personnel appear to have unlawfully killed and injured fishermen in Mozambique’s embattled Cabo Delgado province on March 15, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today.
Mozambique’s Defense and Security Forces, citing security concerns linked to the ongoing armed conflict in the region, have imposed restrictions on coastal movement and fishing in parts of Mocímboa da Praia and neighboring Macomia districts. The government says the measures are intended to limit the movement of non-state armed groups along the coast, but they have also significantly affected communities that depend on fishing for their livelihoods. Mozambican authorities should urgently and impartially investigate the incident, hold those responsible for wrongdoing to account, and pay prompt and adequate compensation to the victims or their families.
“Mozambican navy personnel fired on subsistence fishermen who fish the restricted waters out of economic hardship,” said Sheila Nhancale, Mozambique researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Mozambique’s partners should press the government to ensure a credible and transparent investigation, provide accountability and reparations for the victims, and adopt measures so that such abuses never recur.”
Several residents told Human Rights Watch that despite the restrictions, many local fishermen continue to go to sea out of economic necessity.
A local journalist said that the fishermen, an unidentified number of young men from the district, set out before dawn in three small boats to fish off Calugo village. They were intercepted by the naval personnel, who fired upon them.
A relative of one of the survivors said that 13 fishermen were killed. He personally knew at least two of those killed, who were from different parts of Mocímboa da Praia district. “Among the dead are people from places known locally as Marere and Nanquidunga,” he said. “My younger brother’s son, Juma Sufo, is also among those killed, as well as Mr. Mapanga.”
Another relative said that three of the injured—ages 23, 24, and 32—were taken to the Provincial Hospital in Pemba for treatment in the orthopedics ward, but they did not receive adequate immediate health care. “The three who were injured are my family,” he said. “One bullet was removed only on March 20 from one of them, where it had been lodged in his neck.”
Residents said the naval personnel first calmly approached the fishermen, but then abruptly opened fire. “When the military arrived, they first greeted and asked the fishermen where they were coming from,” the resident said. “Then the navy left, but about 50 meters later they returned violently.”
“The situation here in the district appeared calm, but then I learned that the fishermen were shot,” said another resident. “One of them is my neighbor in Pamunda. The soldiers were stressed and angry, and instead of investigating or arresting, they just killed.”
The incident follows previous reports of the Mozambican Defense and Security Forces using lethal force against fishermen along the Mocímboa da Praia and Macomia coasts. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), an international nongovernmental organization, estimates that about 70 fishermen have been killed since 2024 in similar incidents.
“This isn’t the first time the Mozambican navy has been accused of targeting fishermen,” said Tomás Queface, a researcher at ACLED. “We have documented multiple incidents, but there has been no serious investigation or accountability. This sends a message that such abuses are tolerated and risks further violations.”
Borges Nhamirre, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, a South African nonprofit group, said the killings highlight the broader risks to civilians in Cabo Delgado. “Civilians have been subjected to abuses from both non-state armed groups and the Mozambican Defense and Security Forces, which should protect them,” he said. “These frequent incidents fuel frustration and may facilitate recruitment by violent extremist groups.”
Local communities also face severe economic impacts due to the coastal restrictions. “Without access to the sea, communities lose essential means of subsistence,” Nhamirre said. “They are caught between the conflict and hunger.”
Since 2017, Cabo Delgado has been the site of violent conflict that has killed about 6,500 people and forced more than 1.3 million people to flee their homes.
Under international humanitarian law, applicable to the non-international armed conflict in Cabo Delgado, warring parties must always distinguish between civilians and combatants and take feasible precautions to protect civilians. Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and its Second Additional Protocol provide minimum protections for civilians and others not taking part in hostilities. Complementary human rights obligations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, further require governments to investigate potentially unlawful deaths and ensure accountability.
“To prevent such attacks against civilians from happening again, it’s essential to provide justice for the victims,” Nhancale said. “The authorities need to adopt measures to ensure that those dependent on the sea for their livelihoods do not become targets of either side.”
Landmark UN Resolution on the Slave Trade
Commemorating the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the United Nations General Assembly passed a landmark resolution, introduced by Ghana, on March 25 that seeks to advance reparatory justice for the trafficking of enslaved Africans and the racialized chattel enslavement of Africans.
African, Caribbean, and Latin American states delivered powerful speeches at this year’s observance. Ghana’s president, speaking on behalf of the African group, described the initiative as “a route to healing and reparative justice” for enslavement legacies “beyond symbolic acknowledgment and toward institutional accountability.” It reflects longstanding advocacy by African and Caribbean states and civil society.
The resolution calls for restitution of looted cultural property, formal apologies, and consideration of compensation and other reparatory measures, framing these as necessary steps to address contemporary inequalities linked to slavery, colonialism, and systemic racism. It describes the trafficking of enslaved Africans and the racialized chattel enslavement of Africans as the “gravest crime against humanity.”
The resolution passed with 123 votes in favor. The United States, Israel, and Argentina voted no and 52 states abstained, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and all European Union member states, including Spain.
The US delegation’s justifications for its vote against the resolution included claims that the resolution narrowly focused on Western states’ responsibility and suggested that the claims of compensation were “an attempt to reallocate modern resources to people and nations who are distantly related to the historical victims.”
Historically, states like the UK chose to compensate former owners of enslaved people—not the enslaved people themselves—based on allegations that they had “lost” property after the abolition of chattel enslavement.
The abstentions from the UK and EU member states were expected, even if unjustified, given European states’ role in colonial-era atrocities and their lasting impacts. While calling the slave trade an “unparalleled tragedy,” they, like the US, question the legal basis for reparations, contending that colonial-era atrocities predated modern international law.
There is growing recognition of reparations for historical and ongoing injustices, including reports of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the 2001 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, a comprehensive UN blueprint to combat systemic racism, which explicitly acknowledges slavery and the slave trade as crimes against humanity and calls for remedies and reparatory justice.
The vote underscores a continuing divide between Global South countries experiencing enduring consequences of colonial atrocities, enslavement, and the slave trade, and many Global North countries unwilling to take responsibility and to take actions.
The legacy of enslavement remains a living structural injustice, with a global majority, including civil society in Europe and US, increasingly calling for meaningful repair rather than symbolic recognition alone.
France Accepts the European Social Charter Applies to Overseas Territories
In March, France notified the Council of Europe it is extending to its overseas territories the obligations under the European Social Charter – a Council of Europe treaty guaranteeing fundamental social and economic rights.
This long-overdue step ends a legal anomaly and structural injustice that excluded millions of people living within French jurisdiction, but in overseas territories. It will enhance scrutiny of France’s compliance with these rights obligations and help redress unequal treatment between territories rooted in the country’s colonial legacy.
Human Rights Watch has documented the impact of deep structural inequalities in Mayotte, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean. Mayotte is France’s poorest region with more than 75 percent of its population living below the poverty line. Thousands of children are denied access to education, with more than 15,000 out of school. Those enrolled often face overcrowded schools where their rights are not met, including access to drinking water, sanitation, nutritious food, and a safe learning environment. Children living in informal settlements, those from migrant families, and children with disabilities, are particularly affected.
The Charter, widely regarded as Europe’s “social constitution”, complements the European Convention on Human Rights. Until now, France stood apart from countries including the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom, which had already extended these protections –at least in part– to their overseas territories. Civil society organizations have long criticized this exclusion as depriving millions of access to these rights and their safeguards.
The extension opens two important avenues for oversight. France will now be required to report on implementation in these territories to the European Committee on Social Rights. Additionally, civil society organizations can bring collective complaints where they have identified violations.
Yet, notwithstanding the improved protection for children’s right to education that the extension of the Charter provides the core problem remains: in France, education is compulsory for children aged 3 to 16, yet thousands in Mayotte remain excluded. This is the result not only of inadequacies of law, but of funding, implementation and support. French authorities should act urgently to address these structural failures which have already held back so many people growing up in Mayotte. If they fail to do so, at least now the children of Mayotte can utilize this charter’s powers to hold them to account.
US/Iran/Israel: Officials Should Uphold Laws of War
(Washington, DC) – Top officials from the United States, Iran, and Israel should stop using rhetoric that shows dangerous disregard for international humanitarian law in the ongoing Middle East conflict, Human Rights Watch said today in four letters to officials of the three countries.
Letter to Iranian Ambassador Ali Bahreini - 30 March 2026 Letter to Prime Minister Katz - 30 March 2026The letters detail inflammatory statements made by US, Israeli, and Iranian officials. All three governments should publicly commit to their obligations under the laws of war, especially with regard to the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, Human Rights Watch said.
SAVE Americas Act Would Harm Women, Trans People
The US Senate is currently debating the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a bill claiming to address voter fraud but that would in fact create unnecessary barriers to voting for millions of people. The bill would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote, such as a passport or driver’s license paired with a birth certificate, documentation that many lack. The bill would disproportionately affect women and trans people, particularly those from marginalized groups.
Women who changed their legal names after marriage are among those most affected. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that around 85 percent of women change their surname in some way after marriage, and an estimated 69 million women in the US have legal names that do not match their birth certificates. To vote, they would need a passport reflecting their current legal name, or they would have to provide additional documentation, such as marriage certificates, divorce decrees, or court documents reflecting the name change, though the exact requirements remain unclear.
Transgender people could also face barriers as many lack consistent identification due to varying state and federal policies, some of which prohibit transgender people from updating gender markers, while others impose burdensome requirements. Requiring multiple forms of ID, including a birth certificate, could create problems for transgender voters whose documents have inconsistent markers of gender.
Financial barriers compound the other barriers. The SAVE America Act introduces logistical and economic hurdles that fall hardest on those with low income and marginalized communities. Many lack documents like passports, driver’s licenses or birth certificates and obtaining them requires fees, transportation and time off work, costs not equally manageable for everyone. As a result, the bill risks disproportionally excluding those with fever resources, echoing concerns historically associated with poll taxes.
Women and transgender people with low incomes will face overlapping barriers that make voting even more difficult. Based on 2024 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 19.9 million women live in poverty in the US with women of color disproportionally represented.
The bill also raises serious concerns under international law, including the US obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to ensure the right to vote without discrimination and unreasonable restrictions. The Senate should reject the bill.
Mexico City: Flaws in Proposed Care System Law
(Mexico City) – A draft bill to establish a care system in Mexico City risks undermining the rights of people with disabilities and older people due to structural shortcomings and a restrictive budget provision, Human Rights Watch said today.
The bill has been framed as an effort to align Mexico City with international human rights law, including the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. While the current proposal recognizes care as a human right and includes key principles such as autonomy, inclusion, and deinstitutionalization, it falls short on support for independent living and has significant gaps that may limit its alignment with human rights in practice. It relies on care centers and service-driven models, and lacks safeguards to ensure autonomy, informed choice, and control by people with disabilities and older people over their support systems.
“The bill has important positive elements, but its structure and financing restrictions risk limiting people’s ability to exercise their rights in practice,” said Carlos Ríos Espinosa, associate disability rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Without adequate funding, the system cannot move beyond formal recognition of rights to ensuring real support in people’s daily lives.”
The bill’s funding provisions are a particular concern, Human Rights Watch said. While article 78 requires a progressive budget that does not decrease in real terms, an interim provision that bars any spending increases means that the budget to carry out this law’s provisions can only increase if those allocations are taken away from other spending priorities.
This could make increases practically impossible, eviscerating the intent of article 78 and undermining a crucial pillar of the bill’s attempt to align with international human rights law. Adequate funding support will be essential to any serious effort to ensure respect for the right to live independently and be included in the community under article 19 of the international treaty, for example.
The bill includes provisions for services for people with disabilities and older people, as well as the creation of care centers and certain social assistance programs, such as day care centers for older people. However, its overall design remains focused on providing services, and it does not do enough to establish a comprehensive system of individualized support that would enable people to live independently and participate in the community.
The budget restriction seems incompatible with any meaningful effort to realize key components of the right to independent living, including personal assistance, community-based support, and efforts to transition away from institutional care. Without sustained investment, these elements are unlikely to be developed at the scale required, limiting people’s ability to choose where and with whom they live.
The bill’s approach to the critical issue of financial support for people with disabilities also raises substantive concerns. While it would provide cash transfers to caregivers, it does not clearly allocate direct resources for people with disabilities to secure personal assistance or ensure social security coverage for those workers, as proposed by the Care Yes, Supports Too coalition of organizations of people with disabilities. This risks reinforcing dependence on families, contrary to the goal of autonomy.
Human Rights Watch has documented cases in Mexico City in which a lack of independent living support exposes people with disabilities to domestic violence and entrenches dependency, increasing the risks of neglect and abandonment. These situations often arise when people must rely on unstable, insufficient, or abusive family or informal arrangements.
“A provision that bars budget expansion in future fiscal years raises serious concerns about whether the government can meet its obligation to take steps commensurate with maximum available resources to realize economic, social, and cultural rights,” Ríos Espinosa said. “It also creates a real risk that the system will be implemented in a limited or fragmented way, leaving many people without the support they are entitled to.”
There are also concerns about other aspects of the bill, Human Rights Watch said, including the lack of a clear strategy for deinstitutionalization and the use of eligibility criteria that may exclude people who need support but do not meet the threshold of “intensive” needs, as described in the bill.
Lawmakers should remove the budget cap to ensure that funding can expand in line with needs and prioritize investment in community-based support and personal assistance consistent with article 19 of the international treaty, Human Rights Watch said.
“This law could be transformative but only if it is backed by adequate resources and a rights-aligned framework,” Ríos Espinosa said. “A care system without adequate funding risks becoming an empty promise rather than a tool for advancing rights and independence.”
For Immediate Release Mexico City: Flaws in Proposed Care System Law
(Mexico City, March 30, 2026) – A draft bill to establish a care system in Mexico City risks undermining the rights of people with disabilities and older people due to structural shortcomings and a restrictive budget provision, Human Rights Watch said today.
The bill has been framed as an effort to align Mexico City with international human rights law, including the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. While the current proposal recognizes care as a human right and includes key principles such as autonomy, inclusion, and deinstitutionalization, it falls short on support for independent living and has significant gaps that may limit its alignment with human rights in practice. It relies on care centers and service-driven models, and lacks safeguards to ensure autonomy, informed choice, and control by people with disabilities and older people over their support systems.
“The bill has important positive elements, but its structure and financing restrictions risk limiting people’s ability to exercise their rights in practice,” said Carlos Ríos Espinosa, associate disability rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Without adequate funding, the system cannot move beyond formal recognition of rights to ensuring real support in people’s daily lives.”
The bill’s funding provisions are a particular concern, Human Rights Watch said. While article 78 requires a progressive budget that does not decrease in real terms, an interim provision that bars any spending increases means that the budget to carry out this law’s provisions can only increase if those allocations are taken away from other spending priorities.
This could make increases practically impossible, eviscerating the intent of article 78 and undermining a crucial pillar of the bill’s attempt to align with international human rights law. Adequate funding support will be essential to any serious effort to ensure respect for the right to live independently and be included in the community under article 19 of the international treaty, for example.
The bill includes provisions for services for people with disabilities and older people, as well as the creation of care centers and certain social assistance programs, such as day care centers for older people. However, its overall design remains focused on providing services, and it does not do enough to establish a comprehensive system of individualized support that would enable people to live independently and participate in the community.
The budget restriction seems incompatible with any meaningful effort to realize key components of the right to independent living, including personal assistance, community-based support, and efforts to transition away from institutional care. Without sustained investment, these elements are unlikely to be developed at the scale required, limiting people’s ability to choose where and with whom they live.
The bill’s approach to the critical issue of financial support for people with disabilities also raises substantive concerns. While it would provide cash transfers to caregivers, it does not clearly allocate direct resources for people with disabilities to secure personal assistance or ensure social security coverage for those workers, as proposed by the Care Yes, Supports Too coalition of organizations of people with disabilities. This risks reinforcing dependence on families, contrary to the goal of autonomy.
Human Rights Watch has documented cases in Mexico City in which a lack of independent living support exposes people with disabilities to domestic violence and entrenches dependency, increasing the risks of neglect and abandonment. These situations often arise when people must rely on unstable, insufficient, or abusive family or informal arrangements.
“A provision that bars budget expansion in future fiscal years raises serious concerns about whether the government can meet its obligation to take steps commensurate with maximum available resources to realize economic, social, and cultural rights,” Ríos Espinosa said. “It also creates a real risk that the system will be implemented in a limited or fragmented way, leaving many people without the support they are entitled to.”
There are also concerns about other aspects of the bill, Human Rights Watch said, including the lack of a clear strategy for deinstitutionalization and the use of eligibility criteria that may exclude people who need support but do not meet the threshold of “intensive” needs, as described in the bill.
Lawmakers should remove the budget cap to ensure that funding can expand in line with needs and prioritize investment in community-based support and personal assistance consistent with article 19 of the international treaty, Human Rights Watch said.
“This law could be transformative but only if it is backed by adequate resources and a rights-aligned framework,” Ríos Espinosa said. “A care system without adequate funding risks becoming an empty promise rather than a tool for advancing rights and independence.”