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WHO Guidance Win for People with Albinism, Diabetes
What may seem like a technical exercise in global health bureaucracy, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) update to its Essential Medicines Lists, will in fact have life-changing consequences for millions of people around the world. By adding therapeutic sunscreen and rapid-acting insulin analogues on September 5, the WHO sent a clear signal to governments: these are not luxuries, but lifesaving goods that should be available and accessible to all, regardless of their ability to pay.
Every other year since 1977, the WHO has convened a group of medical experts to produce a list of essential medicines. This Model List of Essential Medicines, along with the WHO’s Model List of Essential Medicines for Children, directly influences the policies of over 150 governments around the world.
People with albinism face a disproportionate risk of skin cancer because of the lower levels of melanin in their skin. The United Nations independent expert on albinism, the Global Albinism Alliance, the Africa Albinism Network, and others, have long advocated including SPF 50+ broad-spectrum sunscreen in these lists, with Human Rights Watch supporting their position. The WHO Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines has now acknowledged both the public health importance of sunscreen and the need for a clear therapeutic standard.
The inclusion of rapid-acting insulin analogues is also a major step toward improving the availability and accessibility of these drugs, which millions of people with diabetes around the world depend on to regulate their blood sugar.
In 2022, Human Rights Watch documented how the US government’s failure to adequately regulate the price of insulin undermined the human rights of people with Type 1 Diabetes. Thanks to the work of diabetes patient advocates like T1International, which have for years advocated for their inclusion, the updated WHO lists now recommend that all governments should ensure that these drugs are made available “at prices individuals and health systems can afford.”
All governments that are parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights have a “core obligation” to ensure at least minimum essential levels of primary health care, an obligation that is interpreted as requiring governments to provide drugs listed as essential by the WHO to people within their jurisdiction. Now the crucial task ahead is ensuring that governments live up to these obligations.
Zambia: Acid Spill Jeopardizes Residents’ Health
(Johannesburg) – Zambian authorities should address recent reports that polluted water and soil from an acid spill in Zambia’s copper mining region pose a serious health risk, Human Rights Watch said today.
On February 18, 2025, a dam in Chambishi, Copperbelt province, holding mining waste from Chinese mining company, Sino-Metals Leach Zambia, burst its walls and released acidic effluent into Kafue River’s watershed. Sino-Metals is a subsidiary of the Chinese government-owned China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group. The pollution killed fish, burned maize and groundnut crops, and led to the deaths of livestock, wiping out livelihoods of local farmers and posing harm to residents.
“Recent reporting on the immediate and long-term health effects of the February acid spill show the need for the Zambian government to investigate the health hazards and take comprehensive action to prevent further harm,” said Idriss Ali Nassah, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities are obligated to ensure that the internationally protected rights to health and to a healthy environment of the affected communities are respected.”
Zambian authorities should conduct a comprehensive investigation with international and domestic experts to identify environmental health risks, and test affected communities for possible acute and cumulative heavy metal poisoning.
Civil society groups contended that the acid spill resulted from “a broader pattern of gross corporate negligence and inadequacies in environmental compliance, oversight and enforcement.” An official from a local environmental organization told the media that “people unknowingly drank contaminated water and ate affected maize. Now many are suffering from headaches, coughs, diarrhea, muscle cramps, and even sores on their legs.”
In the days after the toxic spill, Sino-Metals apologized for the environmental disaster and the harm caused to local communities, and promised to remedy the situation by cleaning up the river and to restore people’s livelihoods “to the best of our abilities.”
However, in August, six months after the acid spill, a travel advisory by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs had information showing that water samples from the area of the acid spill contained 24 different heavy metals, 16 of which, including nickel, lead, arsenic, zinc, and uranium, exceeded the threshold values set by the World Health Organization. High exposure to these metals can pose serious health hazards, especially for children, older people, and pregnant women.
On August 6, the US government ordered the immediate evacuation of all US government personnel from areas affected by the acid spill. The United States stated that newly available information had revealed “the extent of hazardous and carcinogenic substances … as well as the immediate and long-term health threats that exposure to these contaminants pose as long as they remain in the environment. Beyond contaminated water and soil, contaminants from the spilled mine tailings may also become airborne, posing a health threat if inhaled.”
After the disaster, the Zambian government ordered Sino-Metals to restore the polluted river, rehabilitate the surrounding environment, and compensate over 500 affected farmers. Since then, however, the government has denied that the acid spill still posed a serious health risk, stating that “laboratory results show that the pH (acidity) levels have returned to normal and concentrations of heavy metals are steadily decreasing, which means that the immediate danger to human, animal and plant life has been averted.”
The Zambian government has undertaken some measures to mitigate the harm, including using lime to reduce acidity levels in the affected waterways. However, Human Rights Watch spoke to two environmental activists who said that community members in areas affected by the pollution still complained of headaches, coughs, diarrhea, and other health issues that increased after the spill. Some said they had not received the promised compensation.
The Zambia Environmental Justice Coalition also expressed concern over the scale of the disaster and the long-term impact on affected communities. The coalition urged the government to “renegotiate all compensation agreements—ensuring the full involvement of affected communities—to promote intergenerational justice and restore livelihoods.”
Mining has caused other serious environmental and health harm in Zambia. In Kabwe, Central province, a lead and zinc mine, closed in 1994 but never cleaned up, has caused severe lead poisoning among residents. A civil society coalition has called a full clean-up and compensation for those affected by the pollution.
Under the 2011 Environmental Management Act, everyone in Zambia has the right to a “clean, safe and healthy environment.” Further, Zambia is a party to international and regional human rights treaties that obligate the government to protect the right to health and the right to a healthy environment. The right to the highest attainable standard of health is guaranteed by article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and by article 16 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
“Zambia’s economy is heavily reliant on the mining sector, but the government still has an obligation to protect the right to health of those affected by mining activity,” Nassah said. “Donor governments should help Zambia achieve this though support and cooperation.”
Morocco: Exonerate, Release Activist Sentenced for Blasphemy
(Beirut) – Moroccan authorities should urgently overturn the 30-month sentence of an activist convicted on blasphemy charges for wearing a t-shirt authorities deemed offensive, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities need to ensure that the right to free expression is respected.
The activist, Ibtissame Lachgar, was arrested on August 10, 2025, and charged by the Rabat First Instance Court with “causing harm to Islam” after posting a photo on social media of herself wearing a shirt with the words “Allah is lesbian.” The court found she had violated Morocco’s penal code and on September 3 sentenced her to 30 months in prison and a fine of 50,000 Moroccan dirhams (approximately US$5,500). Her defense team has said they will appeal. Lachgar remains in detention.
“Sentencing an activist to more than two years in prison merely for posting a photo on social media is a huge blow to free speech in Morocco,” said Hanan Salah, associate Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should abolish this draconian legislation instead of using it as a tool to violate free speech rights.”
Lachgar is a clinical psychologist and prominent activist who co-founded MALI, a movement for personal freedoms. Her lawyers reportedly had asked the authorities to release her from pretrial detention on medical grounds because she has a condition that requires ongoing treatment. Media reported that the Rabat tribunal had denied that application.
Prosecutors in Morocco have an arsenal of repressive legislation to punish critics for nonviolent speech, including harsh and overbroad laws on terrorism, cybercrime, apostasy, and criminal defamation that they use to jail human rights defenders, activists, and bloggers. In 2022, a Moroccan court sentenced a blogger, Fatima Karim, to two years in prison on charges that she publicly insulted Islam through posts on her Facebook page.
Under article 267.5 of the country’s penal code, a person convicted of “causing harm” to Islam faces six months to two years in prison and a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 dirhams (approximately $2,200 to $22,000). The punishment can be increased to two to five years and a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 dirhams (approximately $5,500 to $55,000) if the alleged offense is committed through print, audiovisual, or electronic media.
Morocco’s press code also stipulates fines and a court-ordered suspension for publications and electronic media found responsible for “causing harm” to Islam (article 70).
The Moroccan authorities should decriminalize laws that are used to violate freedom of expression, including laws the criminalize “insulting religion” and blasphemy laws, Human Rights Watch said. Morocco’s parliament should revise the penal and press codes by eliminating all nonviolent speech offenses that conflict with Morocco’s obligations to respect freedom of expression.
The International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Morocco in 1979, requires that “Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference,” and that “everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression.” The United Nations Human Rights Committee, an expert body charged with interpreting the covenant and assessing government’s compliance with it, has determined that, except in very limited circumstances, “prohibitions of displays of lack of respect for a religion or other belief system, including blasphemy laws, are incompatible with the Covenant.”
“Decriminalizing peaceful speech, including laws on blasphemy and insult to religion, should be a top priority for Morocco’s legislature,” Salah said.
Flotillas Highlight Urgency to Lift Israel’s Blockade of Gaza
In the absence of international action to stop the Israeli government from continuing its grave crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, people from around the world are embarking on flotillas aimed at breaking Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, delivering desperately needed aid, and demanding an end to Israel’s atrocities.
This week, a coalition of activists spanning North Africa, the Gulf states, France, and Malaysia launched the Global Sumud Flotilla, despite threats and danger.
On September 8, an explosion took place, igniting fires on board the flotilla’s “Family Boat.” Organizers said an item dropped by a drone struck the boat, a Portuguese-flagged vessel carrying members of the flotilla’s steering committee in Tunisian waters, which they condemned as a targeted act of intimidation. The next day, organizers reported a second drone attack, releasing footage and an image of a burned item found on deck.
More than 63,000 Palestinians have been killed amid Israel’s assault over the last 23 months in Gaza, including over 2,000 trying to access humanitarian aid. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble and, as the population has come under unrelenting bombardment, most have been forcibly displaced at least once.
Now, as Israeli forces escalate operations in Gaza City and continue starving the civilian population in defiance of orders from the International Court of Justice, it is urgent for states to act.
Governments should be using all their leverage to prevent genocide by halting weapons sales to Israel, suspending preferential trade agreements, and imposing targeted sanctions against Israeli officials responsible for ongoing abuses.
Flotillas come amid governments’ inaction and can put participants at great risk. Some Gulf participants reported being blocked from traveling by authorities and advised not to participate citing safety concerns. Israeli forces intercepted prior flotillas, detaining and deporting most activists. In 2010, when Israeli forces intercepted the “Mavi Marmara,” a Turkish ship participating in a flotilla, they killed nine activists. This incident serves as a reminder for the international community to protect flotilla participants, whom Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has branded as “terrorists.”
Flotillas are a means by which ordinary people can peacefully speak out on the world stage against the threat of mass extermination. But there is no substitute for meaningful action by governments to halt abuses and ensure accountability. Governments should ensure that participants are not obstructed, attacked, or wrongfully prosecuted and press Israel to end its unlawful blockade of Gaza.
Yemen: Journalists Under Assault
(Beirut) – Yemen’s warring parties, including the Houthis, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), and the Yemeni government have committed serious human rights violations against journalists and media institutions in Yemen, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
September 11, 2025 “We Pray to God by Torturing Journalists”The 59-page report, “‘We Pray to God by Torturing Journalists’: Warring Parties’ Systematic Violations Against Journalists and Press Freedom in Yemen,” documents the warring parties’ wide range of violations against journalists and media institutions, including the widespread use of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture, and other inhuman treatment. The authorities on all sides of the conflict have also carried out broader violations against Yemenis’ right to free expression and against the media, including seizing media organizations, intimidating and harassing media workers and obstructing their movement and work.
“Warring parties’ repeated attacks on journalists and media institutions have threatened the lives of dozens of journalists and have gravely undermined freedom of expression in Yemen,” said Niku Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities in Yemen should be doing everything in their power to ensure people’s basic needs and rights, rather than abusing and silencing those who are simply reporting what is happening.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 27 people, including 16 journalists, between October 2024 and May 2025. Human Rights Watch also reviewed and analyzed photos and documents related to the cases investigated, including official documents and court indictments, among other evidence.
Human Rights Watch documented 14 cases of abuses against journalists by the Houthis, the STC, and the Yemeni government, including five who were until recently or are currently arbitrarily detained since November 2023: three by the Houthis, and two by the STC. Four were forcibly disappeared.
In some cases, authorities detained the family members of journalists either in addition to or in place of the journalist, often holding them as leverage to coerce journalists to “confess” to bogus charges or to stop them from carrying out their work.
Four journalists who were previously detained said they were severely tortured in prison, in addition to other forms of ill treatment. They said that they believed the authorities subjected them to more brutal treatment than other detainees to frighten them, and others, so that they wouldn’t report on the authorities’ abuses, mismanagement, and corruption.
Abdelkhaleq Emran, a released journalist, said that a Houthi prison authority told him that, “We pray to God by torturing journalists.”
Warring parties’ targeting of journalists and media institutions has encroached on freedom of expression in Yemen. Many journalists have fled the country due to the abuses they have faced, or their fear of abuse, by warring parties. Those who have stayed have often limited their reporting to avoid being targeted.
“Lubna Sadeq,” a freelance journalist in Aden, said that she tried to hide her identity as a journalist when traveling through checkpoints because she fears the reaction of checkpoint officials if they discover her profession. “Even in my passport, my colleagues advised me to write my occupation as “student” to avoid getting into trouble at checkpoints,” she said.
Nabil al-Osaidi, a board member of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, said that “The space for [journalistic] freedom has been shrinking.” He, and others, said that the authorities have been conducting surveillance of journalists and detaining them for something as inconsequential as a social media post critical of authorities.
Many journalists have been killed in Yemen over the last 11 years of fighting, including likely assassinations by warring parties. However, there have not been adequate investigations to determine who was responsible in most instances Human Rights Watch documented.
The Houthis and the STC have also seized and/or shut down several major media institutions across the country since the start of the conflict. Researchers documented five cases in the past four years, including Yemen Live for Media Production and Satellite Broadcasting, Yemen Digital Media, Sawt al-Yemen, SABA News Agency, and the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate.
Authorities in Yemen, including the Yemeni government, the Houthis, and the STC, have obligations under both international and domestic laws to protect freedom of expression, which includes journalism. Under both international and national law, they must also not arbitrarily detain, forcibly disappear, torture, or murder people.
UN member states should use all opportunities to raise serious concerns about violations of human rights in Yemen at the upcoming 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), including condemning warring parties’ arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances of journalists and other media workers, and call for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained.
UNHRC members should also ensure that the resolution on Yemen that will be negotiated at the 60th session, condemns these rights violations, calls on the Yemeni authorities to immediately remedy them, and requests the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights to monitor the situation and report to the UNHRC.
The UN special rapporteur on torture, UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, and the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances should request a visit to Yemen. They should use the visit to monitor the human rights situation and document and report on violations of human rights, including against journalists, such as arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture.
“All warring parties should immediately release journalists who remain wrongly detained and end their abusive practices against journalists and media institutions,” Jafarnia said. “The international community should also put an end to their inaction concerning the ongoing violations in Yemen and ensure that warring parties are held to account.”
Pakistan Floods Highlight Urgent Need for Reforms
Catastrophic floods from heavy rainfall in Pakistan this past week displaced at least four million people, destroyed thousands of acres of crops, and severely damaged critical infrastructure. At least 900 people died. Thousands of those displaced are in relief camps; many more lack shelter and are in dire need of assistance.
The loss of life, damage to buildings and infrastructure, and destruction of agriculture are the disastrous consequences of climate change coupled with unchecked development. Compounding the tragedy is the fact that this is just the latest in a string of failures by successive governments in Pakistan to enact needed reforms and policies to regulate development.
Floods caused by heavy rainfall events are expected to become more frequent and intense as climate change accelerates. Moreover, Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis, facing rates of warming considerably above the global average and frequent, extreme climate events. These events are particularly threatening for marginalized and at-risk populations. Pakistan’s 2022 floods affected 33 million people, caused 1,700 deaths, and inflicted billions of dollars in damages.
Unchecked development exacerbates these effects. One representative example is the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project, which the government launched in August 2020 to address Lahore’s many problems – pollution, sewage, water, housing, and employment – while reviving the city’s “lost glory.” The Pakistan government has a history of conducting poor quality environmental assessments for politically connected infrastructure projects. In this case, it ignored warnings by independent environmental activists and experts who called the project ecologically and financially unviable and argued that building barrages and other dams on the river and replacing farmland with paved concrete could swell water levels upstream and cause flooding. Today, most of the area earmarked for the project is submerged, along with parts of Lahore city itself.
Pakistan’s government has an international human rights obligation to prevent foreseeable harms, including from climate change and extreme weather events. It should provide assistance to communities already affected by the floods and take preventive measures to protect the most at-risk groups from such events in the future. Without enforcing meaningful environmental protections alongside climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, Pakistan’s vulnerable communities will remain at risk of preventable displacement and worse.
Türkiye: Drop Case Against Bar Association
(Ankara, September 10, 2025) – Criminal and civil proceedings against the executive board of the Istanbul Bar Association are incompatible with Türkiye’s international human rights obligations and represent a direct assault on the independence of the legal profession, 12 legal and human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch said today.
Amicus brief by 12 international orgs on the legal proceedings against the Istanbul BarThe groups submitted an amicus brief to the Istanbul 26th Heavy Penal Court on September 5, 2025, in advance of the September 9-10 hearing in the case.
The legal action targets the Istanbul Bar Association’s president, İbrahim Kaboğlu, and 10 executive board members, and stems from a public statement issued by the Bar on December 21, 2024, following the killing of two Kurdish journalists, Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, allegedly in a drone strike in northern Syria.
In its statement, the Bar Association had recalled international legal protections that must be provided to journalists in conflict zones, called for an effective investigation into the deaths, and demanded the release of protesters and lawyers detained at a demonstration held in Istanbul that same day.
In response, prosecutors in Türkiye opened criminal proceedings against the Bar’s leadership for “propaganda for a terrorist organisation” and “disseminating misleading information,” and simultaneously filed a civil lawsuit seeking to dismiss the board on the grounds that it had acted beyond its legal duties. On March 21, the Istanbul 2nd Civil Court of First Instance ordered the termination of the entire board’s mandate, a decision that is currently under appeal.
The 12 organizations said in their joint submission that these proceedings violate Türkiye’s obligations under international human rights law. The Istanbul Bar Association’s statement, they note, falls squarely within its professional mandate and legal duty to defend human rights and the rule of law.
“The criminal and civil proceedings against the Istanbul Bar Association’s executive board amount to retaliation for engaging in lawful, rights-based advocacy,” said Ayşe Bingöl Demir, director of the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project. “They are part of a broader effort to intimidate the legal profession and silence institutions that challenge state power.”
The organizations emphasized that bar associations must be free to speak out on legal and human rights concerns without fear of intimidation or punishment. Thierry Wickers, president of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe, said that, “These actions are not just an attack on the Istanbul Bar Association, they are an attack on the very idea of an independent legal profession, one of the main pillars of a democratic society and a fundamental guarantee for ensuring the rule of law and preventing abuse of state power.”
The groups said in the amicus brief that the charges brought against the Bar’s leadership are both vague and legally baseless, relying on overbroad anti-terrorism and “disinformation” laws that fail to meet international standards of legality, necessity and proportionality. No part of the Bar’s statement can reasonably be interpreted as “inciting violence” or “promoting terrorism,” the groups said. Instead, it reflects the Bar’s role as an institutional safeguard, defending its members and speaking out against unlawful detentions and alleged violations of international law.
“The Istanbul Bar’s statement was well within its statutory duties and its internationally protected role,” said Baroness Helena Kennedy, director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute “To criminalise such a statement is both legally indefensible and politically alarming.”
The organizations said that this case is not isolated but emblematic of a wider pattern in Türkiye, where bar associations have faced mounting interference, lawyers are increasingly prosecuted for their work, and dissenting institutions are subjected to coordinated pressure.
Dinushika Dissanayake Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for Europe, said that, “What is happening in this case is emblematic of a systemic pattern but also sets a dangerous precedent: criminal law is being misused to target lawyers, their professional body and human rights defenders for simply carrying out their work. Türkiye’s overly broad anti-terrorism laws are open to abuse.
“Prosecutions such as these send a chilling message that demanding the authorities abide by their human rights obligations comes at a heavy cost and that lawyers’, their representatives’ and all of our right to freedom of expression can be arbitrarily curtailed. In the face of this, the only fair outcome is the acquittal of all the leaders of Istanbul Bar Association at tomorrow’s hearing.”
In light of these concerns, the international organizations have asked the Istanbul court to assess the lawfulness and propriety of the ongoing criminal and civil proceedings in line with Türkiye’s binding obligations under international human rights law, including the standards on the independence of lawyers and bar associations and the rights to freedom of expression and association.
As the groups highlight in the amicus brief, the charges and actions against the Istanbul Bar Association’s executive board contravene these standards, appear to pursue an ulterior political purpose, and risk setting a dangerous precedent for legal professionals and institutions engaged in rights-based advocacy.
The organizations that submitted the amicus curiae brief are: Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project, Amnesty International, Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe, European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, German Federal Bar, Human Rights Watch, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, International Commission of Jurists, International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger, Law Society of England and Wales, Lawyers for Lawyers, and PEN Norway.
Egypt: Mass Crackdown Targets Online Content Creators
(Beirut) – Egyptian authorities have since July 2025 carried out an abusive campaign of mass arrests and prosecutions targeting online content creators, Human Rights Watch said today.
Based on Interior Ministry statements, the authorities arrested or prosecuted for online content at least 29 people, including at least 19 women and a child, between late July and late August, while credible media and human rights reports recorded another 8 cases. The authorities brought vague charges against those targeted, including belly dancers and tattoo artists, such as violating “public morals,” “undermining family values,” and “money laundering,” stemming from what they said were “indecent” videos posted on social media platforms like TikTok.
“Egyptian authorities’ campaign against online content creators seems intended to quell the last vestige of space for free expression in the country,” said Amr Magdi, senior Middle East and North Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “This is part of the government’s relentless attempt to criminalize all forms of expression that do not conform with its political or social views.”
The government’s actions violate the rights to privacy, freedom of expression, and nondiscrimination, Human Rights Watch said. The authorities should drop abusive prosecutions and cease using vague morality charges to quell online expression.
Those arrested face criminal charges of “violating family principles or values in Egyptian society” under article 25 of Law No. 175 of 2018 on Cybercrime, which can lead to six months to three years in prison and hefty fines. Human Rights Watch previously documented that this law has become one of the key tools for criminalizing free expression in recent years.
The authorities have also used a combination of broad and poorly defined laws that give prosecutors and judges unrestricted discretion in defining what constitutes charges of “public indecency” and “inciting debauchery” in the penal code.
The public prosecution confirmed on August 8 that it had charged 10 content creators with broadcasting “indecent videos” that “undermine family and societal principles” on TikTok, ordering the pretrial detention of eight while releasing two on bail. It also froze the assets of all 10 and banned them from travel.
The authorities also targeted at least one child and several other young people. On June 23, prosecutors jailed a 16-year old girl, Nour Tufaha, for four days before referring her case to trial for allegedly posting online “indecent” videos of herself dancing. On August 25, a juvenile court reportedly sentenced her to two years in prison for “promoting vice and debauchery.”
On August 4, the public prosecution ordered the pretrial detention of a young woman who posts on TikTok, known as Suzy El Ordoneya, over accusations that she published videos that “offend public decency.” Her page on TikTok has nearly 9.3 million followers and features videos in which she discusses social issues, sings, or dances. On August 20, a judge renewed her detention for 15 days pending investigation on charges of publishing “indecent” videos and “money laundering.”
The Interior Ministry’s morality police department and other police units also detained four belly dancers for posting videos of themselves dancing in allegedly “indecent” clothing deemed to “violate public morals.” Official statements and Egyptian media identified them as Badiaa, an Egyptian-Italian dancer, Noura Denial, Boosi al-Asad, and Doosa.
Security forces arrested Mohamed Abdelaty on August 4 for broadcasting videos in which he allegedly used “indecent” language. Prosecutors and judges renewed his detention most recently on September 1. Pro-government newspapers reported that he is also facing charges related to “money laundering.” Abdelaty has over half a million followers on TikTok, where he showcases comedy sketches, commentary, and weightlifting.
On August 12, authorities arrested an 18-year-old known on TikTok as “Yasmeen” for publishing allegedly “indecent” videos. Authorities claimed Yasmeen was “a man mispresenting as a woman,” a claim frequently used against proscribed gender non-conforming appearances. She was released on bail on August 13.
On August 3, the authorities arrested Mohamed Shaker, known on TikTok as “Shaker Mahzour Delwati” following complaints by a pro-government lawyer to the public prosecutor accusing him of broadcasting videos that “violate the principles and values of the society.” Shaker, who has more than 5.5 million followers on TikTok, often shares clips of luxury cars and high end travel.
Authorities also targeted tattoo artists as part of sweeping arrests. For example, On August 5, police arrested an online content creator and tattoo artist known as Fadi Tattoo for allegedly publishing videos of himself tattooing women, which authorities said “contradicts societal traditions.” He was released on bail on August 7.
On August 10, pro-government newspapers reported that a criminal appeals court had sentenced a woman who posts on TikTok and her male assistant to three years in prison and a 100,000 Egyptian pound fine (US$2,054) for posting “indecent” videos on TikTok. Human Rights Watch could not verify their names or content.
These arrests came amid a campaign on social media and in pro-government newspapers accusing content creators of “morality” violations and “money laundering.” Pro-government media also reported that several lawyers had filed complaints with the public prosecutor against content creators for “promoting vice and debauchery.”
In July, one complaint sent to the public prosecution was reportedly signed by 32 lawyers against 10 content creators, 8 of them women. Egyptian laws allow citizens to file complaints with the public prosecution against individuals for what they deem to be “offenses” that impact public safety or morals. The public prosecutor has the authority to decide whether to proceed with investigation and indictment.
A member of the House of Representatives’ Telecommunications Committee, Ahmed Badawy, said on August 2 that TikTok might be banned in Egypt if it does not “eliminate content … in order to respect societal values.”
Targeting girls and women based on how they dress or engage in acts like dancing, exemplifies the campaign’s discriminatory nature, Human Rights Watch said. Discrimination against girls and women, including social and cultural discrimination, is prohibited under international human rights law, including the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The right to free expression is guaranteed under the Egyptian Constitution and international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
International law requires that any limitations to freedom of expression must be proportionate, stated in a precise manner, in a way that people can reasonably predict what constitutes a violation, and be necessary to protect national security, public order, public health, or morals in a democratic society. What constitutes morality must not be derived from one set of traditions, religion, or culture, but rather in light of the diversity of a society.
The UN Human Rights Committee, which oversees the interpretation of the covenant, has affirmed that the right to freedom of expression applies online and also said that laws “may not confer unfettered discretion” to authorities and that any “limitations must be understood in the light of universality of human rights and the principle of non-discrimination.”
“The Egyptian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested for exercising their right to free speech online and drop the charges against them,” Magdi said. “The authorities should also repeal all laws restricting the right to privacy, freedom of expression, and freedom of belief in the name of morality.”
Saudi Arabia: Migrant Workers Unpaid for Months
(Beirut) – Hundreds of migrant workers employed in Saudi Arabia by the manufacturing and supply company Sendan International did not receive their salaries for up to eight months, Human Rights Watch said today. They include workers employed in state-owned oil company Aramco project sites.
Migrant workers were often stranded without pay for months, forced into undocumented status, or left with no choice but to return home at their own expense, abandoning outstanding wages and benefits. These abuses have occurred as Saudi Arabia is undergoing a massive construction boom, including building 11 new and refurbished stadiums ahead of FIFA’s 2034 World Cup. Aramco is a “major worldwide partner” of FIFA and sponsors other global sports bodies.
“The failure of Sendan International, Aramco, and Saudi authorities to ensure migrant workers receive their wages is only one recent example of the impunity for Saudi businesses that enables them to mistreat workers,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The lack of effective protections for migrant workers in Saudi Arabia is a stark warning to FIFA and other companies that their operations in Saudi Arabia will be stained with widespread labor abuses unless they demand genuine labor protections.”
Between June and August 2025, Human Rights Watch spoke with 14 migrant worker employees of Sendan International from migrant origin countries Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. At least eight had worked on Aramco project sites. Workers said they had stopped working in March after being unpaid for up to eight months. Based on media reports from Nepal and India, at least 850 workers claim they did not receive their wages for months. The actual figure could be even higher.
Media reports indicate that Sendan International may have ceased operations in December 2024, but workers Human Rights Watch interviewed said they continued working until March 2025 and Sendan International did not respond to a Human Rights Watch letter requesting confirmation. If Sendan International has ceased operating, Aramco has a responsibility to use its leverage to ensure that workers employed on their sites receive their wages, including through government-backed compensation programs. Aramco, too, did not respond to a request for comment.
Human Rights Watch also wrote to Saudi Arabia’s Human Resources and Social Development Ministry, which responded by acknowledging this case of unpaid wages, detailing government wage protection measures in Saudi Arabia, and stating that “non-compliance of Sendan International Company was detected through the Wage Protection System, and corrective action was taken in coordination with the company, the affected workers, and their embassies.”
While the ministry also stated that “affected workers were provided with guidance and access to dedicated mechanisms for recovering their dues, and the Ministry continues to monitor the situation until all claims are resolved,” it did not provide answers to follow-up questions regarding how many workers were impacted by unpaid waged and the number of claims submitted or resolved.
Human Rights Watch found that the Al-Etihad Cooperative Insurance Company, which provides compensation for such workers under the government’s Expatriate Worker Wage Insurance Service, has started collecting information for the unpaid workers, though many impacted workers have not filed claims, or have not heard back if they did. Human Rights Watch has not been able to determine whether any workers have been compensated, and Al-Etihad did not respond to questions about the compensation process.
Based on interviews in June, some stranded workers had been provided with accommodation, but according to workers and media reports, the food Sendan had provided was both inedible and insufficient. One Nepali worker said, “We are eating only rice and lentils. We don’t even have money to buy toothpaste or shampoo.”
Workers said their families back home were struggling without remittances, including to pay off recruitment loans charged by recruiters in their home countries, which are illegal under Saudi laws. “Until eight months ago, I used to send home INR 30,000 [about US$340] every month,” said a worker from India. “Now they have to send money to me for my expenses.”
Out of desperation, hundreds of workers protested or took to social media despite the fear of arrest, as Saudi Arbia bans protests. One worker on an Aramco site who is owed around SAR 20,000 [about $5,330] said: “Our supervisor on site pressured us to continue working, but we refused.”
Some workers, including those who chose not to strike, went to work elsewhere without authorization, despite the risks of detention and deportation. “I saw many workers protesting,” a Bangladeshi worker said. “But thinking about my family, I quietly left and ran away from the company.”
Another Bangladeshi worker who had paid recruitment fees of BDT 420,000 [about $3,435] said: “About seven months after I joined the company, the problems began.…When I asked my Indian supervisor, the response was ‘Look, I’m facing the same problem. The company doesn’t pay me properly either. I can’t tell you anything.’” The worker was forced to seek irregular work elsewhere, risking deportation.
Wage theft against migrant workers remains one of the most widespread abuses in Saudi Arabia, as documented by Human Rights Watch and in an outstanding forced labor complaint to the International Labour Organization (ILO) against Saudi Arabia by the 12 million-member-strong Building and Wood Workers’ International Union (BWI). Victims are rarely compensated for their legally owed wages and, even when they are, it can take years to receive them.
While Saudi Arabia introduced the wage insurance service in October 2024 for migrant workers in private establishments when employers fail to meet their payment obligations, but it has severe limits and is grossly inadequate to address the extent of abuse. Migrant workers can only submit a claim after being unpaid for at least 6 months and if 80 percent of the workers in the company are similarly affected. This automatically denies a remedy in a large majority of wage theft cases.
Despite this narrow eligibility, workers at Sendan International are eligible for the insurance. However, 8 of the 11 workers Human Rights Watch followed up with in August had not applied out of fear it would affect their employment prospects in Saudi Arabia or lead to deportation as undocumented workers. The three workers who submitted claims are still awaiting responses.
A former Sendan worker with outstanding recruitment loans has not filed for his claims due to his irregular status and told Human Rights Watch, “I’m constantly afraid that if the police catch me, they will deport me.”
Two workers who found new jobs said they did not submit claims because they are scared it would adversely impact their chances to work. One worker said: “I thought if I claim my dues, I might not get the release paper [to transfer to a new company]. So I decided not to.”
Even for eligible victims of the who may eventually get the money owed them, coverage is capped at SAR 17,500 [US$ 4,663] and excludes end-of-service benefits. International labor standards say that in the event of wage theft, workers should be guaranteed full wages owed and also provided compensation for losses incurred by delayed payments.
“If compensation to victims in a wage theft case of this scale where workers dared to protest is so flawed, it is clear that many workers who face similar and even worse abuses are falling through the cracks,” Page said.
EU: Georgia’s Rights Crisis Needs Urgent Response
(Brussels, September 10, 2025) – The European Union and its member states should use all available diplomatic and legal tools to press the Georgiangovernment to end its persecution of independent civil society and the media, nine international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, said in a joint statement to the EU.
The Georgian authorities have frozen the bank accounts of seven leading human rights and civil society organizations and summoned several of their leaders for questioning as part of a spurious criminal investigation. The latest escalation follows the adoption of a raft of legislative measures restricting and marginalizing the work of civil society.
“The EU and its member states should urgently respond to the Georgian government’s attempt to eliminate independent organizations and media in the country,” said Iskra Kirova, Europe and Central Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “The harassment of these groups violates Georgia’s obligations under multiple human rights treaties. EU member states should muster the consensus to press the government to change course.”
The repression followed the wave of protests in response to widespread election manipulation in October 2024 and the government’s decision to abort Georgia’s effort to join the EU and related reforms. Besides the restrictive legislative changes, the government crackdown involved excessive use of police force and arbitrary arrests and prosecutions of protesters, opposition activists, and leaders on spurious criminal and administrative charges.
Niger: Islamist Armed Group Executes Civilians, Burns Homes
(Nairobi) – The Islamist armed group Islamic State in the Sahel Province (IS Sahel) has escalated attacks on civilians in Niger since March 2025, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks violated international humanitarian law and are apparent war crimes.
In at least five attacks across Niger’s western Tillabéri region that Human Rights Watch documented, IS Sahel summarily executed over 127 villagers and Muslim worshipers, and burned and looted dozens of homes. Witnesses said the Nigerien army did not adequately respond to warnings of attacks, ignoring villagers’ requests for protection. Protection strategies for residents in the region should be urgently overhauled to deter future attacks and create more responsive warning systems.
“Islamist armed groups are targeting the civilian population in western Niger and committing horrific abuses,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Nigerien authorities need to do more to protect people living in the Tillabéri region.”
The Tillabéri region borders the countries of Burkina Faso and Mali, where government forces have been fighting Islamist armed groups for over a decade. The area has been a focal point of IS Sahel activity in Niger for a decade, as well for government counterinsurgency operations. Since 2019, Islamist armed groups allied with the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda have escalated attacks against military targets and civilians in the so-called tri-border area. These groups have also destroyed schools and religious sites, and imposed severe restrictions based on their interpretation of Islam.
From May to July 2025, Human Rights Watch remotely interviewed 28 people, including 19 witnesses and 9 local activists, journalists, and physicians. Human Rights Watch wrote to the Niger justice minister on August 19, sharing research findings and requesting information on the government’s steps to enhance the protection of civilians. The justice minister did not respond.
No armed group has claimed responsibility for the five attacks that Human Rights Watch documented. However, witnesses said they believed the attackers were members of IS Sahel based on the villages targeted and the attackers’ attire, including turbans with red bands similar to those the armed group wore during previous attacks. Residents also said that prior to each attack, IS Sahel fighters had threatened their communities, accusing them of collaborating with the Nigerien army or disregarding the fighters’ demands.
On June 21, IS Sahel fighters opened fire on worshipers in a mosque in Manda village, killing over 70 and injuring at least 20. “The scene was chilling,” said a 77-year-old woman who lost three sons in the attack. “There were bodies everywhere, one on top of the other. There were bodies inside and outside the mosque. The wounded were screaming and bleeding.”
On May 13, IS Sahel fighters attacked the hamlet of Dani Fari and killed five men and two boys, and burned at least a dozen homes. A herder said: “The bodies were scattered … riddled with bullets. There wasn’t a single body out there that had fewer than three bullet holes. The bullets had hit people in the back, arms, head…. We found the bodies of the two children lying on their backs.”
Niger’s military junta has been in power since July 26, 2023, when army officers of the self-proclaimed National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie), led by Brig. Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani, overthrew and detained the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.
They cited the deteriorating security situation as one of the reasons for toppling Bazoum and promised to restore security in areas affected by Islamist armed groups. The nongovernmental organization Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) has reported that since the coup, though, IS Sahel has killed about 1,600 civilians.
The junta security forces have conducted large counterinsurgency operations, including airstrikes, against the Islamist armed groups in conflict-affected areas. On August 3, the junta began an initiative known in the Hausa language as “Garkuwar Kassa” (Shields of the Homeland), aimed at recruiting and training civilians to assist the armed forces. But that has raised concerns among human rights groups about creating abusive militias.
Human Rights Watch has previously reported on abuses by Islamist armed groups in Niger, including the killing of hundreds of civilians in 2021. Human Rights Watch also documented abuses by Niger’s security forces in 2021, including killings and enforced disappearances during counterinsurgency operations, and the junta’s crackdown on the political opposition, media, and peaceful dissent.
All parties to Niger’s armed conflict are bound by Common Article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and customary laws of war. International humanitarian law prohibits attacking civilians, mistreating anyone in custody, and burning and looting civilian property. Individuals who order, commit, or assist serious violations of the laws of war with criminal intent may be prosecuted for war crimes. The Niger government has an obligation to investigate and appropriately prosecute alleged war crimes committed within its territory.
“Civilians threatened by Islamist armed groups are calling on Niger’s junta to provide greater protection,” Allegrozzi said. “The government should take urgent steps to deter future atrocities, investigate serious abuses by IS Sahel and other armed groups, and bring those responsible to account based on international fair trial standards.”
For detailed accounts of the attacks, please see below.
Click to expand Image Graphic © 2025 Human Rights WatchFambita, Tillabéri Region, March 21, 2025
On March 21, IS Sahel fighters attacked a mosque in Fambita village, killing at least 46 worshippers, including 3 children, who were attending the afternoon prayer, and injuring at least 12 others. They also looted livestock and homes in the village and burned at least 20 homes, as well as several shops at the market. Fambita is in the rural Kokorou commune, where IS Sahel operates and carries out attacks against security forces and civilians.
Witnesses identified the assailants as IS Sahel fighters because they wore turbans with red bands and because, weeks before the attack, IS Sahel fighters had threatened to attack Fambita residents, accusing them of collaborating with the army.
A 71-year-old man said that three months before the attack, he attended a meeting with the Fambita chief who called on villagers to collaborate with the military. He said the chief:
Told us that the military told him that the only way to get rid of the jihadists in our area was to train and arm residents to work alongside the military…. I stood up and told the chief that we had a deal with the jihadists for the past five years and if they learned that we were collaborating with the military, they would retaliate against us. But the chief reassured us that … everything would be done discreetly. However, the jihadists were quickly informed and here are the consequences.
Witnesses said that the fighters stormed the mosque at about 2 p.m., shooting randomly at worshippers.
“The imam had preached for about 30 minutes … when shooting began,” a 36-year-old man said. “I heard gunshots and shouts of ‘Allah Akbar!’ and ran toward the exit as people fell in front of me and others screamed in panic.”
Another man, 61, who lost his three boys, 10, 12, and 15, in the attack said: “I was holding my youngest son’s hand when shooting began. As we crossed the doorway of the mosque, he was hit by bullets and fell. Others fell too like bugs sprayed with insecticide.”
The man said he ran away to the nearby bush where he rested under an acacia tree until about 6 p.m. when he returned to the mosque. He added:
I found a macabre scene. Wounded people screaming and rolling on the ground in pain. There were more than 40 bodies piled up. Among them, those of my two boys.… I immediately pulled them out from the other bodies, covered them with a cloth, until some family members came to help me take them to the cemetery where I buried them.
Residents said that, except for the three boys, who were buried in three graves the same day, and 10 other bodies that were buried at the mosque, the remaining 33 bodies were all buried the day after the attack in a mass grave at the Fambita cemetery. The villagers provided a list with the names of the 46 victims, ages 10 to 74.
Residents also said that IS Sahel fighters set fire to dozens of homes and shops at the market. “My home is gone, it was completely burned,” the 71-year-old man said. “The jihadists also took all my animals.”
Fire detection data provided by NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System showed active fires over Fambita on March 21. Low-resolution satellite imagery from the day after analyzed by Human Rights Watch shows a large burn mark over the market area.
Witnesses said the army did not intervene during the attack. “Soldiers came three days later just to assess the situation,” the 61-year-old man said. “There were Malian and Burkinabè soldiers alongside with our soldiers, they came from Tillabéri.”
On March 21, the government released a statement condemning the attack by IS Sahel in Fambita and declared three days of national mourning. On March 25, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, also condemned the attack “in stark violation of international human rights law and humanitarian law,” and called for “an impartial investigation … to bring those responsible to justice.”
Dani Fari, Tillabéri Region, May 13, 2025
On May 13, IS Sahel fighters attacked Dani Fari, an ethnic Zarma hamlet, and killed five men and two boys. They also burned at least 12 homes and looted dozens of others.
Dani Fari is about 20 kilometers from the town of Tillabéri, in an area where both the IS Sahel and the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen, JNIM) operate.
Witnesses identified the assailants as IS Sahel fighters because they wore turbans with red bands and because, a week earlier, IS Sahel had threatened to attack Dani Fari residents, accusing them of collaborating with the army.
A 42-year-old herder said:
All those who had an Android phone got the voice message on WhatsApp and shared it with the rest of the population. You could hear someone, claiming to be from the IS Sahel, saying that our hamlet was complicit with the military, that our community had joined the militias and provided information to the military about the positions of the jihadists and that they [IS Sahel fighters] would come for us.
Residents said that some members of the Zarma community had joined local self-defense groups because they felt that the government had failed to adequately protect their villages and property from the Islamist armed groups. However, they believed only a few young men in Dani Fari had joined such groups.
They said that residents had alerted the military in Tillabéri after they had received the IS Sahel threats and sought the military’s protection. However, the soldiers only intervened when the assailants had gone.
“We told [the military] that an attack was in the making, that we needed protection,” a 38-year-old man said. “But they came when the hamlet had already been looted, houses burned, and people killed.”
Witnesses said that on May 13, scores of IS Sahel fighters riding motorbikes stormed the hamlet at about 5 a.m., shooting and yelling “Allah Akbar” (God is great), causing people to flee.
The herder said:
I was preparing for the morning prayer when I heard gunshots. One after the other, they got closer and closer. I just ran with my family toward the bush…. The shooting lasted until about 8 a.m. From our hiding place, we saw flames coming out of our hamlet, and we knew that all our property had been destroyed.
Witnesses said that most Dani Fari residents returned to the hamlet the same day, after soldiers from the Tillabéri military base arrived around 4 p.m. to assess the situation.
Residents said that when they returned to Dani Fari, they found the bodies of five civilian men and two boys, that all homes in the hamlet had been looted, and at least 12 burned.
The 38-year-old man said:
It was distressing. There were bodies on the ground, burned houses, smoke. My hut, made of goat skin, and my shed had been burned.… My animals were gone, goats, sheep, donkeys. They took everything. There was nothing left in the hamlet. They looted homes, taking everything that was useful, including millet and rice.
Residents provided a list with the names of the seven people killed, including five men, ages 37 to 61, and two boys, ages 10 and 12.
Manda, Tillabéri Region, June 21, 2025
On June 21, Islamist fighters attacked a mosque in Manda village, killing over 70 worshippers, including two women and five children, who were attending the morning prayer, and injuring at least 20 others. They also looted homes in the village and burned at least 10 of them. Manda is in the rural Gorouol commune, where both JNIM and IS Sahel operate and carry out attacks against security forces and civilians.
Residents believed the assailants belonged to IS Sahel because the armed group had carried out attacks against religious sites in the past, both in Niger and in neighboring Burkina Faso.
The authorities did not publicly react after the massacre in Manda, leading to an outcry by residents. On June 29, a group of people from Gorouol area issued a statement deploring the “inexplicable silence” of the authorities who “did not provide any moral” assistance and very limited material support to the victims and their families.
Witnesses said that before the June 21 attack, IS Sahel fighters had threatened to attack Manda residents, accusing them of collaborating with the army. They said that the evening before the attack, IS Sahel fighters went to Manda and accused residents gathered at the mosque of being “infidels” and providing information to the military. “This upset us,” said a 59-year-old man. “We told them that we had been living with them [IS Sahel] for many years and that such accusations weren’t true.”
“We told them that they themselves control the village and that they should be able to know who the army informants are and who are not, instead of accusing all the villagers,” another man, 64, said. “Conversations were tense, and they left, but we knew they were angry.”
Witnesses said that the fighters returned to Manda the following day at 5 a.m. and stormed the mosque, shooting indiscriminately at civilians as they fled or took cover.
Another resident who survived the attack at the mosque, said:
They opened fire on everyone. They sprayed us with bullets from their Kalashnikovs [assault rifles]…. The mosque was full. I was able to escape but many were killed…. People ran everywhere, screaming, falling on the ground. My son was killed, and I lost eight other family members.
A man, 67, said:
The imam was preaching when shooting began.… The worshipers rushed to the door, and the assailants were there. People started falling on the ground…. I was the fourth in a row, and I was able to escape; I don’t even know how. But most of the people there were killed. The attackers sprayed with bullets all those who were inside the mosque, as well as all those who tried to flee.
A woman, 77, said one of her sons, 25, died during the attack, while two others, 30 and 33, were severely injured. She said she rushed to the mosque by motorbike at about 10 a.m. to evacuate her two injured sons to the nearest health facility in Ayorou, 54 kilometers away. She said:
The driver loaded them onto his three-wheeled motorbike and also decided to take three other men who had been injured. My children were bleeding. One was bleeding from the chest. The other had a bullet wound in his back that was spilling a lot of blood. They were dying. My husband had torn his boubou [loose-fitting garment] to tie the wounds … but they were bleeding so profusely that the boubou was completely soaked with blood…. Before reaching Ayorou, my children passed away…. When we arrived at the health center, we let the three other injured get out, and we continued straight to the cemetery.
Witnesses said that when the attack ended, at about 8:30 a.m., survivors went to the mosque to help evacuate the injured, and collect and bury the dead.
A 59-year-old man who lost three brothers – ages 51, 54, and 57 – in the attack, said:
We found total desolation … dead people everywhere, bodies piled up. There were about 20 injured, of whom at least 10 were in critical condition. They could not move; they were barely breathing and were bleeding. We helped each other. We brought the wounded out of the mosque and loaded them onto motorbikes for evacuation. All my brothers were already dead.… There was no collective burial … everyone buried their family members. People were afraid to gather, they thought that if there was a collective burial, it could attract the attackers again and lead to another massacre. I took my three brothers and buried them in a mass grave at the Manda cemetery.
The 67-year-old man said that when he returned to the scene, “There were dead bodies everywhere,” mostly inside the mosque, but also outside. “I estimate the death toll at more than 70,” he said. “My eldest son was shot in his legs and back. The bullets went through his ribs. He lost a lot of blood. He died before reaching the hospital.”
Residents provided a list with the names of 71 victims, including two women, ages 30 and 45, five children, ages 14 to 16, and 64 men, ages 19 to 92.
Witnesses said they found that the village had been looted and at least 10 homes and sheds burned.
Manda residents said they had alerted the army about the IS Sahel threats against the village a week before the attack, but soldiers did not respond and only came three days after the attack to assess the damage.
The 67-year-old man said:
The army knew. A week before [the attack], the jihadists circulated a voice message on WhatsApp accusing us of being spies. They said they would kill us. So, we alerted the army. The village chief informed the army. But soldiers did not come. Some soldiers from the Ayorou and Tillabéri bases only came three days after the attack, when people had already managed to bury their dead and evacuate the wounded.
Abarkaize, Tillabéri Region, June 20 and 23, 2025
On June 20, IS Sahel fighters entered the hamlet of Abarkaize and executed its 67-year-old chief. Three days later, they returned and kidnapped five men. Residents found the bodies of the five men, their throats slit, at the outskirts of the hamlet on June 23.
Abarkaize, a hamlet populated by ethnic Zarma, Tamasheq, Fulani, and Hausa, is in an area where both the IS Sahel and JNIM are present. Witnesses said they believed the assailants belonged to IS Sahel because the armed group had previously threatened the chief and that IS Sahel fighters executed the chief because he had refused to require the members of his community pay the zakat (Islamic tax).
“The jihadists came three times before they killed the chief and every time, they asked him to collect the zakat among the community and give it to them,” a 39-year-old man said. “But he refused because he was afraid that the military would accuse him of collaborating with the jihadists.”
A man, 45, said that on June 20 at about 5 p.m., he saw IS Sahel fighters on motorbikes heading toward the chief’s home and that minutes later, he heard gunshots and “ran away out of fear.” He said that when he returned to the hamlet, he found the body of the chief “with a bullet in the head.”
On June 23, the IS Sahel fighters returned to Abarkaize at about 1 a.m.
A man, 59, said:
I was awakened by heavy gunfire and shouts of “Allah Akabar.” I immediately fled to the bush with my family…. The next morning, when we returned to the hamlet, we found that five people were missing. We started looking for them until we found their bodies, lined up one after the other, three kilometers from Abarkaize. They had their throats slit. We buried them in a mass grave and left.
Residents believe the fighters killed the five men to punish the community for not paying the zakat. They provided a list with the names of the victims, all ethnic Zarma men, ages 19 to 57.
Witnesses said the army, which has a base in Ayorou, about 25 kilometers from Abarkaize, did not respond to the attack, or visit the hamlet in its aftermath. “The military did not intervene and when we reached Ayorou, after we abandoned the hamlet, they actually stopped and searched us,” the 45-year-old man said. “They didn’t want us to pass because they said we are from Abarkaize, which is a hamlet ‘full of terrorists.’”
Ezzak, Tillabéri Region, June 23, 2025
On June 23, IS Sahel fighters killed at least six civilian men in the hamlet of Ezzak, looted homes, and burned at least nine. Residents believed the attack was a reprisal against the local community, whose members the fighters accused of collaborating with the army.
Ezzak, a hamlet populated by various ethnic groups including Zarma, Tamasheq, and Hausa, is in the rural commune of Bankilaré where both IS Sahel and JNIM have been present for at least five years. Residents said IS-Sahel controlled Ezzak, imposed Sharia (Islamic law), and collected the zakat.
Credible sources and the media reported that in March, April, and May, the Nigerien military carried out several counterinsurgency operations, including airstrikes, in the Bankilaré area targeting IS Sahel positions. “That’s why they attacked us,” said a 56-year-old man. “They accused us of providing information to the military about their positions.”
The attack in Ezzak appeared to be part of a larger IS Sahel operation in Bankilaré area that targeted several hamlets, including Tatararat, Tarjarmourghatt, and Addas, leading to the killing of at least 28 civilians. Human Rights Watch has not documented these attacks.
A herder, 48, said that on June 23 he was in his field when, at about 4 p.m., he saw a group of armed men wearing turbans with red bands walking toward his brother, who was about 100 meters away from him. He said:
I thought the jihadists were just going to talk to my brother.… But then, I saw my brother making gestures and lifting his hands in the air … and then one of the jihadists pointed his Kalashnikov at my brother's head and shot. He fell, and I ran away. The attackers chased me, shooting at me, but they didn’t get me.
Another man, 55, said he was home when he heard gunshots and shouts:
I went out and saw from far a group of jihadists shooting and yelling “Allah Akbar.” I ran away as fast as I could with many other residents. We spent the night in the bush, frightened and desperate…. We could see smoke and flames coming out from the hamlet.
Witnesses said that when the attack began, all residents fled to the nearby bush and only returned the following day.
“We found six bodies, including my brother,” the 48-year-old man said. “Four in the fields and two in their homes. They had all been shot in the head…. We dug a hole and put all the bodies inside before abandoning the hamlet.”
Residents provided a list with the name of the six victims, all men, ages 35 to 65.
The 56-year-old man said that his home had been looted, like all other homes in the hamlet: “They took everything, including food and also burned at least nine huts.”
Witnesses said that almost all residents fled after the attack, seeking protection across the border in Mali or elsewhere in Niger. They said the Nigerien army, which has a base in Ayorou, about 25 kilometers from Ezzak, did not respond after the attack.
“No soldiers came to help us,” the 55-year-old man said. “And even worse, the military doesn’t trust us. They consider us as collaborators of the jihadists because we live in an area controlled by the jihadists.”
The 48-year-old man said:
When I fled Ezzak, I went to Ayorou with my family, and soldiers stopped us at a checkpoint and asked us where we were going. I told them that my brother had been murdered by the terrorists and that our hamlet had been attacked and people massacred. But the military told me that I was lying, that we collaborate with terrorists and that, when things are not going well with them [terrorists], we leave and spy on their positions for the military. When they told me that, I lost all hope. They made me pay 20,000 CFA (US$35) at the checkpoint to pass.
Nepal: Police Fire on ‘Gen Z’ Protest
(Bangkok) – Police in Nepal used lethal force to suppress youth protests on September 8, 2025, that killed at least 19 people and injured over 300, Human Rights Watch said today.
Young people, identifying themselves as “Gen Z,” organized a protest movement after the government announced a widespread ban on social media on September 4. Many also expressed anger about pervasive political corruption and nepotism in government. The government has lifted the ban, but Nepali authorities should promptly and impartially investigate the police use of force and appropriately discipline or prosecute all those responsible for abuses, regardless of rank.
“The police shooting of demonstrators in Kathmandu and across Nepal shows the administration’s appalling disregard for the lives of its own citizens and desperate need to suppress criticism,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities need to hold those responsible for these killings to account instead of upholding the culture of impunity that has allowed the security forces to get away with murder.”
Sahana Vajracharya, a journalist, told Human Rights Watch that in Kathmandu she saw “a sea” of protesters, many in school uniforms, march toward parliament around 11 a.m. on September 8. She said police used water cannons and tear gas as the marchers pressed against barricades, and fired live ammunition after people climbed on the wall outside parliament.
A credible security source said that there were “orders from above” to respond aggressively to the protests, though Human Rights Watch could not corroborate this. In Kathmandu, police used tear gas, water cannons, and live ammunition against crowds largely consisting of young people and children. Police also opened fire in Itahari in southeast Nepal, where two people were reported killed, and in other cities. They also used tear gas at Civil Hospital in Kathmandu, where some of the injured were taken.
“I witnessed the protest and the crackdown,” one man said. “Security forces fired directly at students. Several were injured and some were killed.”
Following the violence, the authorities declared a curfew in some areas to prevent large gatherings. The home minister, Ramesh Lekakh, resigned, and there were calls from members of coalition parties to leave the government. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli said that he was “saddened” by the violence but blamed “vested interest groups.”
The government’s social media ban appeared to have little effect, Human Rights Watch said. Graphic footage that appears to show police shooting peaceful protesters, some in school or college uniforms, quickly circulated online. Some protesters were struck by bullets to the head.
Discontent in Nepal, among young people in particular, appears to have been building for some time against corruption and nepotism by the political elite. The protests gained momentum after the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology issued a sweeping directive on September 4 to ban 26 social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, X, and YouTube, saying that they had failed to register with the authorities by a deadline on September 3. The government said that social media registration was necessary for tax and regulatory purposes, although critics accused the government of censorship.
The government has a record of silencing online speech in violation of the right to freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said. Other proposed legislation could curtail free expression online, and the authorities have sought to prosecute journalists over online content. In June, the police sought to arrest a journalist who used social media to make allegations about a political family’s business dealings. The government should not arbitrarily curtail the rights to freedom of expression, to seek information, or other rights online, Human Rights Watch said.
The Nepali police have a history of using unnecessary lethal force against protesters. In the past, the government has typically announced an opaque official inquiry and offered financial compensation to victims’ families, but has taken only modest “departmental action” against security personnel responsible for using excessive force against protesters.
An investigation was ordered into the police use of lethal force against demonstrators in the southern Madhesh region in 2015 that resulted in the deaths of about 50 civilians and 9 police officers during weeks of protests against a new constitution. The official report into those events was never published and no police officers faced accountability for the shootings.
The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms prohibit the use of firearms except in cases of imminent threat of death or serious injury. Appropriate warnings are to be given when firearms are discharged.
The UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Nepal is party, has stated that “Firearms are not an appropriate tool for the policing of assemblies, and must never be used simply to disperse an assembly.… [A]ny use of firearms by law enforcement officials in the context of assemblies must be limited to targeted individuals in circumstances in which it is strictly necessary to confront an imminent threat of death or serious injury.”
The Basic Principles also provide that in cases of death and serious injury, “a detailed report shall be sent promptly to the competent authorities responsible for administrative review and judicial control.”
Nepal is the largest contributing nation to UN peacekeeping operations, providing personnel from the Nepal military and police. UN Peacekeeping should make clear that no officers or units implicated in abuses on September 8 will be eligible for future peacekeeping missions, Human Rights Watch said.
“The Nepali government has time and again demonstrated that it is unwilling to seriously investigate, yet alone, prosecute members of its security forces responsible for serious abuses,” Ganguly said. “Unless the government takes serious action in response to the September 8 killings, UN Peacekeeping should start to reassess its relationship with Nepal.”
Trump Moves to Restrict Gender-Affirming Care to Federal Workers, Families
The Trump administration announced last month that it would remove gender-affirming care from the health care services covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program beginning in 2026. The move erodes health care coverage for the more than 8 million people who rely on FEHB, employment-based health insurance for federal employees, retirees, and their family members, and threatens the dignity of transgender recipients.
The proposed changes to FEHB would apply to cover individuals regardless of age and significantly hamper access to medical care, such as hormone therapies and gender-affirming surgeries, for federal workers, their spouses, children, and dependents. While mental health counseling for gender dysphoria would remain covered – and carriers would establish a case‑by‑case exceptions process for individuals already receiving care – these carveouts will not create a uniform or reliable system to ensure continuity of care.
Lambda Legal has condemned the exclusion of gender-affirming care as unlawful and as a violation of sex discrimination protections in federally regulated health plans.
Human Rights Watch and other organizations have documented how bans and barriers to gender-affirming care cause serious harm. A June 2025 Human Rights Watch report described how restrictions on such care for transgender youth led to deteriorating mental health and abrupt interruptions to treatment, violating individuals’ rights to health, nondiscrimination, and personal autonomy. Removing coverage for gender-affirming care from health insurance will force people to either pay out of pocket or forgo required care because of costs, significantly restricting access.
These measures are part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to roll back rights for transgender people. In January 2025, the administration issued an executive order rejecting the validity of transgender identity in law and policy. It has also targeted gender-affirming care, issuing a January 28 order attempting to ban youth access to care and an April 10 proclamation labeling such care a form of child abuse. In July, the Department of Justice began issuing subpoenas to more than 20 hospitals providing gender-affirming care to youth. With these measures, some clinics have begun to cease or radically reduce these services, particularly for youth.
The administration should immediately abandon efforts to deny gender-affirming care and ensure that all people covered under FEHB have equal access to comprehensive, nondiscriminatory health coverage.
New Houthi Arrests of UN Staff
Forces belonging to the Houthis, who control much of Yemen, raided several United Nations offices and detained at least 19 UN staff on August 31, adding to dozens of UN and civil society staff already detained since 2024. The previous arrests have led to a suspension of UN aid, endangering the lives of many Yemenis who rely on this aid to survive.
An informed source told Human Rights Watch the number of arrests were likely greater than those reported by the UN, and that many UN staff were held and interrogated for several days within UN offices.
The arrests began three days after the Israeli military carried out attacks on Sanaa, the capital, which killed the Houthis’ prime minister, Ahmed al-Rahawi, and several other government ministers. Under international humanitarian law, civilian government officials are not targetable in armed conflict unless they are “directly participating in hostilities.” There is no clear indication that al-Rahawi or the other ministers killed in the attack were military targets.
Houthis have used Israeli forces’ attacks to try to justify escalating their repression of Yemenis living in areas under their control, including through arrests of aid workers, whom the Houthis have previously accused of espionage.
Many of those arrested have not had access to lawyers or their families. Even those who have been able to speak to family members have often only been able to do so briefly and inconsistently. The Houthis have produced no real evidence to support their claims of espionage. Many of those arrested had spent their lives working to improve conditions in their country.
A previous round of arrest in January prompted the UN to announce in February that it would suspend all UN activities in Saada government, where several of its staff have been arrested.
At a time when the majority of people in Yemen do not have access to adequate food and water, the Houthis’ arrests of UN staff are not only disastrous for those detained and their families but also for the broader Yemeni population that relies on the UN and other organizations for much-needed aid. Ultimately, it is Yemeni civilians who have borne the brunt of 11 years of conflict in the country and who continue to do so today, as warring parties continue their repression.
Momentum Grows for New Treaty on Right to Education
Momentum is mounting for a new global treaty to secure every child’s right to free education. This week, countries gathered at the United Nations in Geneva to advance negotiations on an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The proposed treaty would close a gap in international law. The convention guarantees free primary education but stops short of requiring governments to deliver free secondary education to all. It is completely silent on the right to early childhood education. The protocol would recognize every child’s right to early childhood education and ensure free public education from pre-primary through the end of secondary.
The turnout was striking: 92 countries participated. The initiative is led by Sierra Leone, Luxembourg, and the Dominican Republic, backed by a cross-regional coalition. Five new countries announced support, bringing to 58 the number publicly supportive of advancing the initiative. Closing the meeting, the chair from Sierra Leone – a low-income country that already guarantees 13 years of free education – launched an intensive round of consultations to discuss key principles and develop the foundations of the new treaty. They plan to reconvene in 2026.
Several countries showcased reforms they had introduced that are reshaping children’s lives. Spain and France highlighted the transformative power of early childhood education; both introduced three years of free preschool education. Ghana reported soaring enrollment after expanding free secondary education years in 2017, particularly among low-income students. Zambia shared its adoption of free secondary education in 2022, while Ecuador highlighted its constitutional guarantee to free public education, including university.
What would make this treaty unique is the central role children have played in its development. Child delegates from Croatia, Indonesia, Liberia, Mexico, and the United Kingdom spoke with urgency about the burden tuition and school fees have on families and what might be achieved in a world where pre-primary and secondary education are truly free. As Karen, 16, from Mexico put it: “This protocol would help millions of children stay in school and would be key to reducing inequalities.”
The right to free education is within reach, and countries need to make building the foundations of this treaty a priority. As Roberto, 17, from Liberia, said: “What makes it truly powerful is that we, as children, were part of the process—our voices should shape the outcome.”
Pacific Leaders Should Act Collectively on Climate Relocation
Pacific leaders preparing to gather for the Pacific Islands Forum in Solomon Islands this month have accepted a collective responsibility: to act decisively for the many Indigenous communities already living the sobering realities of climate displacement.
Over the last decades, abnormally high “king tides” and storms forced one such community, the Solomon Islander people of Walande, to abandon their tiny island home, now submerged by the sea. Families collectively planned to relocate to mainland Malaita but continue to face challenges at their new site as seawater breaches protective seawalls and inundates the community’s traditional food sources. Their experience, documented in a 2025 Human Rights Watch report, is a powerful reminder that relocation, if inadequately supported, risks compounding harm instead of reducing it.
No single community or country can address planned relocation, or any other form of climate mobility, alone. That is why leaders at this year’s Pacific Islands Forum should prioritize regional cooperation to tackle these challenges. The Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility (endorsed by leaders at the Forum in 2023) was an important first step. Government leaders should now adopt the Pacific Guidance on Internal Planned Relocation, which offers a blueprint for Pacific governments to center the right to self-determination and other human rights when supporting communities making adaptation decisions.
Seventeen member states are expected to attend this year’s forum. As the host, Solomon Islands has an opportunity to lead by example. Its forthcoming Standard Operating Procedures on planned relocation should be finalized and adopted swiftly, integrating lessons from communities like Walande and human rights principles from the regional guidance.
Moreover, leaders should commit to operationalizing funds, such as the new Pacific Resilience Facility, in ways that are accessible to communities most at risk. Without adequate funding and national governance frameworks to ensure community-led approaches, regional commitments will remain words on paper.
The theme of this year’s forum, “Iumi Tugeda: Act Now for an Integrated Blue Pacific Continent,” reflects a call to collective action, according to Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele. To truly act now, Pacific leaders should commit to a regional approach to planned relocation governance that places communities’ voices and rights at its core.
Türkiye: Trial of Gendarmes for Death in Custody, Torture
(Istanbul, September 4, 2025) - The trial of 13 law enforcement officers charged with the death in custody of Ahmet Güreşçi and the torture of his older brother Sabri Güreşçi on February 11, 2023, offers a rare opportunity for justice, Human Rights Watch said today. The first hearing in the trial begins on September 9, 2025, in First Assize Court in the southern province of Hatay.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International documented the case of the two men in a report about abuses by police and gendarmes in rural areas, in the aftermath of the devasting February 6, 2023 earthquakes in Hatay and the surrounding region. The case is among the most egregious in a pattern of security forces mistreating people they accused of theft during that period.
“The trial of 13 gendarmes in connection with the death in custody of Ahmet Güreşçi and the torture of Sabri Güreşçi is a test of whether the authorities are willing to deliver justice for these egregious crimes,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Given Türkiye’s impunity for abuses by police, gendarmes and soldiers, it is important to send a clear message that the absolute prohibition on torture in custody is to be respected and enforced.”
Gendarmes arrested Sabri Güreşçi, 27, and Ahmet Güreşçi, 37 at the time, in the Büyükburç district of Altınözü, Hatay province, on February 11, 2023, on suspicion of looting and other crimes. Sabri Güreşçi and four others arrested in the same investigation testified before prosecutors that they were taken to a storage room rather than a cell at the Altınözü Central District Gendarmerie Station Command.
They allege that there, gendarmes, who were later identified by Sabri, tortured him and Ahmet, including by beating them with batons and cudgels, squeezing their testicles, and attempting to rape them with batons, in an effort to make them confess to crimes. They allege that as a result of the beating Ahmet lost consciousness and ultimately died.
Hospital records and security camera footage show that gendarmes took Ahmet to hospital wrapped in a blanket and at 6:15 p.m. that day a doctor pronounced him dead after failed efforts to revive him.
İbrahim Güreşçi, the father of the two men, testified to the prosecutor that he had waited outside the gendarmerie station for news of his sons, had seen gendarmes carry a body wrapped in a blanket out of the station and had followed them to the hospital fearing it might be his son Sabri.
Prevented from entering the hospital, he returned the next morning and after persuading an official to let him see if his son was among the bodies in the morgue, was shown Ahmet’s corpse which had visible signs of multiple injuries. He alleges that gendarmes told him that Ahmet had been released and later attacked by members of the public.
A report from Türkiye’s Forensic Medicine Institute based on autopsy results, which included multiple injuries and bruising to Ahmet Güreşçi’s body, limbs and head, determined that he died as a result of a brain hemorrhage caused by blows to the head. Sabri Güreşçi secured a report from the Çukurova Hospital forensic medicine department, which determined that the injuries, bruising and broken bones on his body were commensurate with his allegation that gendarmes had beaten him.
The Hatay prosecutor’s indictment, dated February 20, 2025, and seen by Human Rights Watch, charges 13 members of the gendarmerie of various ranks with torture resulting in Ahmet Güreşçi’s death, as well as the torture of Sabri Güreşçi resulting a broken bone. The gendarmeries could face sentences up to aggravated life imprisonment for Ahmet Güreşçi’s death and up to 15 years for torturing his brother.
The 13 gendarmes deny the accusations. They allege that the brothers already bore signs of injuries on arrest, that Ahmet Güreşçi’s blows to the head were from banging his head against a metal bar in the vehicle he was placed in after arrest or against a wall in the gendarmerie station.
Multiple witnesses refuted the gendarmes’ allegations, and the forensic medical reports alone provide clear evidence of torture, Human Rights Watch said.
None of the gendarmes were arrested or held in pretrial detention during the criminal and administrative investigations of their actions. While media reported that three were initially suspended from duty, lawyers for the family told Human Rights Watch that they believe that most or all remain on active duty. While there are immense obstacles to the effective investigation of torture and ill-treatment and deaths in custody in Türkiye and few prosecutions, a May 8 trial verdict in Hatay province proved an exception. The Hatay Fifth Assize Court convicted four ranked soldiers at the time stationed at the Kavalcık Sehit Er Gökhan Çakır Border Army Station to life in prison on charges of torturing to death two Syrian nationals Abdurrezzak Kastal and Abdulsettar Elhaccar and torturing four others who had crossed the border into Türkiye on March 11, 2023.
Human Rights Watch had documented the cases in a April 2023 report. The four soldiers remain in detention and their conviction is subject to an appeal.
“Sabri Güreşçi and his family have a right to justice, and this trial also has national implications,” Williamson, said. “Tolerance and acquiesce in police abuses, torture and other serious human rights violations has been on the rise in Türkiye, and this trial provides hope that it will end.”
Zambia: South African Firm Transferring Toxic Lead
(Johannesburg, September 4, 2025) – A South African-owned company is providing access to toxic lead-bearing waste in the Zambian city of Kabwe despite immense health risks for local residents, Human Rights Watch said today. The material derives from waste material at a former mine that has never been cleaned up and has been the source of mass lead poisoning among residents, especially children.
Enviro Processing Limited (EPL), a subsidiary of the South African company Jubilee Metals Group, holds a small-scale mining license for the former Kabwe mine area and its waste, known as “Black Mountain.” Jubilee Metals claims it “improves the quality of life of those living in proximity” of former mines. The company has apparently entered a deal with a Zambian company and a Chinese company to sell the waste for the purpose of extracting zinc. But the planned removal and transport of waste risks spreading the toxic lead further.
“The South African company Jubilee Metals, alongside Zambian and Chinese counterparts, are selling lead-bearing waste in a manner posing a serious risk to children’s health,” said Juliane Kippenberg, associate children's rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The Zambian government needs to fully enforce its environmental and mining laws, and protect people’s right to a healthy environment.”
Kabwe is one of the most lead-polluted places globally because of contamination from a former lead and zinc mine that was established during the British colonial period, closed in 1994, and was never cleaned up.
Human Rights Watch published a report in March 2025 documenting the ongoing harmful mining, removal, and processing of Kabwe’s lead waste by several companies, including EPL, Union Star Industry, and several other Chinese processing companies. Human Rights Watch found that the Zambian government facilitated the activities by issuing mining and processing licenses to several companies.
Human Rights Watch said that the government should sanction companies violating Zambian environmental and mining law, such as causing “uncontrollable pollution” under article 36 of the Mines and Minerals Act. In late August, media reported that province and district officials had suspended operations at four Chinese processing companies in Kabwe, saying their activities violated environmental regulations. However, Union Star Industry was not affected and continues operations.
Globally, zinc is a highly sought-after metal for a wide range of industrial uses, including in wind turbines for the urgently needed fossil-fuel phaseout and transition to renewable energy. The Zambian government has designated zinc and lead in Kabwe as “critical minerals,” and said that their exploitation should be prioritized for the country’s socio-economic development.
Lead is a highly toxic metal and is particularly harmful to children. Exposure can result in coma and death, as well as intellectual disability and illness. During pregnancy, it can cause miscarriage and other complications. Researchers estimate that over 95 percent of children living near the former mine in Kabwe have elevated blood lead levels, and about half of them urgently require medical treatment.
In a video conference with Human Rights Watch in September 2024, Jubilee Metals denied selling the waste material. However, Human Rights Watch has obtained a copy of a contract addendum detailing an agreement between EPL, the Zambian company Chitofu General Dealers Limited, and the Chinese company Union Star Industry Limited, dated February 15, 2025. The addendum states that Chitofu is a buyer of “zinc tailings” from EPL, and Union Star Industry is the “offtaker,” a third party purchasing from Chitofu.
The addendum does not note that the tailings from the EPL concession contain lead and are highly toxic. Geological studies have confirmed the toxicity of the material. The addendum, which lacks digital signatures, states that the original contract – dated July 30, 2024 – was an agreement between EPL and Chitofu. Human Rights Watch does not have a copy of the original contract.
Union Star Industry has a processing plant eight kilometers north of the former Kabwe mine and holds a valid mineral processing license for zinc, lead, and copper. Chitofu is registered under Zambia’s Patents and Companies Registration Agency as a company that carries out “other mining and quarrying” and “specialized construction activities.”
Local observers have told Human Rights Watch that large trucks have been removing waste from the EPL concession as recently as late July, seemingly taking waste for processing in Kabwe. Two residents observed trucks with “Chitofu” signs. Several residents have described Chitofu’s leaders as local political leaders or “cadres” with a following of “party youths,” mostly young men who work for political leaders.
Chitofu’s owners, Wisdom Lweendo and Godfrey Shibalwa, have links to the United Party for National Development (UPND), Zambia’s ruling party. During the 2021 election period, Lweendo was the coordinator for Hakainde Hichilema’s presidential election campaign in Central Province. Shibalwa was a UPND candidate for Kabwe’s mayor in 2021.
A Zambian newspaper reported that rival groups of “cadres” from the UPND clashed on May 14 at “Black Mountain” over the tailings. A local UPND politician, Don Mwenda, was arrested for assault.
Human Rights Watch wrote to Jubilee Metals Group and to Chitofu and Union Star Industry, in April and June respectively, to request information including the original contract between them and their environmental impact assessments. Human Rights Watch only received a response from Jubilee Metals. Its response, dated May 22, 2025, stated that Chitofu was established in collaboration with Central Province authorities to represent “youth groups” that had previously accessed the waste illegally or pressured Jubilee Metals to do so, causing violent altercations “placing EPL and Sable Refinery’s staff at risk.”
Jubilee Metals stated that Chitofu has been given “exclusive access” to a “small quantity” of the waste material “subject to approval from ZEMA” (the Zambia Environmental Management Agency). The letter did not clarify whether this approval was granted, or whether and how much Chitofu paid for access to the material. Jubilee Metals did not mention or provide an environmental impact assessment or the original contract with Chitofu.
The Zambian government has facilitated the removal of harmful lead waste by helping to establish Chitofu and by issuing licenses to EPL for small-scale mining and to Union Star Industry for mineral processing, Human Rights Watch said. Under Zambian law, the government has the authority to sanction companies because of an “unsafe working environment” or “uncontrollable pollution.” The government, as far as Human Rights Watch has been able to determine, has not taken such steps against EPL, Chitofu, or Union Star Industry if such grounds have been found to exist.
“The Zambian government recently took a significant step by suspending Chinese processing companies that violate environmental law in Kabwe,” Kippenberg said. “The government should also suspend operations for the removal of lead waste from the EPL concession, investigate the links between Chitofu and political party leaders, and ensure that anyone involved in wrongdoing is held accountable, regardless of their political affiliation.”
The government should develop a comprehensive remediation program for Kabwe’s lead waste in close consultation with the affected community, civil society groups, and domestic and international experts, Human Rights Watch said. Kabwe residents and civil society groups have long called for remediation. The program should include all areas where lead waste is present, including lead waste piles that have been removed from the EPL concession.
“The Zambian government should initiate the cleanup of the former lead mine and its waste and provide a remedy to affected residents,” Kippenberg said. “Strong action is the only way to protect children and future generations in Kabwe from the contamination.”
Zambia: South African Firm’s Transfer of Toxic Lead Imperils Residents
(Johannesburg) – A South African-owned company is providing access to toxic lead-bearing waste in the Zambian city of Kabwe despite immense health risks for local residents, Human Rights Watch said today. The material derives from waste material at a former mine that has never been cleaned up and has been the source of mass lead poisoning among residents, especially children.
Enviro Processing Limited (EPL), a subsidiary of the South African company Jubilee Metals Group, holds a small-scale mining license for the former Kabwe mine area and its waste, known as “Black Mountain.” Jubilee Metals claims it “improves the quality of life of those living in proximity” of former mines. The company has apparently entered a deal with a Zambian company and a Chinese company to sell the waste for the purpose of extracting zinc. But the planned removal and transport of waste risks spreading the toxic lead further.
“The South African company Jubilee Metals, alongside Zambian and Chinese counterparts, are selling lead-bearing waste in a manner posing a serious risk to children’s health,” said Juliane Kippenberg, associate children's rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The Zambian government needs to fully enforce its environmental and mining laws, and protect people’s right to a healthy environment.”
Kabwe is one of the most lead-polluted places globally because of contamination from a former lead and zinc mine that was established during the British colonial period, closed in 1994, and was never cleaned up.
Human Rights Watch published a report in March 2025 documenting the ongoing harmful mining, removal, and processing of Kabwe’s lead waste by several companies, including EPL, Union Star Industry, and several other Chinese processing companies. Human Rights Watch found that the Zambian government facilitated the activities by issuing mining and processing licenses to several companies.
Human Rights Watch said that the government should sanction companies violating Zambian environmental and mining law, such as causing “uncontrollable pollution” under article 36 of the Mines and Minerals Act. In late August, mediareported that province and district officials had suspended operations at four Chinese processing companies in Kabwe, saying their activities violated environmental regulations. However, Union Star Industry was not affected and continues operations.
Globally, zinc is a highly sought-after metal for a wide range of industrial uses, including in wind turbines for the urgently needed fossil-fuel phaseout and transition to renewable energy. The Zambian government has designated zinc and lead in Kabwe as “critical minerals,” and said that their exploitation should be prioritized for the country’s socio-economic development.
Lead is a highly toxic metal and is particularly harmful to children. Exposure can result in coma and death, as well as intellectual disability and illness. During pregnancy, it can cause miscarriage and other complications. Researchers estimate that over 95 percent of children living near the former mine in Kabwe have elevated blood lead levels, and about half of them urgently require medical treatment.
In a video conference with Human Rights Watch in September 2024, Jubilee Metals denied selling the waste material. However, Human Rights Watch has obtained a copy of a contract addendum detailing an agreement between EPL, the Zambian company Chitofu General Dealers Limited, and the Chinese company Union Star Industry Limited, dated February 15, 2025. The addendum states that Chitofu is a buyer of “zinc tailings” from EPL, and Union Star Industry is the “offtaker,” a third party purchasing from Chitofu.
The addendum does not note that the tailings from the EPL concession contain lead and are highly toxic. Geological studies have confirmed the toxicity of the material. The addendum, which lacks digital signatures, states that the original contract – dated July 30, 2024 – was an agreement between EPL and Chitofu. Human Rights Watch does not have a copy of the original contract.
Union Star Industry has a processing plant eight kilometers north of the former Kabwe mine and holds a valid mineral processing license for zinc, lead, and copper. Chitofu is registered under Zambia’s Patents and Companies Registration Agency as a company that carries out “other mining and quarrying” and “specialized construction activities.”
Local observers have told Human Rights Watch that large trucks have been removing waste from the EPL concession as recently as late July, seemingly taking waste for processing in Kabwe. Two residents observed trucks with “Chitofu” signs. Several residents have described Chitofu’s leaders as local political leaders or “cadres” with a following of “party youths,” mostly young men who work for political leaders.
Chitofu’s owners, Wisdom Lweendo and Godfrey Shibalwa, have links to the United Party for National Development (UPND), Zambia’s ruling party. During the 2021 election period, Lweendo was the coordinator for Hakainde Hichilema’s presidential election campaign in Central Province. Shibalwa was a UPND candidate for Kabwe’s mayor in 2021.
A Zambian newspaper reported that rival groups of “cadres” from the UPND clashed on May 14 at “Black Mountain” over the tailings. A local UPND politician, Don Mwenda, was arrested for assault.
Human Rights Watch wrote to Jubilee Metals Group and to Chitofu and Union Star Industry, in April and June respectively, to request information including the original contract between them and their environmental impact assessments. Human Rights Watch only received a response from Jubilee Metals. Its response, dated May 22, 2025, stated that Chitofu was established in collaboration with Central Province authorities to represent “youth groups” that had previously accessed the waste illegally or pressured Jubilee Metals to do so, causing violent altercations “placing EPL and Sable Refinery’s staff at risk.”
Jubilee Metals stated that Chitofu has been given “exclusive access” to a “small quantity” of the waste material “subject to approval from ZEMA” (the Zambia Environmental Management Agency). The letter did not clarify whether this approval was granted, or whether and how much Chitofu paid for access to the material. Jubilee Metals did not mention or provide an environmental impact assessment or the original contract with Chitofu.
The Zambian government has facilitated the removal of harmful lead waste by helping to establish Chitofu and by issuing licenses to EPL for small-scale mining and to Union Star Industry for mineral processing, Human Rights Watch said. Under Zambian law, the government has the authority to sanction companies because of an “unsafe working environment” or “uncontrollable pollution.” The government, as far as Human Rights Watch has been able to determine, has not taken such steps against EPL, Chitofu, or Union Star Industry if such grounds have been found to exist.
“The Zambian government recently took a significant step by suspending Chinese processing companies that violate environmental law in Kabwe,” Kippenberg said. “The government should also suspend operations for the removal of lead waste from the EPL concession, investigate the links between Chitofu and political party leaders, and ensure that anyone involved in wrongdoing is held accountable, regardless of their political affiliation.”
The government should develop a comprehensive remediation program for Kabwe’s lead waste in close consultation with the affected community, civil society groups, and domestic and international experts, Human Rights Watch said. Kabwe residents and civil society groups have long called for remediation. The program should include all areas where lead waste is present, including lead waste piles that have been removed from the EPL concession.
“The Zambian government should initiate the cleanup of the former lead mine and its waste and provide a remedy to affected residents,” Kippenberg said. “Strong action is the only way to protect children and future generations in Kabwe from the contamination.”
African, Caribbean Summit Should Address Reparations
Governments attending the Africa-CARICOM Summit should closely work with civil society and affected communities to develop a human rights-based approach to reparations, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch issued a question and answer document outlining key international standards that should guide reparatory processes for the lasting impact of enslavement and other colonial atrocities, and why reparations by former colonial powers should be considered an international obligation.
On September 7, 2025, African and Caribbean states will meet in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, for the second Africa-CARICOM Summit. In February, Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley spoke to African heads of state about shared historical and cultural ties between Africa and the Caribbean, calling for unity in advancing reparatory justice.
“A unified approach to reparations could be the game changer that empowers communities in Africa, the Caribbean and the diaspora in their struggles for reparatory justice,” said Almaz Teffera, researcher on racism in Europe at Human Rights Watch. “African and CARICOM states should closely work with affected and diaspora communities and civil society in Africa and the Caribbean and in Europe to jointly advance reparations in line with international human rights law and standards.”
The Human Rights Watch Q&A outlines the applicability of widely accepted international human rights standards on the right to remedy and reparation to address the lasting impacts of enslavement and other colonial crimes. European governments have dismissed the applicability of these international legal standards to address colonial atrocities or their role in the transatlantic slave trade, opting at most to express ‘regret’ or issue formal apologies, while stopping short of accepting legal responsibility that would give effect to a right to reparation.
Reparations is an umbrella designation under human rights law for many forms of redress, including, but not limited to, apology, restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition. A broader term ‘reparatory justice’ is also often used by reparations movements worldwide, seeking justice for root causes of harm and systemic inequalities linked to legacies of colonialism, enslavement and the slave trade.
In February 2025, the African Union (AU) dedicated its 2025 flagship theme to “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.” Civil society was a key driver behind the adoption of the theme, seeking a common African position on reparations and strengthened institutional frameworks to advance reparations on the continent.
In July, African leaders committed to dedicate the next decade to reparations. This follows the Caribbean Community’s “Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice” of 2014, a state-led reparations framework that seeks to address the lasting impacts of colonialism and enslavement in the Caribbean.
Communities have called for reparations for decades and even centuries. Human Rights Watch has produced research in support of communities’ calls for reparations, including in the case of the ongoing colonial injustices against the Chagossian people, who were forcibly removed from their islands by the UK and the US in the 1960s to make way for a military base in the UK’s last African colony. A new treaty between the UK and Mauritian governments seeks to regulate sovereignty over the Chagos Islands but fails to provide for full reparations for Chagossians.
European governments have long resisted calls for reparations. Germany, for instance, recognized in 2021 that German colonial crimes against the Ovaherero and Nama peoples in what is now Namibia amounted to genocide but contended that this does not amount to a duty to provide reparations because relevant international law, at the time, did not give rise to a right to reparation. The new German government confirmed this position in response to a recent parliamentary question.
During his term as UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Pablo de Greiff, made clear that reparatory processes that intentionally or inadvertently excluded affected communities violate international human rights law and standards. Neither the UK government nor the German government meaningfully consulted affected communities in processes that purported to reckon with colonial legacies in Chagos and in Namibia.
The AU compiled policy guidelines on transitional justice that recognize reparations to address historical injustices, in line with binding international and regional human rights law. They also reaffirm that African states have an obligation to ensure that reparatory processes are inclusive, consultative, and victim-centered, to guarantee that communities most affected shape their outcomes.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples have all emphasized that the right to reparation also applies to colonial atrocities.
Most states, including European governments and the United States are bound as state parties to the UN Convention on the Elimination on Racial Discrimination, which provides a right to reparation for violations linked to contemporary systemic racism, including where abuses are rooted in colonialism and enslavement.
“Reparations are key to healing inter-generational trauma and to pave the way for an equitable future of dignity and restoration for European, African, and Caribbean societies that continue to be affected by the legacies of enslavement and other colonial atrocities,” Teffera said. “African and Caribbean states are facing a defining moment to signal that the pursuit of reparations is a global demand rooted in international law, collective memory, and moral responsibility.”