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Women in Argentina Face Rising Violence
Argentina is experiencing increasing gender-based violence. But newly elected legislators taking office on December 10 have an opportunity to strengthen protections and violence prevention measures.
According to the Office of Domestic Violence (OVD) of Argentina’s Supreme Court, reports of domestic violence have increased, with at least 39 percent of cases involving severe or repeated violence, frequent episodes, or injuries indicating a high likelihood of ongoing harm. Feminist observatories also documented an alarming rise in femicides, reporting 29 in October alone, including transfemicides.
The national ombudsman’s office reports that a femicide occurs every 35 hours in Argentina. Recent victims include Brenda, Morena, and Lara, three women killed in a triple femicide in Buenos Aires. Feminist movements, including Ni Una Menos (Not One Less), have mobilized, demanding accountability and structural change.
Gender-based violence in Argentina is rooted in structural inequality and entrenched patriarchal norms, and the government has cut programs that sought to tackle the problem . Thirteen gender-related programs have been cut, dismissed as ideological, and the national budget for programs preventing and responding to gender-based violence fell 89 percent between 2023 and 2024. Programs that assist survivors such as Acompañar (Accompany) lost 90 percent of their budget, with coverage dropping from over 100,000 people in 2023 to just 434 in 2024. The proposed 2026 national budget would eliminate funding and reduce overall resources for violence prevention, sexual and reproductive health, and sexuality education by nearly 90 percent.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona announced plans to remove femicide from the Penal Code, eliminating a framework aimed at preventing, investigating, and punishing gender-motivated killings. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich shockingly attributed the rise in femicides to so-called “excesses of feminism.” Statements like that shift blame from perpetrators to victims and contribute to normalizing gender-based violence. At the same time, President Javier Milei argued that femicide laws unfairly assign greater value to a woman’s life, a disastrous misunderstanding of how the femicide laws recognize gender-based violence as an aggravating factor.
The incoming legislature has a critical role to play in reversing Argentina’s backsliding, and action is needed. While the executive branch is primarily responsible for the budgetary and policy decisions that have worsened the crisis, incoming lawmakers can help prevent further harm to women, girls, and LGBT people.
Lawmakers should draft new protections, prevent the enactment of harmful measures, and ensure access to sexual and reproductive health services, including for survivors of violence.
An Opportunity to Address Mining Abuses Globally
When 29-year-old Norbert Amoya went to fetch water from a river in northern Zambia earlier this year, he found large numbers of dead fish and the water had a strange smell. The cause was a major mining disaster. On February 18, a dam at a Chinese copper mine had burst and released toxic waste into a tributary of Zambia’s largest river, threatening the ecosystem, the livelihood of millions, and putting communities at grave risk of cancer and other ill-health.
Such disasters can be prevented.
This week, states coming together for the United Nations Environment Assembly, the world’s top environmental policymaking body, will deliberate on measures to do so. The Colombian government has taken the lead by proposing a new global treaty to address environmental risks in mining, including due diligence and traceability in mineral supply chains. Many other governments, including Armenia, Ecuador, Oman, and pollution-affected Zambia, are joining the initiative, which calls for the “environmentally sound management of minerals and metals”.
As US environmental protections and the EU supply chains law are being weakened, this initiative marks a bold move welcomed by civil society groups, including Human Rights Watch.
As a first step, Colombia and its allies propose a UN working group to explore options for binding and non-binding measures. Such working groups have previously been successful at initiating treaty processes.
But there is pushback and negotiations at the summit will likely be tough, as some countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia oppose any binding measures.
Voluntary measures by businesses are not sufficient to protect human rights and the environment, as investigations by Human Rights Watch and others have repeatedly shown. In Zambia, while the Chinese company provided some compensation payments to community members, it also reportedly suppressed a study on the full scale of the disaster.
As demand for minerals for energy transition, defense, and other technology increases, it is vital that governments around the world work to protect the environment and ensure human rights safeguards in global mineral supply chains. All governments attending this week’s assembly should support Colombia’s initiative for a binding minerals treaty.
Landmines: Action Needed to Reinforce Ban
(Geneva, December 1, 2025) – The global ban on antipersonnel landmines saves civilian lives but faces serious threats from countries leaving the treaty and new landmine use, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing the “Landmine Monitor 2025” report. Member countries should take immediate and strong action to counter these life-threatening developments.
Click to expand Image The "Landmine Monitor 2025" cover depicts mine/ERW survivors, who joined a protest in response to the United States' decision to transfer antipersonnel landmines to Ukraine during the Mine Ban Treaty's Fifth Review Conference in November 2024 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. © International Campaign to Ban Landmines, November 2024The 163-page report assesses implementation of and adherence to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which comprehensively prohibits the use of antipersonnel mines and requires states parties to destroy stockpiles, clear mine-affected areas, and assist victims.
“Governments should be loud and clear in condemning states’ withdrawal from the Mine Ban Treaty and rejecting attempts to suspend core treaty obligations during armed conflict,” said Mark Hiznay, associate Crisis, Conflict, and Arms director at Human Rights Watch and an editor of “Landmine Monitor 2025.” “A strong response is vital not only for saving lives but also preserving respect for international humanitarian law and human rights law.”
Antipersonnel mines kill and wound people indiscriminately. They are typically placed by hand but can also be scattered by aircraft, rockets, artillery, and drones or dispersed from specialized vehicles. Uncleared landmines remain a danger until located and destroyed. Mined land can drive displacement of civilians, hinder the delivery of humanitarian aid, and prevent agricultural activities.
Play VideoAs of December 1, 2025, 166 countries have joined the treaty, including the Marshall Islands and Tonga in 2025.
Five states parties moved to withdraw in 2025, citing regional security concerns. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia submitted their instruments of withdrawal on June 27, Finland on July 10, and Poland on August 20. These withdrawals will take effect six months after those dates if states do not reconsider their position or engage in armed conflict during that period.
At least 22 states parties, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines as well as the United Nations secretary-general, more than 100 Nobel laureates, and other distinguished individuals have expressed deep concern at these withdrawals. At least 80,000 people from across Europe signed a petition urging the countries not to withdraw.
Ukraine’s announcement on July 21 that it would suspend its obligations under the Mine Ban Treaty until the end of its war with Russia also causes concern. Suspension is unlawful under the treaty, which has prohibitions that cannot be waived during armed conflict. Several states have submitted objections to Ukraine’s suspension to the UN.
Russia has used antipersonnel landmines extensively in Ukraine since its full-scale invasion of the country on February 24, 2022, causing thousands of casualties and contaminating vast tracts of land. Human Rights Watch reported that Russian forces were modifying commercial quadcopter drones to scatter antipersonnel mines in and around the city of Kherson, killing dozens of civilians and injuring hundreds.
Over the past year, social media photos and videos increasingly indicate new use of antipersonnel mines by Ukrainian armed forces, though the scale is unclear. Ukraine requested and received antipersonnel mines from the United States in November and December 2024. Publicly available information also suggests that Ukraine is making mines, including for placement by drones.
Ukraine continues to investigate reports that their forces used antipersonnel mines in and around the city of Izium during 2022, when it was occupied by Russian forces.
“Landmine Monitor 2025” also includes documentation of new use of antipersonnel mines by national armed forces in Myanmar, Iran, and North Korea in 2024 and the first half of 2025.
In the midst of border clashes in July 2025, Thailand alleged that Cambodian military forces placed antipersonnel landmines along their shared border, and reports have emerged of Thai soldiers injured by antipersonnel mines. Cambodia has denied these allegations.
Nonstate armed groups used landmines in at least 13 countries during 2024 and the first half of 2025, particularly in the Sahel region of Africa, Colombia, India, Pakistan, and Myanmar.
“Landmine Monitor 2025” reported at least 6,279 new casualties from landmines and explosive remnants of war in 52 countries and areas in 2024, including 1,945 deaths. Civilians made up 90 percent of all recorded casualties, while children accounted for 46 percent in which the age was recorded.
The Myanmar armed forces’ use of mines led to 2,029 recorded casualties from landmines or explosive remnants of war in 2024, the most of any country. In 2024, Human Rights Watch documented that the Myanmar junta planted landmines in homes, villages, and farms.
Syria had the second largest number, with 1,015 recorded deaths or injuries. Earlier in 2025, Human Rights Watch documented the significant harm from extensive landmine contamination across Syria, including for displaced people returning home after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government in December 2024.
A total of 1,115 kilometers of contaminated land was cleared globally in 2024, nearly three times more than in 2023, and 105,640 antipersonnel mines were destroyed.
Despite an increase in overall funding for mine action, largely for Ukraine, international funding for such efforts decreased 5 percent in 2024. The US remained the largest donor, but its contribution decreased by more than one-third from 2023.
Some states parties with landmine contamination, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa, continued to struggle to obtain financial support from international donors.
“Clearing contaminated land is crucial to saving lives and allowing communities to regain access to their land and carry out their livelihoods,” Hiznay said. “Concerned states should ensure that all countries in need get clearance support.”
The “Landmine Monitor 2025” is a publication by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the global coalition of nongovernmental organizations that received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. Human Rights Watch co-founded the campaign in 1992 and contributes to its Landmine Monitor reporting initiative.
International Criminal Court: Justice at Risk
(The Hague) – Member countries of the International Criminal Court (ICC) should intensify efforts to protect the court and human rights groups campaigning for justice from attack, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. The 20-page report makes detailed recommendations for the annual session of the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties, which will meet in The Hague, Netherlands, from December 1 to 6, 2025.
Throughout 2025, the US administration of President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions against court officials, a United Nations expert, and Palestinian civil society organizations in an attack on justice and the international rule of law. Russian arrest warrants issued in 2023 and 2024 against ICC officials remain pending. In June, the court faced a second serious cyber-attack with the purpose of espionage.
“Government efforts to undermine the ICC reflect broader attacks on the global rule of law, aiming to disable institutions that seek to hold those responsible for the worst crimes to account,” said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch. “ICC member countries need to stay firm in their defense of the court so that impartial justice remains a critical part of the rules-based international order.”
The Assembly session takes place amid important ICC achievements over the past year. In March, the Philippines surrendered former President Rodrigo Duterte to the court to face charges of crimes against humanity related to the country’s notorious “war on drugs,” which killed tens of thousands of people. In October, ICC judges handed down a landmark conviction of a former “Janjaweed” militia leader for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur, Sudan.
On February 6, President Trump issued an executive order authorizing asset freezes and entry bans on ICC officials and others supporting the court’s work. The order clearly seeks to shield US and Israeli officials from facing charges before the ICC. In November 2024, ICC judges had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The US government has used the executive order to impose sanctions on the ICC prosecutor and two deputy prosecutors, six of the court’s judges, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, and three leading Palestinian human rights organizations: Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.
Government sanctions should only be used to target those who are committing serious crimes, not those who document and deliver justice for such crimes, Human Rights Watch said.
If unchecked, US sanctions could severely set back the global fight against impunity. Individuals and organizations targeted by the US sanctions have lost funding alongside access to bank accounts and other financial services, and face social media restrictions. Financial institutions often comply with US sanctions to minimize their risk and may preemptively refuse transactions with the ICC, jeopardizing the court’s work across the globe.
ICC member countries should seize opportunities during the Assembly session to showcase their strong support for the court and human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch said. ICC states parties have issued individual and joint statements condemning the US sanctions, and they can build on these at the session to demonstrate that they will not be deterred in their support.
They should also pledge to take further concrete action to limit or, where possible, nullify the effects of sanctions and other coercive measures against the court, its officials, and those cooperating with it, including within civil society. The European Union has yet to act to use its blocking statute, which could provide a measure of protection from the unlawful effect of US sanctions. At the session, EU member states should call on the regional bloc to activate the statute.
Other issues on the Assembly’s agenda include addressing recent failures by ICC member countries—Italy, Hungary, and Tajikistan—to cooperate in the arrest of individuals wanted by the court who were on their territory. Without arrests, the court cannot provide justice, and it relies on governments to carry out arrests.
This is the first time in 24 years that the Assembly will hold a dedicated plenary session on the issue of non-cooperation. It will consider a finding from the court’s judges that Hungary violated its legal obligations when it failed to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on his visit to Budapest in April. Member countries should not miss this opportunity to carry out their responsibility to enforce the judges’ finding and prepare the ground to respond to future ones before the Assembly, Human Rights Watch said.
ICC member countries will also set the ICC’s budget for 2026. The court made a fiscally conservative request, focusing primarily on the institution’s resilience in the face of ongoing challenges, including the US sanctions. Member countries should ensure that the court has sufficient resources in its regular budget for next year to build the necessary resilience, while also continuing to robustly carry out its global mandate, Human Rights Watch said.
“The ICC has flaws but it remains the court of last resort for thousands of victims and their families who have nowhere else to turn,” Evenson said. “By standing together at their annual session, ICC countries can send the message loud and clear that they remain undeterred and unrelenting in the fight for justice.”
Tunisia: Harsh Sentences in ‘Conspiracy Case’ Appeal
(Beirut) – A Tunis Appeal Court on November 27, 2025, sentenced 34 defendants in the politically motivated “Conspiracy Case” to between 5 and 45 years in prison, according to defense lawyers, after three appeal sessions without the presence of the main defendants and fair trial guarantees. Three people were acquitted, including a defendant who has been arbitrarily detained since February 2023.
The following quote can be attributed to Ahmed Benchemsi, Middle East and North Africa communications director at Human Rights Watch:
“These harsh prison sentences stem from a gross distortion of the justice system and are only meant to silence dissent. Tunisia under Kais Saied is back to the darkest years of the Ben Ali era. The appeal process was rushed, the defendants were denied their most basic rights, starting with the right to be present in the courtroom during their own trial. The authorities must immediately overturn these unjust convictions and release all political detainees.”
Russia: Government Designates Human Rights Watch “Undesirable”
(Berlin, November 28, 2025) – Russia’s designation of Human Rights Watch as an “undesirable” foreign organization, made public by the Ministry of Justice on November 28, is yet another mark of the Kremlin’s repression, Human Rights Watch said today. The designation bans the organization’s work in Russia.
“For over three decades, Human Rights Watch’s work on post-Soviet Russia has pressed the government to uphold human rights and freedoms,” said Philippe Bolopion, executive director at Human Rights Watch. “Our work hasn’t changed, but what’s changed, dramatically, is the government’s full-throttled embrace of dictatorial policies, its staggering rise in repression, and the scope of the war crimes its forces are committing in Ukraine.”
The Prosecutor General’s Office made the decision to ban Human Rights Watch on November 10, as follows from the Ministry of Justice’s register of “undesirable” organizations updated today. The official reasons for the designation are not known.
In 2022, six weeks after Russia initiated its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian authorities revoked the registration for the Human Rights Watch Moscow office, which had operated in Russia since 1992. The office had to shut down as a result, but our work continued. Human Rights Watch started working on Russia in 1978, during the Soviet era.
The law on “undesirable” organizations is one of the most powerful tools in the arsenal of repressive laws Russian authorities have adopted in recent years to silence all criticism of the government and incapacitate independent civic organizations.
Under Russia’s 2015 legislation, the prosecutor’s office can designate as “undesirable” any foreign or international organization that allegedly undermines Russia’s security, defense, or constitutional order. “Undesirable” organizations and their materials are banned in Russia. Individuals who continue to engage with these organizations, either in Russia or abroad, may face administrative and criminal penalties, including a maximum six-year prison sentence. The authorities interpret “engagement” widely and arbitrarily.
In 2021, Andrei Pivovarov, a political activist, received a four-year prison sentence for social media posts which the authorities said promoted Open Russia, a political opposition movement designated “undesirable.” Russian authorities released and expelled him from the country in 2024. In May 2025, a Moscow court sentenced a prominent Russian rights defender and election monitor, Grigory Melkonyants, to five years in prison after authorities wrongly equated the Russian election monitoring group Golos with the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations, designated “undesirable” in 2021.
The Political Prisoners Project of Memorial, a leading Russian rights group, recognized both activists as political prisoners.
Russian authorities have designated at least 280 organizations as “undesirable,” and courts have issued administrative and criminal sentences, including in absentia, against hundreds of individuals. Among those designated undesirable are prominent civil society foundations, human rights groups, environmental organizations, and leading Russian independent media, many of whose members and staff had to leave the country and reestablish elsewhere as foreign entities to continue their work.
Since its adoption, international human rights bodies and experts have repeatedly criticized the “undesirable organizations” legislation, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a rapporteur for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Venice Commission, an advisory body to the Council of Europe. The UN Human Rights Committee, which interprets the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the UN special rapporteur on Russia urged Russian authorities to revise or repeal it.
“Designating rights groups undesirable is brazen and cynical,” Bolopion said. “It only redoubles our determination to document the Russian authorities’ human rights violations and war crimes, and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.”
Central African Republic: Concerns Over Crucial Election
(Nairobi) – Concerns about irregularities, political interference, and security pressures risk putting the credibility and inclusiveness of key elections in the Central African Republic into question, Human Rights Watch said today. The vote, scheduled for December 28, 2025, will include presidential and parliamentary elections, but also municipal elections for the first time in decades.
“The Central African Republic election will shape the country’s political trajectory for years to come,” said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Despite tangible progress to establish peace, obstructions to opposition participation, administrative dysfunction, and concerns about a return to repression could disenfranchise large segments of the population.
The elections come after the highly controversial 2023 constitutional referendum, which removed presidential term limits and effectively opened the door for President Faustin-Archange Touadéra to remain in power indefinitely. The official campaign period is slated to start on December 13.
Two of the country’s most prominent political figures, former prime ministers Anicet Georges Dologuélé and Henri-Marie Dondra, were barred from entering the race until November 14, when the Constitutional Council decided to allow them to run as candidates for president. This aligned with an apparent pattern of administrative maneuvering that has disproportionately impeded opposition politicians while favoring the ruling United Hearts Party (known by its French acronym, MCU), Human Rights Watch said.
The two politicians are widely viewed as the only credible challengers to Touadéra. “We have effectively been delayed while the MCU has been mobilizing,” Dologuélé told Human Rights Watch. Their late admission to the race raises questions about whether voters have been given a genuine choice, Human Rights Watch said.
These developments come amid growing doubts about whether the National Election Authority is prepared to run the election. Supply-chain failures, incomplete voter lists, and insufficiently trained staff for polling places, particularly outside Bangui, the capital, are potential problems.
In Bangui, civil society activists have raised concerns over whether many of the estimated 6,700 polling places will be able to open on time, if at all. Rural voters, already hampered by insecurity and limited transportation, could find themselves effectively excluded. The lack of readiness not only undermines confidence in the process but also raises concerns that turnout figures may become deeply skewed toward the capital.
The government has sought to bolster confidence in elections by signing a series of peace accords with various armed groups. These accords, which skirt around accountability for human rights abuses and potential war crimes committed in the past, have nonetheless created conditions for stability not seen in years. However, several civil society activists, journalists, UN officials, and diplomats question the durability of these peace deals including an agreement signed on November 19 with the Patriotic Movement for the Central African Republic.
Over the past decade, numerous declarations of peace quickly fell apart amid unmet promises of disarmament, political inclusion, or resource sharing. One journalist told Human Rights Watch that, “Armed groups have been bought off to ensure the elections occur. Disarmament has become a racket…. [W]e will most likely see these groups resume attacks once the money runs out … [until] the next round of elections.”
Without genuine disarmament efforts, the current agreements will serve more as symbolic gestures reinforcing impunity than as mechanisms for lasting stability, Human Rights Watch said.
The unequal political environment has prompted many opposition parties to call for a full boycott of the elections. Leaders of Republican Bloc for the Defense of the Constitution, an opposition coalition, told Human Rights Watch that they are concerned about the obstruction of candidates, the election authority’s administrative deficiencies, and the government monopoly over media and state resources.
This boycott, and the delays experienced by Dologuélé and Dondra, will most likely pave the way for a parliament dominated by the current governing party. A legislature without meaningful opposition oversight risks compromising already weak institutions, Human Rights Watch said. “We need checks on the executive,” one politician told Human Rights Watch. “My fear is that these elections, already skewed, are a test of the principles of democratic accountability.”
There are also concerns around online xenophobic rhetoric. Dologuélé had to give up his French nationality to run for the presidency as individuals in high offices are not allowed to hold citizenship of another country. Nonetheless, some groups associated with the governing party are circulating statements online about “who is a real Central African,” targeting the opposition. Online attacks against opponents of the 2023 constitutional referendum ramped up before that vote.
Dondra told Human Rights Watch that in addition to other constraints, two of his brothers were arrested, and one remains in custody without charge, allegedly for politically motivated reasons.
The elections comes amid a planned reduction of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). The mission, which has a mandate to protect civilians and monitor human rights abuses, alongside supporting elections, is expected to scale down its presence partly due to the budget constraints across UN peacekeeping and a desire from some member states to see responsibility transferred to national authorities.
A diminished UN footprint could leave communities, particularly those in conflict-affected regions, exposed to militia coercion and retaliation if the peace accords do not hold. Some diplomats in Bangui told Human Rights Watch that the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa and the International Organization of the Francophonie, which may monitor elections, have not been confirmed one month before the vote and will most likely be unable to conduct any monitoring outside of Bangui.
Despite the concerns, civil society activists and journalists describe some improvements. “Things are better than they were a few years ago, the repression has let up,” one journalist told Human Rights Watch. “However, we must remain vigilant. Once it solidifies full control over the parliament and municipal offices, the MCU will control how we discuss government policy, security and development.” The authorities should ensure that journalists and activists can continue to do their work freely without fear of reprisals or repression, Human Rights Watch said.
One month out, the government should remove all barriers to opposition participation and guarantee equal access to campaigning and to the media. The authorities should release individuals detained without credible legal basis, including Dondra’s brother. International partners should monitor the elections for conformity to international standards, and reductions in peacekeeping forces should be reconsidered if armed groups attack civilians again.
“The Central African Republic stands at crossroads, and credible elections cannot occur when legitimate concerns are unaddressed,” Mudge said. “The country’s path toward stability depends on inclusive and competitive political processes that reflect the will of all communities, not only those with access to power.”
Ukraine/Russia: Peace Efforts Should Put Human Impact First
(Berlin, November 27, 2025) – The People First Campaign on November 26, 2025, urged key leaders involved with a proposed Ukraine peace plan to ensure that any peace plan regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine places the human dimension at its core, Human Rights Watch said today.
The campaign addressed an open letter to officials including United States President Donald Trump, heads of European Union member states, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“People need to come first,” said Benjamin Ward, acting Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The release of conflict-related detainees should be at the heart of any peace effort.”
The People First Campaign, which seeks to secure the release of war detainees, was initiated in January. It currently consists of 73 Ukrainian, Russian, and international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch.
In its letter, the People First Campaign stressed the need to free Ukrainian civilians held by Russia, prisoners of war on both sides, Russian political prisoners prosecuted for anti-war views or actions, and Ukrainian children deported or forcibly transferred by Russian authorities.
The coalition expressed concern that Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war in Russian custody remain at acute risk, facing brutal and systematic torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
Yemen: Houthis’ Widespread Detentions of Political Opponents
(Beirut) – Houthi authorities have detained dozens of political opponents since July 2025, including the leaders of several political parties in Yemen, some of which may amount to enforced disappearances, Human Rights Watch said today.
At least 70 people associated with the Yemeni Congregation for Reform, known as the Islah party, were detained within 24 hours in Dhamar governorate on October 28.
The most recent detentions are part of a wider campaign over the last year and a half, targeting members of civil society, United Nations and nongovernmental organization staff, businesspeople, and even people within the Houthi authorities. At least 59 UN staff are in detention with no access to lawyers and limited, if any, access to their families. Concurrently, Houthis are escalating dubious accusations of espionage against people they have detained, including in a recent unfair trial against 21 individuals in which 17 were sentenced to death. Many of them were charged with espionage without adequate access to due process.
“Rather than addressing the urgent needs of Yemenis in Houthi-controlled territories, the Houthis seem to be detaining anyone they deem a threat to their movement,” said Niku Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch. “They should immediately release all those arbitrarily detained and shift their focus to protecting the rights and fulfilling the needs of those living in areas under their control.”
Human Rights Watch spoke to 13 people, including relatives of the detainees, journalists, and members of civil society who have been following the cases. Human Rights Watch also reviewed documents related to the detentions, including statements made by political parties, official indictments, and lists of detainees.
The Houthis have been detaining individuals affiliated with political opposition parties since their takeover of Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, in 2014. However, they have escalated these arrests in the last few months. A spokesperson for Islah, Adnan al-Odaini, told Human Rights Watch that the campaign against their party started after Houthi forces attempted to arrest, and ultimately killed, Sheikh Saleh Hantos, a prominent sheikh in Rayma governorate, on July 1, 2025. The Houthis accused Hantos, a religious scholar in his 70s and a member of Islah, of “adopting stances aligned with the United States and Israel and undermining popular and official activities supporting the Palestinian resistance.”
On August 3, Houthi authorities detained Rami Abdulwahab, an official of the Arab Socialist Baath Party. On August 20, the Houthis detained Ghazi al-Ahwal, the secretary general of the General People’s Congress, the political party affiliated with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. On September 25, they detained Aaidh al-Sayadi, deputy secretary of the Yemeni Socialist Party in Dhamar governorate.
Relatives of Abdulwahab and al-Sayadi said that the two men have not been allowed family visits or permitted to appoint lawyers to represent them.
The October 28 detentions in Dhamar brought the total number of Islah party members held to over 200, the party said in a statement. Most of those recently detained were not party officials, but government employees, teachers, and social figures, said Najeeb al-Sheghdari, secretary general of the Musawah Organization for Human Rights and Freedoms.
A son of one of the Islah party detainees told Human Rights Watch that his father was taken from his car by armed masked men in Dhamar in November. He and the families of six other detainees said that the Houthis did not present arrest warrants or communicate where they were taking their relatives. The families do not know the charges against their relatives or their locations and have not been able to communicate with them, which amounts to enforced disappearance.
Human Rights Watch has previously documented cases of Houthis detaining and forcibly disappearing dozens of people due to their political affiliation, including in April 2020, when they detained 25 Islah party members from Dhamar.
In June 2024, the Specialized Criminal Court sentenced 44 people detained in 2020 to death, 16 of them tried in absentia, with 5 others sentenced to prison terms, Musawah reported. None had adequate access to lawyers.
The relative of one of the individuals sentenced to death said that the family had tried to appoint Abdulmajeed Sabra, a prominent lawyer in Sanaa, to his case, but that the judge “refused to give Sabra a copy of the case file and didn’t allow him to speak and kept asking him to be silent, and when Sabra objected, the judge ordered him to leave the court.” On September 25, 2025, the Houthis stormedSabra’s office in Sanaa and took him to an undisclosed location.
In their 2025 report, the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen stated that “The [Houthis’] Judiciary has been weaponized to suppress dissent and free expression.” They further stated that “[t]he Specialized Criminal Prosecution Office in Sana’a has charged hundreds of individuals with treason and espionage.” They said that “detainees are often not shown arrest warrants, not presented with formal charges, and denied legal counsel and access to evidence. Many are held for prolonged periods without trial or judicial oversight.”
Human Rights Watch and other groups, including the former UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, have documented the Houthis’ use of torture to obtain information or confessions.
Arresting a person without a warrant and clear charges is a violation under the Yemeni Criminal Procedures Law, article 132. Interrogating an individual accused of a crime without the presence of their lawyer is a violation of article 181. The law also provides, under article 6, that “any statement proven to have been made by an accused or a witness under the influence of any such acts [torture, inhumane treatment, physical or psychological harm] shall be nullified and disregarded.” Detaining a person without a legal basis or, in criminal proceedings, without promptly charging them is a violation of both Yemeni law and international human rights law.
“The Houthis should immediately release all those arbitrarily detained solely for their political affiliations,” Jafarnia said. They should also free others arbitrarily detained, including those held for commemorating the September 26 revolution, journalists, lawyers, and dozens of United Nations and civil society staff.”
Thailand: Australian Journalist Charged with Defamation
(Bangkok) – Thai authorities should drop criminal defamation charges against the Australian journalist Murray Hunter, who is being prosecuted for reporting on Malaysia’s media regulating agency, Human Rights Watch said today.
Thai authorities arrested Hunter on September 29, 2025, at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport while he was awaiting to board a flight to Hong Kong. He was charged with four counts of “defamation by publication,” section 328 of Thailand’s criminal code, for defaming the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. Each charge carries a maximum prison term of two years and a fine of up to 200,000 baht (US$6,175). He was detained for 24 hours, then released on bail. Thai authorities have confiscated his passport to prevent him from leaving the country.
“The arrest and criminal defamation charges against Murray Hunter is an alarming example of cross border efforts to suppress critical voices and media freedoms,” said Daniela Gavshon, Australia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Thai authorities should immediately drop the charges against him.”
On November 17, the Thai public prosecutor formally indicted Hunter for criminal defamation in connection with four articles he published on his Substack newsletter in April 2024 that were highly critical of the Malaysian commission. Thai authorities acted on a complaint filed by the commission’s legal representative in Thailand. Hunter’s trial is scheduled for December 22 at the Bangkok South Criminal Court.
The Malaysian government severely restricts freedom of expression, using broad and vaguely worded laws to target critics. In December 2024, the Malaysian parliament approved regressive amendments to the repressive Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. The regulatory Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, overseen by the Ministry of Communications and Digital, has on numerous occasions banned access to online news portals to censor critical speech. However, filing a criminal complaint against Hunter in Thailand is a new development in the Malaysian government’s efforts to curtail free speech, Human Rights Watch said.
International human rights law allows for restrictions on freedom of expression to protect an individual’s reputation so long as such restrictions are necessary and narrowly drawn. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has said that governments should consider decriminalizing defamation and that “imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty” for defamation. Human Rights Watch considers criminal defamation laws incompatible with the obligation to protect freedom of expression.
The Hunter case underscores the Thai government’s willingness to violate free expression rights on behalf of foreign governments that are targeting critics beyond their borders, Human Rights Watch said. In August, Thai authorities also agreed to the removal of artworks on Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang from an exhibition at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre at the request of the Chinese Embassy.
Over the past decade, Thai authorities have appeared to cooperate with foreign governments committing abuses against critics living in Thailand, a practice known as “transnational repression.”
Thailand, a current member of the UN Human Rights Council, has disregarded recommendations regarding freedom of expression from the 2021 Universal Periodic Review by other UN member states. Since the military coup in 2014, successive Thai governments have prosecuted almost 2,000 people for exercising their right to freedom of expression. Thai authorities have also targeted foreign nationals, including the prominent Thai studies scholar Paul Chambers, who had to leave Thailand, where he had been living, earlier in 2025.
“Australia and other concerned governments should make it clear to Thai authorities that prosecuting Hunter will have a detrimental impact on Thailand’s reputation,” Gavshon said. “The Thai government should not be furthering the Malaysian government’s attempts to censor and prosecute its critics.”
Rampant Labor Abuses Against Bangladeshi Migrant Workers in Malaysia
United Nations human rights experts have highlighted “widespread and systematic” exploitation, deception, and deepening debt bondage of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia.
Over 800,000 Bangladeshis have Malaysian work permits, making them the largest group of documented foreign workers in the country. According to information received by the UN, thousands of workers are stranded in Bangladesh or face exploitation in Malaysia after some paid recruitment fees five times higher than the official rate.
Other abuses, including confiscation of passports by Malaysian employers, false job promises, discrepancies between contracts and promised employment packages, and a lack of support from responsible government agencies, are common in Malaysia.
Workers without proper documentation are at risk of arrest, detention, ill-treatment, and deportation under Malaysia’s draconian immigration act, which criminalizes irregular entry, and other anti-migrant policies. Malaysian authorities conduct frequent immigration raids and hold an estimated 18,000 migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in immigration detention centers.
The United States has previously issued import restrictions against Malaysian factories. Meanwhile the European Union’s Forced Labour Regulation, taking effect in 2027, introduces curbs on the trade of goods produced with forced labor. Debt bondage and deception of workers could lead to prohibitions on the sale of sanctioned goods under the new regulation.
The Bangladeshi and Malaysian governments, as well as those of other labor-sending or receiving countries and those where buying companies are headquartered such as the US, EU members, and the United Kingdom, have obligations to ensure labor migration is conducted in a way that protects workers’ rights. Malaysia and labor-sending governments like Bangladesh should implement the UN experts’ call to promptly investigate reported abuses and provide effective remedies. The experts emphasized that “involuntary repatriations and any form of reprisals” against migrant workers violate international human rights obligations.
International buyers sourcing from Malaysia should use the Fair Labor Association’s Guidance for Responsible Recruitment for companies as a model. The guidance urges buyers to “include costs of responsible recruitment in their purchasing metrics” and ensure that their suppliers include those costs in their invoicing. Buyers should also support migrant workers’ access to legal aid.
Bangladesh and Malaysia should end mistreatment of migrant workers. All governments whose economies benefit from migrant workers’ labor should avoid the risk of further sanctions by taking steps to end practices that cause misery to thousands.
UAE: Political Prisoner Dead After Alleged Ill-Treatment, Torture
(Beirut) – A political prisoner died on November 19, 2025, in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) notorious al-Razeen Prison after more than a decade of unjust imprisonment and torture allegations, Human Rights Watch and the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center (EDAC) said today.
Ali Abdullah Fath Ali al-Khaja, 59, was found dead in his prison cell the day after prison authorities informed him that his father had died on November 8, EDAC said. He spent more than 13 years in arbitrary imprisonment marked by enforced disappearance, torture, denial of medical care, prolonged solitary confinement, and continued detention beyond the completion of his original sentence. Security officers arrested him in August 2012. He was tried in the “UAE94” unfair mass trial of political dissidents and sentenced to 10 years in prison in July 2013.
“Al-Khaja’s death follows years of arbitrary imprisonment, torture, and overall mistreatment by Emirati authorities, though he should not have spent a single day in prison,” said Joey Shea, United Arab Emirates researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should immediately and transparently investigate his death and provide a clear explanation to his family and the international community.”
Al-Khaja was found dead on the morning of November 19, but authorities did not inform his family until later that evening, EDAC said. No independent autopsy has been carried out. Al-Khaja’s father died on November 8, but authorities did not inform him of his father’s death until 10 days later on November 18, according to EDAC. Since al-Khaja’s death, family members of other political detainees at al-Razeen Prison have not been allowed to visit.
UAE authorities should promptly and impartially investigate Al Khaja’s death, Human Rights Watch and EDAC said.
The Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi convicted al-Khaja alongside 68 other people in an unfair mass trial, following a wave of arbitrary arrests during a crackdown on dissent. These convictions violated their rights to free expression, association, and assembly. Authorities subjected al-Khaja to torture and ill-treatment during his imprisonment, including physical beatings, prolonged solitary confinement, and continuous bright lighting designed to prevent sleep.
Al-Khaja was first detained in August 2012 as part of a wave of arbitrary arrests amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissent. The case had a chilling effect on freedom of expression, assembly, and association.
Al-Khaja completed his 10-year sentence in August 2022, but Emirati authorities continued to incarcerate him using baseless counterterrorism justifications. The UAE’s repressive 2014 counterterrorism law appears to permit indefinite detention for prisoners who continue to pose a “terrorist threat,” which the law does not clearly define.
These prisoners can be placed in counseling centers upon the request of state security prosecution. Article 1 of the counterterrorism law defines these centers as “administrative units aimed at enlightenment and reform of persons deemed to pose a terrorist threat or those convicted of terrorist offenses.”
In December 2023, while hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), Emirati authorities brought new charges against at least 84 defendants, including al-Khaja. The new unfair mass trial raised serious due process concerns, including restricted access to case material and information, limited legal assistance, judges directing witness testimony, violations of the principle of double jeopardy, credible allegations of serious abuse and ill-treatment, and hearings shrouded in secrecy.
Under international law, states have an obligation to carry out independent, impartial, transparent, effective, and thorough investigations into potentially unlawful deaths, including those in custody. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules) require countries to provide prisoners access to adequate medical care.
UAE authorities should immediately provide timely and adequate medical care to all prisoners, including those convicted as part of 2013 mass trial, Human Rights Watch and EDAC said.
“Ali al-Khaja’s death in custody is not an isolated incident, but the direct result of years of torture, medical neglect, and arbitrary detention,” said Hamad Al Shamsi, executive director at the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center. “Ali was deprived of his most basic human rights, and it is time to hold those responsible to account and take serious steps to protect the remaining prisoners of conscience in the UAE.”
India’s Sporting Ambition Needs Rights Safeguards
India will play host to the centenary Commonwealth Games in 2030 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state, which is also the proposed host city for the country’s 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games bid.
India last hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2010 in New Delhi amid allegations of corruption, forced evictions, labor rights abuses, and trafficking of women and girls. As Indian authorities undertake new construction for sports infrastructure and public transport, they should put human rights, including workers’ rights, at the center of these efforts.
India has increased its investments in sport facilities beyond the game of cricket and has taken some steps to develop youth and grassroots programs. In July, the government announced the National Sports Policy 2025, promising athlete welfare, a legal framework for sport governance, and inclusion of women, persons with disabilities, and people from economically and socially marginalized communities. This was a needed step, but poor governance and abuse is entrenched in Indian sport so implementation and enforcement are key.
In 2024, the nongovernmental Sport and Rights Alliance documented systemic abuse and sexual harassment in Indian women’s wrestling, finding that Indian sports bodies and the justice system failed to protect women athletes from abuse or provide effective remedies. A 2023 UN Women and UNESCO report found that “approximately one third of female athletes in India experienced sexual abuse, harassment or inappropriate behaviour by a male coach.”
Since India last hosted the Games, Commonwealth Sport (formerly known as the Commonwealth Games Federation) took its own steps to embed respect for human rights, in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. It has outlined commitments to support athletes’ freedom of expression and introduced a Safeguarding Policy, both applying to athletes during the Games.
As India prepares for the 2030 Commonwealth Games, the government should ensure strong human rights safeguards for athletes, women and girls, construction workers, and all affected communities. As part of this process, Commonwealth Sport should act to ensure that the Indian authorities conduct meaningful stakeholder engagement with a wide range of diverse stakeholders, including from religious and ethnic minorities, Dalits, and other marginalized communities.
India has an opportunity to set a new standard for the Commonwealth Games, one that safeguards human rights, and by doing so, can also give its Olympic bid a boost.
COP30 Measures of Climate Adaptation Progress Should Center Rights
As coastal communities around the world are already facing the sobering consequences of sea level rise, government negotiators at the just-completed United Nations climate summit, known as COP30, debated a critical question: how do we measure “successful” climate adaptation?
There is no easy answer, as negotiations on how to measure progress toward a global goal on how to help communities adapt showed. But having indicators to measure adaptation matters because what is measured gets funded and prioritized by government policies and international donors.
At COP30, negotiators adopted a set of tools to measure adaptation progress, known as the Belém Adaptation Indicators, which contain problematic provisions. What countries finally adopted would, in part, measure success as the proportion of communities and number of people moved away from climate change impacts.
But evidence shows that relocating more communities is not necessarily a desired outcome. Human Rights Watch has documented how difficult planned relocation can be, even when communities request it, and how essential it is for human rights to be respected at all stages of the process. Planned relocation should be seen as a measure of last resort, only after all efforts to adapt in place are exhausted.
Moreover, if community views are not centered, new sites often offer a worse standard of living than places of origin, with challenges for relocated people’s livelihoods, access to basic services, and even ongoing exposure to new hazards (flooding in Senegal, landslides in Panama, ongoing sea level rise in Solomon Islands). Adaptation “success” should measure relocated people’s quality of life and whether their rights are protected after the planned relocation, not whether they move.
Adaptation “success” depends not on the number of relocations but on the quality of governance and support for relocating communities. An earlier draft of the indicators would have instead measured the number of protocols on planned relocation developed to ensure that communities are properly supported and moves are “safe, voluntary and dignified.” Measuring adaptation success as policy development aligns with the goal of a coalition of relocating community leaders and their allies, launched by Human Rights Watch in June 2025. Ultimately, adaptation progress and protection of human rights must go hand in hand.
US Congress Should Protect Child Workers Harvesting Crops
As families across the United States prepare to gather for Thanksgiving this Thursday, too many children face danger cultivating and harvesting the foods that will end up on our tables.
A new Los Angeles Times investigation has found children working back-breaking 10-hour shifts on farms across the US state of California. Many said they began working when they were between 11 and 13 years old.
The children’s stories are eerily familiar. My colleagues and I have interviewed hundreds of children working on US farms who also worked 10 or more hours a day in extreme heat and reported injuries, illness, and chronic pain.
Many children we spoke with were exposed to toxic pesticides while they worked, with some becoming violently ill afterward. “I got so sick one time after they sprayed,” a 15-year-old girl told me. “I got really dizzy and I saw black. I sat down and threw up several times.” Pesticide exposure can be especially harmful to children because their bodies and brains are still developing.
US labor law leaves child farmworkers unprotected from these dangers. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, children as young as 12 can work unlimited hours on farms of any size with parental permission, as long as they do not miss school. At 16, child farmworkers can do work considered hazardous, while in all other sectors, workers must be 18 to do hazardous work. Enforcement of even these weak protections is often lacking.
A bill before Congress would close these gaps and provide child farmworkers with the same protections as other working children. Last week, Congressman Raul Ruiz of California reintroduced the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE Act), which would raise the minimum working age in agriculture from 12 to 14, and prohibit those under 18 from performing hazardous work.
Child labor in the US —and worldwide —is driven by economic need, and ensuring living wages, social security, labor rights protections, and free education are all key to protecting children from hazardous child labor. But strong legal frameworks and robust labor enforcement, coupled with other human rights protections, can help eliminate child labor.
For Thanksgiving, members of Congress should support the CARE Act and use their power to protect child farmworkers.
Azerbaijan Escalates Crackdown on Exiled Critics
Azerbaijani authorities are escalating their campaign against independent and critical voices abroad, issuing arrest warrants and summonses for exiled journalists, activists, and analysts on what appear to be politically motivated charges. The moves fit a long-running pattern of efforts to crush dissent and restrict freedom of expression both inside Azerbaijan and beyond its borders.
Earlier in November, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced that the Binagadi District Court had issued arrest warrants in absentia for several exiled figures charged under multiple articles of Azerbaijan’s criminal code. Those targeted include Osmangizi, Ganimat Zahid, and Beydulla Manafov, journalists; Abid Gafarov, a blogger; Altay Goyushov, a historian; Arastun Oruclu, a political analyst; and Vagif Allahverdiyev, founder of the YouTube channel Victor Alexander.
Osmangizi, Gafarov, Oruclu, Allahverdiyev, and Goyushov are being investigated under criminal code articles 220.2 and 281.2 for “calls for mass disorder” and “public calls against the state,” offences which authorities frequently misuse to criminalize lawful exercise of freedoms of expression and assembly. Manafov faces the same “anti-state” accusation under article 281.2, along with an additional charge under article 283.1 for “inciting national, racial, social, or religious hatred.”
The alleged factual basis for these criminal investigations remains unclear, though it is evident that all those targeted are outspoken critics of the Azerbaijani government’s human rights failings and regularly voice their concerns online.
These cases reflect the authorities’ longstanding practice of abusing the criminal justice system to silence critics, which Human Rights Watch has extensively documented over many years.
Since November 2023, Azerbaijani authorities have arrested journalists, political activists, rights defenders, and scholars on spurious financial and other criminal charges, including illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, tax evasion, and document forgery.
The latest wave of targeting Azerbaijanis abroad follows multiple criminal investigations in March 2025 against several exiled bloggers, accusing them of offenses including fraud, terrorism, inciting riots, disobeying official orders, and attempting a coup. Since then, the courts have issued numerous arrest warrants and handed down convictions in absentia. Most recently, in September, a court sentenced a France-based blogger, Mahammad Mirzali, in absentia to six and a half years in prison on several charges, including inciting mass unrest.
Azerbaijani authorities should immediately drop all politically motivated charges, end their relentless crackdown on independent voices at home and abroad, and uphold their international obligations to respect free expression and association.
UN Should Protect its Long Underfunded Human Rights Pillar
The United Nations leadership has launched a major reform plan to make the cash-strapped world body more efficient and cost-effective. Unfortunately, it has offered little on how this will impact the UN’s already understaffed and underfunded human rights work and the victims it is intended to help.
The UN’s worsening financial crisis is largely due to the failure of some member states, including the United States and China, to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time. The Trump administration, which has gutted its foreign aid program budget, has halted most of its obligatory payments to the UN, while China has been paying extremely late.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ “UN80” reform initiative, named to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the UN’s founding this year, is intended to address this liquidity crisis, but its impact will be severe. The package’s proposed 2026 budget calls for an average of 15 percent reductions in expenditures, including nearly 20 percent in staff cuts.
The UN secretariat has suggested one of its problems is that it has too many mandates, including on human rights. In a September 2025 report to the UN General Assembly, Guterres referred to the “proliferation of mechanisms” related to human rights, which he said has led to “fragmentation, duplication and competition for resources.”
UN member states create human rights mechanisms in response to crises. In the face of widespread atrocities in Sudan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Iran, Israel/Palestine, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, and elsewhere, for example, independent UN investigations were established to document abuses and support accountability. Many of these investigations are already struggling to function with shoestring staffs and a fraction of their budgeted funding.
For years, Russia, China, Iran and other governments with poor human rights records have also sought to defund UN human rights mechanisms in the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee, which is currently discussing the 2026 budget.
Cutting or merging crucial human rights mandates won’t solve the UN’s liquidity crisis—human rights accounts for less than 1 percent of total UN expenditures. But it will hurt victims of abuse by signaling to those responsible that scrutiny is being cut back. The UN leadership and its member states cannot let the opponents of human rights win.
Cambodia: Returned Migrant Workers Face Hunger, Joblessness
(Bangkok) – The Cambodian government is failing to provide support to hundreds of thousands of migrant workers with microfinance debts who returned from Thailand because of hostilities in mid-2025, Human Rights Watch said today.
Even before the border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, from July 24-28, Cambodian officials encouraged migrant workers in Thailand to return home because of rising tensions, and more than 900,000 have done so. The government’s promises of jobs and other support have not materialized for most though, and many are under pressure to repay microfinance loans they took before seeking work in Thailand. The government should assist returned migrant workers to find jobs in Cambodia and adopt measures to provide meaningful debt relief to them and other Cambodians.
“The Cambodian government has an obligation to assist the migrant workers its officials encouraged to return from Thailand because of discrimination and recent hostilities,” said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should ensure that predatory microfinance institutions are not putting improper pressure on returned migrants and other marginalized Cambodians who are struggling to feed their families.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 56 former migrant workers in Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province who returned from Thailand between May and September.
The Cambodian government has long failed to ensure the rights to an adequate standard of living, education, and health care, compelling many families to obtain predatory microfinance loans. The return of hundreds of thousands of Cambodian migrant workers because of hostilities with Thailand and the promises of support from the Cambodian government have made their already tenuous situation even more difficult, Human Rights Watch said.
In May, tensions escalated at the Thai-Cambodia border. On June 14, Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen called on all Cambodians working in Thailand to return home to avoid expulsion or mistreatment in Thailand, calling it a “real and inevitable risk.” Prime Minister Hun Manet, Hun Sen’s son, said the government was prepared to facilitate repatriation, with the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training pledging more than 70,000 jobs for returned migrants and the Ministry of Economy and Finance ready to offer a “range of economic and social intervention packages aimed at improving their daily lives.”
On June 23, Thailand ordered the closure of all land crossings with Cambodia, except for migrant workers returning to Cambodia.
Migrant workers told Human Rights Watch that they returned to Cambodia due to discrimination and harassment in Thailand, as well as the Cambodian government’s promises of employment and social assistance. But many said that once back in Cambodia, they have been skipping meals and forgoing medical care to make repayments on microfinance loans they incurred before going abroad. In 2023, the average Cambodian household held more debt than they spent for the year.
A 17-year-old who had worked for two years in Thailand said she had dropped out of school and migrated to help her mother repay a microfinance loan. She said that after fighting between Thailand and Cambodia began, her Thai employers would regularly verbally harass her: “I would cry every day because of the bad treatment at work.”
Despite government promises, returned migrant workers said that there were very few jobs available once they got back home. Some travelled to find work in the capital, Phnom Penh, hundreds of kilometers away from their homes in provinces along the Thai-Cambodia border, but few reportedly found employment.
A 32-year-old woman who tried to get a job at a Cambodian garment factory after returning from Thailand said she did not have the necessary experience. “I took a three-day skills test, and I didn’t pass because I didn’t have the skills to work and sew the garments,” she said. “They want skilled workers, and we don’t have the skills.”
Many returned migrants have loans from banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs). For years, Cambodian banks and MFIs have engaged in predatory lending, causing a household debt crisis, and pressure to repay debts often contributes to the decision to migrate to Thailand for work. Cambodia has the most microcredit debt per capita anywhere in the world.
A 2019 report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) identified microfinance debt as a growing driver of migration from Cambodia, and Cambodia’s microfinance sector has grown rapidly since then. The Cambodian Development Resource Institute (CDRI) reported that one-third of returned migrant workers are from households that hold formal loans ranging from US$5,000 to US$8,000, several times larger than Cambodia’s annual median per-capita income.
A 41-year-old woman who had lived in Thailand for 10 years working in construction in Bangkok said that she now had to balance repaying her loans with paying for health care and her children’s education. “We have to decide between food, making MFI payments, and whether our kids can still afford to go to school,” she said. Her household used to have three people working in Thailand but now all have returned, and the family has cut back to two meals a day. She said that if they miss their monthly loan repayment of more than $100, they will lose the land they pledged as collateral for the loan.
Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Cambodia is a party, governments are obligated to take steps, to the maximum of their available resources, to progressively realize the human right to an adequate standard of living. This includes the obligation to protect people from conduct by third parties, such as predatory microfinance institutions, that would prevent the fulfillment of this right. Under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, private companies also have responsibilities to respect human rights and to identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for practices that have harmed people.
The Cambodian government should take prompt action to uphold the rights of returned migrant workers, including by following through on its pledges to assist them in finding employment. The government should also implement more effective measures to protect all Cambodians, including returned migrant workers, from predatory debt collection practices and the potential human rights harms of debt servicing.
This could include the restructuring of loans for returned migrant workers and others affected by the Thai-Cambodia border conflict, who face extreme economic hardship. The government needs to enforce penalties for aggressive debt collection practices and ensure that all microfinance institutions and lenders follow ethical standards for loan recovery.
The government also needs to address the broader situation that compels many families in Cambodia to take on considerable debt, including by removing barriers to health care and free education. The Cambodian government should allocate appropriate resources to both sectors and set budgetary spending targets aligned with international benchmarks.
“The situation is dire for these returned migrant workers, who are rapidly eroding their savings to survive and pay off their debts,” Lau said. “Cambodian authorities need to act swiftly to protect Cambodians from microfinance lenders and financial institutions and support workers who returned from Thailand at their urging.”
Fear of Violence, Discrimination Drove Migrant Workers to Return
Many migrant workers told Human Rights Watch that they returned to Cambodia because they experienced or feared discrimination in Thailand, or feared violence, as tensions rose at the border.
A woman, 44, who had worked in Thailand for more than 20 years, said that after the border conflict began on July 24, everyday life in Thailand became more difficult. She recalled being told, “Why don’t you go back to Cambodia and pick up the bones of the dead Cambodians?”
“My husband and I could not handle the discrimination, so we returned,” she said. “People in the market didn’t want to sell us food because we are Cambodian. Every time we went to work, we felt this discrimination.”
A man, 30, who had worked in Thailand for 10 years reported witnessing violence against Cambodian migrant workers. “A group of Thai men, around 50, were on foot and motorbikes looking for Khmer to attack,” he said. “One of the people in my village was also beaten and chased [until] I was about 10 meters away. The couple wanted help but there were so many Thais beating them, no one dared to help.”
Thai media reported several assaults on Cambodian workers, as well as social media posts of a Thai ultra-royalist activist talking about Cambodian workers who were ungrateful and taking jobs from Thai citizens.
Returned migrants said that Thai police and authorities also discriminated against Cambodian workers. A woman, 37, who worked in construction in Bangkok said that Thai police would ask migrant workers, “Do you want to go home to Cambodia, or do you all want to go to prison together?”
A man, 18, who also worked in construction in the Thai capital, recalled Thai police going door-to-door to check visas and passports of Cambodian migrant workers, asking for money or detaining people who could not pay. Some migrant workers reported being required to pay bribes to Thai police or soldiers when they crossed back into Cambodia.
The border between Cambodia and Thailand has remained shut, and many workers fear a return to Thailand would mean further discrimination or even violence from Thai authorities or employers. Thai media reported that about 300 Cambodian migrant workers were arrested between mid-June and September for attempting to cross into Thailand without permission. Other Cambodian migrant workers have reported staying in Thailand despite the situation due to the economic pressures stemming from loans, including bank and microfinance loans from Cambodian financial institutions.
After border tensions again increased in early November, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on November 10 announced the suspension of a policy that allows about 100,000 migrant workers from Cambodia to stay in Thailand for an additional year after their work permits expire. This has left the legal status of Cambodian migrant workers remaining in Thailand in limbo.
Promises of Jobs Unmet
Some migrant workers said that Cambodian government promises of jobs and social assistance also encouraged them to return home. On June 14, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet posted on his Facebook page that the government was ready to handle a mass repatriation of workers, and specifically mentioned that the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training would help find jobs for returned migrants due to a shortage of tens of thousands of workers in the country.
Upon returning to Cambodia, many migrants found that there were few jobs available, and those that did exist were either too far from their homes or a poor match for their skills. A woman, 53, returned to Cambodia due to fears of violence and because she read news reports that the Cambodian government had jobs for returning migrant workers. “But when we returned, there were no jobs for us,” she said.
A man, 28, said that getting hired at a garment factory in Cambodia was difficult because the jobs were far away, and returned migrant workers often lacked any connections that could help them secure employment. Others reported that the costs of transportation and housing in Phnom Penh and the length of time it would most likely take to find a job would make it too expensive for many returned migrants to seek employment in the capital.
The CDRI reported that the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training claimed there were 190,000 jobs available for returned migrant workers. Even if true, with more than 900,000 migrant workers returning, more than 700,000 workers would not be covered.
The CDRI further noted a mismatch between the available jobs and returned workers, with the majority of migrants returning to border provinces, such as Banteay Meanchey and Battambang, while most of the available jobs were in Phnom Penh. In addition, more than half of returned migrant workers had been working in construction or agriculture in Thailand, while most of the available jobs in Cambodia were in other sectors.
In October, a group of local civil society organizations called on the government to address these issues through improved social security, especially unemployment benefits, large-scale and gender-sensitive employment programs, and debt relief, among other measures.
International human rights law provides everyone the right to social security, including during periods of unemployment. Currently, nobody who is unemployed in Cambodia has access to social security, based on the International Labour Organization’s data.
Debt Pressures
As Human Rights Watch has previously reported, Cambodian households often take out loans from paying supplementary school fees to affording out-of-pocket payments for essential medicines, and other human rights. But when household income must be diverted to service debt, it can also limit the fulfillment of rights like health, education, and an adequate standard of living, which includes the rights to food, housing, and water.
Like other Cambodians living in rural areas or in poverty, many returned migrant workers are in significant debt to microfinance institutions for loans they took out years ago.
Click to expand Image © Human Rights WatchWhile the Cambodian government has adopted laws and policies to regulate MFIs, they remain largely unenforced, allowing predatory lending and collection practices to persist.
In correspondence with Human Rights Watch from July, the National Bank of Cambodia, which has the authority to sanction and suspend or revoke licenses of MFIs, did not provide any instances in which it had penalized or sanctioned MFIs for any violation of consumer protection or regulatory laws or policies. Rather, the government has repeatedly demonstrated a preference for voluntary measures and self-regulation.
On July 30, the National Bank of Cambodia issued new guidelines to financial institutions that “encouraged” them to enact unspecified “relief” for returned migrant workers. None of the people interviewed identified any meaningful relief measures by microfinance institutions or banks.
A woman, 18, who was until recently working at an agricultural factory in Thailand said she moved abroad after dropping out of school in grade 9 because her family had to sell the motorbike that she was using to ride to school to repay their microfinance loans. She said that since returning to Cambodia in July, she eats about half as much meat as she used to at each meal and is worried about not being able to pay for treatment for her mother’s medical condition.
A woman, 35, who used to work on a farm in Thailand before the fighting began, took a microfinance loan to build a home, but now struggles to juggle repayments along with food and medical costs. “I have to cut down on my food a lot ... we are replacing meat and protein with more rice now,” she said. “Credit officers come to my home to pressure me to make payments.… I am afraid they will take my land. We are afraid of the MFIs more than we are of the police.”
A woman, 47, who has both microfinance debt and informal loans, expressed fears about repaying her debts: “I’m willing to go without eating to pay back my loans out of fear of losing my land that my home is on.”
These pressures have led returned migrant workers to take on more debt to make ends meet and avoid forced land sales, a common practice of credit officers who pressure borrowers to sell their land without using the legal foreclosure method when they are unable to repay their loans. A man, 55, with a microfinance loan who had pledged his land as collateral, said: “When I am late on repayments, I walk around my village looking to borrow money from people out of fear of losing my land and my home on it ... I worry every day about my microfinance loan repayments; I worry all the time. Whatever I have I will sell, because I am worried about them taking my land.”
Healthcare costs put over-indebted households under further financial strain, with 61 percent of all healthcare costs in Cambodia covered out-of-pocket, by far the highest percentage in the region and among the highest in the world.
A woman, 33, who had recently returned after working in Thailand for four years, said that she initially left Cambodia because she could not earn enough to repay a microfinance loan, which she needed partly to pay for treating her mother’s chronic illness.
“When we are late, credit officers will come and harass us to make payments, and we would avoid staying home to not have them pressure us,” she said. “There have been maybe three or four families in my village who have lost land because they didn’t pay MFI loans. The families who lost land had to go work in Thailand, but now we don’t know where they are, because they have nothing to come back to.”
Two former construction workers in Bangkok—a 30-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman—had each taken out microfinance loans to cover healthcare expenses for family members, using land that their houses are on as collateral. They said they ate less than they did before returning from Thailand because they were worried about losing their land. “I repay because I’m worried that they [credit officers] will take my land away,” the woman said. “I see on Facebook that people have lost their land, so I stress about it.”
The Cambodian Government’s Inadequate Response
There are few options available for returned migrant workers who cannot find work and are burdened with heavy microfinance debt.
The Cambodian government should take prompt action to uphold the rights of returned migrant workers, including by following through on its pledges to assist them in finding employment. The government should also take additional measures to implement more effective consumer protection measures to protect all Cambodians, including returned migrant workers, from predatory debt collection practices and the potential human rights harms of debt servicing. This could include the restructuring of loans for returned migrant workers and others affected by the Thai-Cambodia border conflict, who face extreme economic hardship. The government needs to prohibit and enforce penalties for aggressive debt collection practices and ensure that all microfinance institutions and lenders follow ethical standards for loan recovery.
The government also needs to address the broader situation that compels many families in Cambodia to take on considerable debt, including by removing barriers to health care and free education. The Cambodian government should allocate appropriate resources to both sectors and set budgetary spending targets aligned with international benchmarks.
Yemeni Government Inaction on Gender Equality Speaks Louder than Words
By a Research Assistant, Middle East and North Africa Division
On November 23, Yemen’s President Rashad al-Alimi stated in a cabinet meeting that “it is unacceptable for the Yemeni government to remain without a single ministerial portfolio led by a woman in a country where women make up more than half of the population.” Al-Alimi added that women “possess the expertise and competence that make their absence a legal and institutional flaw that must be corrected.”
Yemeni Prime Minister Salem Saleh bin Buraik offered a similar sentiment in June 2025, praising “the remarkable role played by Yemeni women amid current challenges, affirming the government’s commitment to strengthening their participation in decision-making and ensuring a meaningful, effective partnership on the ground.”
The United Nations Development Programme noted in 2021 that “Yemeni women remain significantly under-represented in public and elected office holding only 4.1 per cent of managerial and decision-making positions …” Despite the repeated statements, women’s marginalization from government decision-making remains largely unchanged.
In 2020, the former Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek formed his second cabinet without any women ministers—the same cabinet that remains in place today. Abdulmalek’s previous cabinet included only two women out of 36 ministers; since 2014 Yemeni women’s representation at the cabinet level has been strikingly low. Beyond ministerial [or cabinet] roles, women’s participation in decision-making should be actively supported in local government, private sector initiatives, and civil society.
Women in Yemen face continued challenges and risks as warring parties continue to target them. In March 2024, Human Rights Watch published a report documenting the parties’ violations and restrictions against women stating that “the restrictions have harmed women’s ability to access work, education, and health care, and are a form of discrimination.” The Yemeni authorities have failed to fully address restrictions on women’s movement, even within their own areas of control.
Yemeni women are also victims of political violence, including assassinations. On September 18, 2025, Ms. Iftihan al-Mashhari, head of the Cleaning and Improvement Fund, was assassinated in Taiz city by armed assailants.
While Human Rights Watch welcomes the recognition of women’s importance by the head of the Presidential Leadership Council, the government needs to translate this rhetoric into reality, including by expanding women’s role in decision-making at all levels of government and by addressing the mobility challenges and restrictions women face. The government, as well as the UN, should also ensure that women are adequately included in peace talks and any transitional justice efforts. Beyond simple inclusion in visible roles, the government and its partners should address the underlying structural barriers, including discrimination that women face, across all levels of society.
Nigeria: Renewed Spate of School Kidnappings
(Abuja) – Nigerian authorities should act urgently to secure the safe release of students and teachers recently kidnapped in the country’s northwest and take concrete steps to protect schools and communities from further attacks, Human Rights Watch said today. The groups responsible for the kidnappings should immediately release the students and teachers they are holding captive.
On November 18, 2025, 25 schoolgirls were kidnapped by unidentified armed men from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi state. Just three days later, on November 21, 303 students and 12 teachers were kidnapped at St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Niger state.
“These mass school kidnappings once again lay bare the deliberate targeting of students, teachers, and schools in Nigeria’s deteriorating security environment,” said Anietie Ewang, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The deepening crisis underscores the government’s failure to protect vulnerable communities.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Nigeria has in recent years been plagued by violent attacks and kidnappings by criminal gangs colloquially called “bandits.” These groups have carried out kidnappings for ransom, including of schoolchildren in Nigeria’s northwestern and central states. On November 18, the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen, or JNIM), which is active throughout the Sahel, claimed responsibility for an attack on a military patrol in Kwara state on October 29, apparently its first incursion into Nigerian territory.
Human Rights Watch spoke with parents of two of the girls abducted in Kebbi state. Isa Nazifi, whose 13-year-old daughter Khadija Nazifi, a junior secondary school student, was among those abducted, said: “I immediately took a motorbike and rushed to the school, where I found my second daughter, also a student at the school. She told me Khadija had been taken. We are extremely worried. My wife is in tears. I will stay here at the school until my daughter returns. If I go home without her, what will I tell my family?”
Malam Sani Zimri, whose daughter, Salima Sani Zimri, is a senior secondary school student who was also abducted, said he had heard rumors from other parents of a possible attack by bandits the week before the incident: “We developed confidence after seeing military operatives surveilling the area, only to realize that there were no security operatives on the premises for the entire three hours that the incident occurred.”
The 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction in Borno state by the armed Islamist group Boko Haram provoked global outrage. Since then, a series of school kidnappings across northern Nigeria has left families traumatized and entire communities living in fear that if their children went to school, they might never return home. In 2016, Human Rights Watch reported that Boko Haram had similarly abducted over 300 children from the Zanna Mobarti Primary School in Damasak, Borno state, in 2015.
In December 2020, more than 300 boys were kidnapped from a boarding school in Kankara, Katsina state. In early 2021, students were again taken in major incidents in Kagara, Niger state, and Jangebe, Zamfara state, followed by the kidnapping of over 100 studentsfrom Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state. The spate of kidnappings continued in 2024 with students taken from schools in Kuriga, Kaduna state, and Gidan Bakuso, Sokoto state.
Nigerian authorities have failed to apply lessons from previous attacks to create early warning systems and other measures that could prevent these atrocities, Human Rights Watch said.
In response to the recent kidnappings, the government has promised to rescue the kidnapped students and hold those responsible accountable. President Bola Tinubu directed security agencies to act swiftly to bring the girls back while also urging local communities to share intelligence.
The authorities have also shut down 47 federal secondary schools known as Federal Unity Colleges, and some states including Katsina, Taraba, and Niger have also closed schools or restricted school activities, particularly boarding institutions. While these measures are aimed at protecting students, they have disrupted learning for thousands of children, denying them access to education and the social and psychological support schools provide. Without concrete measures to provide alternative learning opportunities to ensure continuity in their education, the students are at risk of falling behind academically and facing long term setbacks in their development.
Nigeria is a signatory to the Safe Schools Declaration, committing the government to take concrete steps to protect education during conflict and insecurity. Yet kidnappings have continued at a relentless pace and scale. On November 19, the Nigerian Senate ordered a full-scale investigationinto the implementation of the government’s Safe School Fund, questioning why money earmarked for protecting schools has failed to prevent recurring attacks. The government should move with urgency to advance a proposal to introduce legislation to implement the Safe Schools Declaration, Human Rights Watch said.
“Children in Nigeria have the right to go to school without fearing for their lives,” Ewang said. “Nigerian authorities should prioritize the safe release of the kidnapped children and their teachers and bring those responsible for their abduction to justice.”