Human Rights Watch

📣 Academy Award–nominated actor and human rights advocate @markruffalo.bsky.social has joined forces with HRW, @nowheremedia.bsky.social, and @weareagog.bsky.social to narrate "Solwata," a new documentary spotlighting the human consequences of climate change in the Pacific nation of Solomon Islands.

“It is as if a tsunami had hit the city,” said a resident who returned to Sudan’s El Fasher to find it destroyed and largely abandoned after the RSF's Oct. 2025 takeover. One year on, global actors should ensure it never happens again, take steps to protect civilians, and ensure accountability.

A South Korean government proposal would allow medication abortion in 2027, but overly restrictive regulations will continue to impair the right to safe and affordable abortion services. Access to safe abortion is essential to protecting the autonomy, health, and rights of women and girls.

What happens when your home becomes a war zone? In our Rights & Wrongs podcast, host Ngofeen Mputubwele speaks to Lama Fakih, HRW’s Global Program Director, about the loss of her home in Beirut, Lebanon, amid the US/Israeli war with Iran. 🔉: https://bit.ly/3VzSMbF

“It’s also thanks to your government that Israeli atrocities continue with complete impunity.” Watch HRW’s @claudiofrancavilla.bsky.social speak in the Czech Parliament about accountability, complicity, and the human cost of inaction.

Vietnam is suppressing independent trade unions and the right to organize. By enabling artificially low labor costs, Vietnamese companies are allowed unfair trade advantages. As To Lam visits the EU, trading partners need to make one thing clear: broken pledges will carry consequences. Read more:

The European Parliament has awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the International Criminal Court and its officials. This prize should be a rallying cry for ICC members to stand up for the court and for the EU Commission to urgently activate the EU’s "blocking statute."

Mali’s armed forces and the allied Russia-controlled Africa Corps have committed new atrocities against civilians in central Mali during renewed fighting. Concerned governments and international institutions should press the Malian authorities to conduct credible investigations into abuses.

Today is Ahmed Mansoor’s birthday. Since 2017, he has spent his birthday behind bars, where he’s been arbitrarily imprisoned in an isolation cell in the UAE. All charges on which he was convicted were based on his human rights advocacy. Emirati authorities should #FreeAhmed. #BirthdayWishes4Ahmed

Burkina Faso’s unelected parliament has unanimously adopted a new penal code that restores the death penalty for some crimes. Reinstating capital punishment sends a chilling message to critics of the military junta and risks becoming another tool to suppress dissent.

In a nationwide September survey, 40 percent of respondents said they expect some kind of ICE presence at polls in the US. The US government should order federal ICE officers not to operate in the vicinity of any voting locations during the midterm electoral period.

Saudi authorities have executed Hassan Zaki al-Faraj for crimes allegedly committed when he was just 14 years old. His death highlights the risk of execution others face in Saudi Arabia for childhood offenses: https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/10/19/saudi-arabia-man-executed-for-childhood-offenses

Kabwe’s children have waited long enough. Today, the African Children's court (ACERWC) is considering their case. Zambia should stop further lead exposure, provide testing and treatment, and clean up toxic mine waste. Read more: https://bit.ly/4k62T1V Watch HRW's short film on Kabwe's children ⤵️

Syria’s authorities are rebuilding the army and the security forces without women. Authorities have imposed admissions rules that bar women from most programs at two new state universities focused on defense and security.

"The pursuit of justice is precisely what is at stake today." HRW's Executive Director @bolopion.bsky.social discusses the importance of the International Criminal Court and shares how Human Rights Watch is fighting back to defend it.

Civilians in Mali are paying the price as fighting continues across the country. More than 400 civilians were killed between April and August 2026. The Malian military, armed groups, and insurgent forces are committing grave laws-of-war violations. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4k4sSqv

Formula One’s decision this week to bring a Grand Prix to Rwanda in the early 2030s could be an important moment for Africa. But the 10-year agreement between Formula One and Rwanda also brings significant human rights risks.

A significant step forward for LGBT rights in Hungary: Parliament has rolled back key parts of the discriminatory 2021 law that restricted how LGBT people could be portrayed or discussed in content accessible to children. Now, the government should remove the discriminatory provisions that remain.

Police in Türkiye carried out a raid on the widely watched, independent news channel Halk TV on October 14. The seizure of the channel is part of a wider effort by the government to restrict Turkish citizens’ access to independent news sources.

“So if someone says we will break [the ICC] down brick by brick, [...] we will defend it brick by brick." While speaking with HRW in Amsterdam, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Rob Jetten discussed defending the International Criminal Court at a time when the institution is under attack.

Contrast @eudiplomacy.bsky.social's apathy on #Sudan & its cover-up of #UnitedArabEmirates' support to brutal RSF, with @ec.europa.eu's obsession to back #Egypt & #Libya 's abusive policies, & you have @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu's grand vision of geopolitical #Europe. euobserver.com/242504/von-d...

High schoolers in France are protesting the government’s continued under-investment in their education. Police use of force in response to the protests has resulted in serious injuries to children, including a 15-year-old boy who lost a hand to an explosive police stun grenade.

HRW’s Global Program Director Lama Fakih knew attacks would likely reach Beirut as tensions escalated in the US/Israeli war with Iran. But she never thought they would hit so close to home. 🔉 New episode of our Rights & Wrongs podcast: https://bit.ly/3VzSMbF

Next month, Türkiye will host #COP31, the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference. Ahead of the conference, authorities in Türkiye are arbitrarily arresting and prosecuting activists and others involved in environmental protests. New from HRW: https://bit.ly/4ykcSnN

Senegal’s intensifying crackdown on LGBT people is violating their rights and causing increasing fear and stigma. The crackdown calls into question Senegal’s compliance with its own laws and international law, as well as the Olympic charter, ahead of hosting the Youth Olympic Games.

Police in Delhi are responding to peaceful protests with seemingly unnecessary or excessive force & have wrongfully detained thousands of people. The Modi government should stop throwing protesters in jail & instead engage with them on the right to vote & fair elections. www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

"Every day, it goes underwater, then reappears." Philippine authorities in Pampanga have threatened the safety and livelihoods of Pulo Island residents by relocating them to a low-lying area as part of a flawed flood control project. Learn more and watch the full video: https://bit.ly/4dwZ6qu

People around the world are losing their homes to a crisis they didn’t create. "Solwata," a new immersive documentary spotlighting the climate crisis in the Pacific nation of Solomon Islands, will play at the London Film Festival. Learn more about the film: https://bit.ly/4fiw5Pc

As armed conflicts proliferate around the globe, World Mental Health Day is a reminder that psychological harms of armed conflict can have lasting effects on civilians' mental health. Accessible, inclusive mental health care can help create the conditions for recovery, inclusion, and hope.

On World Day Against the Death Penalty, a reminder that Saudi Arabia continues using the death penalty, executing record numbers of people including migrants convicted of nonlethal drug offenses, men convicted of alleged crimes as children, and gov't critics.

One year after a ceasefire agreement took effect, Israeli forces continue to kill and wound civilians and deny sufficient food, aid, and water to Palestinians in Gaza. https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/10/10/gaza-ceasefire-anniversary-marks-year-of-failed-promises

The Trump administration’s decision to sanction the International Criminal Court is an unprecedented assault on global justice and the rule of law. By attacking the ICC, the US government is threatening justice for victims of abuses from Palestine to Ukraine, Myanmar, and Sudan. Read more:

On October 9, the United States government sanctioned the International Criminal Court, citing ICC jurisdiction over crimes by US nationals abroad. This is an unprecedented assault on global justice and the rule of law. Read HRW's statement: https://bit.ly/4zuGQqh

👏 👏 👏 Congratulations to Navi Pillay, an activist, human rights investigator, and international judge, who has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. From Rwanda to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Navi Pillay has sought justice for the world’s worst crimes.

This Saturday is World Day Against the Death Penalty, as executions continue in Saudi Arabia in violation of international law. 📢 For those in London or attending the national march for Palestine later, join us at 11am outside the Saudi embassy to take a stand. #NoDeathPenalty

With 36 groups, @hrw.org calls Human Rights Council to urgently convene Special Session on #Ethiopia following renewed large-scale hostilities & risk of atrocities on civilians. @euatun.bsky.social should show continued leadership & bring situation to HRC agenda defenddefenders.org/ethiopia-civ...

🚨 New report by the Belarusian Association of Human Rights Lawyers documents the deep crisis that legal profession is facing in Belarus, including state control, repression and erosion of independence. Read it here ⤵️ bahrl.org/wp-content/u...