Human Rights

South Sudan conflict ‘devastating’ for country’s children – UN report

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Children in Juba, South Sudan.

Central African Republic: Multimedia Feature Recounts 2014 Violence

On the second anniversary of a rebellion that plunged the Central African Republic into bloody upheaval, Human Rights Watch Tuesday released a multimedia feature on several research missions undertaken in the Central African Republic in 2014.

Libya: UN urges end to 'senseless cycle of violence' as country reels from latest attack

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The streets of Sirte were the most heavily damaged after a nine-month war in 2011.

UN chief urges Pakistan to end executions, reinstate death penalty moratorium

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Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan.

Indonesia: Joint Inquiry Needed Into Papua Killings

Credible Impartial Investigation, Witness Protection Crucial

President Joko Widodo of Indonesia should create a joint fact-finding team to ensure a credible, impartial investigation into the December 8, 2014 deadly shootings in the remote town of Enarotali in Papua, Human Rights Watch said on December 24. The team should include the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the military, as well as the police, to investigate the incident, in which at least five peaceful protesters died of gunshot wounds.

‘No sign of improvement’ for human rights in Belarus, warns UN expert

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Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus Miklós Haraszti.

Indonesia: Joint Inquiry Needed Into Papua Killings

Credible Impartial Investigation, Witness Protection Crucial

President Joko Widodo of Indonesia should create a joint fact-finding team to ensure a credible, impartial investigation into the December 8, 2014 deadly shootings in the remote town of Enarotali in Papua, Human Rights Watch said on December 24, 2014. The team should include the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the military, as well as the police, to investigate the incident, in which at least five peaceful protesters died of gunshot wounds.

Russia: Mass Terror Verdict

Strong Evidence Defendants Tortured, But No Investigation

Russian authorities have failed to investigate strong evidence that at least 12 of the defendants convicted on December 23, 2014, on mass terrorism charges had been tortured and their coerced confessions used as evidence, Human Rights Watch said on December 24, 2014. A court in Nalchik sentenced most of the 12 to lengthy prison terms, including Rasul Kudaev, a former Guantanamo detainee, to life in prison, and Batyr Pshybiev to 18 years.

Libya: UN warns of human rights violations as factional fighting continues

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A destroyed house in Ahy Badr in the town of Mizdah in the Nafusa mountains in Libya after tribal conflict in March 2013.

Syria: Escalating Assault on Rebel-Held District

Indiscriminate Attacks, Increased Restrictions in Homs

The Syrian government is indiscriminately attacking the al-Waer neighborhood in Homs, the last neighborhood of the city still in the hands of rebels, with devastating consequences for the civilian population.