US: Turning the Corner on Marijuana
Voters in three states approved ballot measures on November 8, 2016, to legalize the use and possession of small amounts of marijuana, part of a continued shift in United States drug policy, Human Rights Watch said on Nov 11. In addition, Oklahoma...
Iraq: 37 Men Fleeing Fighting Detained
Iraqi and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) forces have detained at least 37 men from areas around Mosul and Hawija suspected of being affiliated with the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) since the beginning of the Mosul operation, Human Rights...
World closer to ending modern slavery as UN-backed protocol on forced labour comes into force
Forced labour often means unpaid wages, excessively long work hours without rest days,...
US: Trump Should Govern With Respect for Rights
United States President-elect Donald Trump should abandon campaign rhetoric that seemed to reject many of the United States’ core human rights obligations and put rights at the heart of his administration’s domestic and foreign policy agendas, Human...
Abortion Should Not Be A Crime
Punitive abortion laws - like in South Korea - violate human rights. In recent weeks, the government has threatened to toughen penalties on medical providers who perform abortions illegally. Women's groups and experts are fighting to make the...
World Bank Group: India Tea Investment Tramples Rights
A World Bank Group compliance investigation into an investment in Indian tea plantations reinforces the need for human rights risk analysis and oversight of the bank’s investments. The investigation report, released on November 7, 2016, concerned an...
Australia: Protests Prompt Ethiopia Reprisals
The Ethiopian government has arrested and detained dozens of relatives of Ethiopians who participated in a Melbourne protest in June, 2016, and is still holding many of them four months later, Human Rights Watch said on Nov 07.
India: Foreign Funding Law Used to Harass 25 Groups
The Indian central government’s refusal to renew foreign funding licenses of 25 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) without valid reasons violates their rights to freedom of expression and association, Amnesty International India and Human Rights...
Syria/Russia: School Attack a Possible War Crime
Airstrikes by the joint Russian-Syrian military operation that killed dozens of civilians, mostly schoolchildren, in the northern, opposition-controlled Syrian governorate of Idlib on October 26, 2016, could constitute a war crime, Human Rights Watch...
China: Abusive Cybersecurity Law Set to be Passed
The Chinese government is set to adopt the Cybersecurity Law, a regressive measure that strengthens censorship, surveillance, and other controls over the Internet, Human Rights Watch said on Nov 06. China’s top legislative body, the National People’s...
