A deputy from Kazakhstan's lower chamber of Parliament, the Mazhilis, has made an outrageous proposal to punish women for provoking abuse by their husbands. This, in a country where police receive more than 100,000 domestic violence complaints annually. In a September 26 meeting, where parliament's Legislation and Judicial Reform Committee was discussing measures to combat domestic violence, Amantai Zharkynbek, a deputy from the ruling Amanat political party, said that if a woman's husband is sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest for domestic violence, then 'it follows that his wife should be detained too,' for 'provoking' the abuse.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/09/punish-victim-says-kazakhstan-parliamentarian

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After a four-and-a-half-year national investigation involving over 9,000 accounts and 32 public hearings, an Australian commission issued a comprehensive and incriminating 4,872-page report on abuses against people with disabilities. Australia's Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability found thatmore than half of Australians with disabilities ages 18 to 64 have experienced physical or sexual violence. Seventy-two percent of women with psychosocial (mental health) or cognitive disabilities have experienced violence since the age of 15, compared to 54 percent of women with other disabilities.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/04/australians-disabilities-face-pervasive-abuse

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On September 15, Cyprus Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou bemoaned that European Union member states cannot currently return asylum seekers to Syria, and said the EU should reevaluate whether Syria is safe for returns so that asylum seekers could be deported to or returned there. Cyprus has also taken measures to expedite asylum processing, reduce financial support to asylum seekers, and begin construction of a migrant detention center to, as Ioannou puts it ,'make Cyprus an unattractive destination.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/29/no-syria-still-not-safe-refugee-returns

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Last week, an independent United Nations inquiry into serious violations committed since the outbreak of armed conflict in northern Ethiopia released a report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Its findings are chilling. The report, by the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE), exposes wide-ranging atrocities during the conflict, documenting 49 mass killings of Tigrayan civilians by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, widespread and systematic sexual violence against 10,000 Tigrayan women and girls, starvation, forced displacement, and arbitrary detention.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/28/un-rights-body-should-extend-ethiopia-investigations

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In the summer of 2021, Mohammed Biplob, 35, was working at Arefin Enterprise, a shipyard in Chattogram Bangladesh, dismantling a 24-year-old bulk carrier ship called the Max . On August 23, he was torching through a pipe in the engine room when it suddenly exploded. Biplob said the explosion threw him against the wall, severely burning his face and breaking his back. He lost consciousness, only becoming alert when he realized his coworkers were carrying him to the road. He said at the time he could see what was happening but couldn't speak.

https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/09/28/trading-lives-profit/how-shipping-industry-circumvents-regulations-scrap-toxic

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(Bangkok) - The Vietnamese government should immediately drop all charges against the prominent environmental activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong and unconditionally release her, Human Rights Watch said today. A court in Ho Chi Minh City is scheduled to hear her criminal case on September 28, 2023. On May 30, Ho Chi Minh City police arrested Hoang Thi Minh Hong on tax evasion charges, which carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison plus fines. In October 2022, she had abruptly shut down without explanation CHANGE VN, the influential nongovernmental organization she had founded a decade earlier.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/27/vietnam-drop-charges-against-climate-activist

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(Bangkok) – Men with metal batons viciously attacked a dissident and his wife in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on September 12, 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. Ny Nak remains hospitalized with serious wounds to his head and extremities. The attack shares similarities with assaults reported earlier in 2023 against members of the opposition Candlelight Party, which were never seriously investigated. It tests the new government of Prime Minister Hun Manet's willingness to investigate and appropriately prosecute those responsible for abuses against its critics.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/19/cambodia-dissident-wife-brutally-assaulted

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'Since my husband was abducted, I lost my freedom to do routine activities… Even if I go to the market or temple, they [security officers] ask, ‘Where are you going?'' — Tamil woman from eastern Sri Lanka whose husband was forcibly disappeared in 2000 Countless thousands of Sri Lankans await justice and accountability for serious human rights violations and war crimes committed during decades of civil unrest and armed conflict. They are the victims or family members of victims of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, enforced disappearance, and unlawful killings by government security forces, the successionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or other non-state armed groups.

https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/09/18/if-we-raise-our-voice-they-arrest-us/sri-lankas-proposed-truth-and-reconciliation

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(São Paulo) –  Brazil should urgently address the chronic problem of police abuse and impunity by ensuring that prosecutors lead investigations and that those investigations comply with international standards, Human Rights said today in a  letter to the attorney general, Augusto Aras. Police killed more than 6,400 people in 2022, according to the nonprofit Brazilian Forum of Public Security, which compiles the data from official sources at the state level. In less than a month between the end of July and August 2023, at least 62 people were killed during police operations in Bahia, Rio, and São Paulo states alone.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/12/brazil-prosecutors-should-lead-police-killings-inquiries

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Skip to cookie privacy notice Skip to main content (Sydney) – A referendum in Australia on October 14, 2023, is an important opportunity for Australians to enshrine a First Nations Voice in the country's constitution, Human Rights Watch and the Australian Human Rights Institute at the University of New South Wales said today. A new Questions and Answers document addresses key questions on the Voice as they relate to the fulfilment and enjoyment of basic human rights principles.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/11/australia-rights-core-voice-referendum

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(Bangkok) – Unites States President Joe Biden should publicly urge Vietnam 's leaders to immediately release all political prisoners and reform abusive laws during his planned visit to Hanoi on September 10, 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. In a September 1 letter , Human Rights Watch urged President Biden to publicly as well as privately raise human rights concerns with the Vietnamese government. Key human rights issues include persecution of human rights and environmental defenders; suppression of freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly; and violations of freedom of religion and belief.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/09/vietnam-biden-should-raise-rights-hanoi-visit

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(Beirut) – An imprisoned Iranian protester died under suspicious circumstances on August 31, 2023, in northern Iran, raising grave concerns about his treatment, Human Rights Watch said today. Javad Rouhi, 31, was horrifically tortured following his arrest during the widespread protests that erupted in Iran in September 2022 and convicted two months later after an unfair trial. On August 31, Nowshahr prison in Mazadanran province, north of Tehran, issued a statement that Rouhi had been transferred to a hospital early that morning 'following a concussion' but died despite receiving medical assistance.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/01/iran-suspicious-death-imprisoned-protester

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(Bishkek, August 30, 2023) – Kyrgyz authorities have filed a lawsuit to close down Kloop Media Public Foundation, a nonprofit body that runs an independent online news outlet in Kyrgyzstan, Human Rights Watch said today. The move continues a repressive trend against freedom of expression in Kyrgyzstan.  The lawsuit , for which Kloop was officially served on August 28, 2023, was filed by the Bishkek city Prosecutor's Office alleging Kloop's failure to register as a mass media outlet and conducting media activity not listed in its charter, which can warrant the liquidation of legal entities under Kyrgyzstan's civil law code .

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/30/kyrgyzstan-effort-shut-down-independent-news-outlet

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The Vietnamese authorities should quash recent verdicts in the politically motivated cases against the dissidents Tran Van Bang and Bui Tuan Lam and immediately...

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/28/vietnam-free-democracy-campaigners

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Click to expand Image An Indian paramilitary trooper stands in front of a wall painted with the G20 logo on May 23, 2023, in Kashmir, India. © 2023 Saqib Majeed/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The Group of 20, the world's largest economies, will hold its annual summit of heads of government in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. India currently holds the rotating presidency, and is seeking to focus meetings on 'inclusive, equitable and sustainable growth,' among other topics. But with diplomatic relations among world powers strained, the Indian government is struggling to forge meaningful areas for consensus.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/28/believe-it-or-not-g20-agrees-some-human-rights-issues-0

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(New York) – Thai authorities should immediately and impartially investigate the attack on a Cambodian opposition activist who had sought refuge in Thailand, Human Rights Watch said today. Three Khmer-speaking men beat Phorn Phanna at around noon on August 22, 2023, in Rayong province, causing injuries to his face and chest. Phanna, 40, a member of Cambodia's opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, fled to Thailand in July 2022 to escape government persecution. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recognized him as a refugee.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/25/thailand-cambodian-opposition-activist-assaulted

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We were fired on repeatedly. I saw people killed in a way I have never imagined. I saw 30 killed people on the spot. I pushed myself under a rock and slept there. I could feel people sleeping around me. I realized what I thought were people sleeping around me were actually dead bodies. I woke up and I was alone. – Hamdiya, 14 years old Saudi border guards have killed at least hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers who tried to cross the Yemen-Saudi border between March 2022 and June 2023.

https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/08/21/they-fired-us-rain/saudi-arabian-mass-killings-ethiopian-migrants-yemen-saudi

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Skip to cookie privacy notice Skip to main content Get updates on human rights issues from around the globe. Join our movement today. Have it sent to your inbox. They rape us because they are in control, because they have guns, because there is nobody to defend us. There is no police or state. — Survivor from Cité Soleil Josephine T., 29, and her sister were walking home with some men to the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Brooklyn on April 15, 2023, when they were stopped by members of the G9 criminal group at a place called Carrefour la Mort, or Crossroads of Death.

https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/08/14/living-nightmare/haiti-needs-urgent-rights-based-response-escalating-crisis

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(Sydney) – The Australian government should introduce a national Human Rights Act to better protect the fundamental rights of everyone in Australia, Human Rights Watch said in a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. 'Existing laws in Australia protect against discrimination and other human rights violations, but many rights protections are inadequate,' said Daniela Gavshon , Australia director at Human Rights Watch. 'This patchwork of laws leads to people and groups – particularly society's most vulnerable – slipping through the cracks.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/10/australia-introduce-human-rights-act

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(New York) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should help expand social protection to all children in Nepal under its Child Grant program, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the IMF released today. The policy is an effective and affordable measure to protect children's rights and reduce child poverty and inequality, and it should become a performance criterion for Nepal's IMF program. With 40 percent of Nepal's population aged under 18, turning the existing child grant program into a program available to all children would significantly improve the currently low social protection coverage .

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/08/nepal-imf-should-help-expand-child-grant-program

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(Brussels) – Starkly divergent accounts from survivors and Greek authorities around the circumstances of the deadly Pylos shipwreck underscore the urgent need for an effective, independent, and impartial investigation, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today.  The fishing vessel, Adriana , was carrying an estimated 750 people when it sank on June 14, 2023, off the coast of Pylos. In the aftermath, accounts from several of the 104 survivors suggest that the vessel was towed by a Greek coast guard boat, causing the fatal wreck.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/03/greece-disparities-accounts-pylos-shipwreck-underscore-need-human-rights-compliant

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Most Australians know Vietnam for its good food, picturesque beaches, and horrific wartime history. But many may not be aware that the Southeast Asian nation also has the notorious distinction of having more than 150 political prisoners, held for peaceful acts of free expression. One rarely hears about these political prisoners because the Vietnamese government is trying hard to project itself as a modern, reliable trade and security partner for the West. These political prisoners include a land activist, Truong Van Dung ; an entrepreneur, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc ; and a journalist, Pham Doan Trang ; all sentenced to long prison terms on frivolous charges.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/28/vietnams-crackdown-dissent

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(New York) – The Thai Constitutional Court's decision to suspend from parliament the leading candidate for prime minister on politically motivated charges is a serious blow to democracy in Thailand , Human Rights Watch said today. The reformist Move Forward Party, led by Pita Limjaroenrat, 42, had secured 151 parliamentary seats, the most votes of any party in the May 14, 2023 election, giving it the right to lead efforts to form a new government. The Constitutional Court on July 19 accepted the Election Commission of Thailand's allegations that Pita violated electoral rules and was unqualified to run for election because he held shares in the iTV media company, even though the company has not broadcast for 15 years and was removed from listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 2014.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/21/thailand-bogus-charges-keep-candidate-top-post

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(Bangkok) – Bangladesh authorities should suspend plans to send Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar , where their lives and liberty would be at grave risk, Human Rights Watch said today. Rohingya told Human Rights Watch that they were lied to, deceived, or otherwise coerced by Bangladesh administrators into meeting with a recent delegation of Myanmar junta officials as part of a 'pilot repatriation' effort to return about 1,000 refugees. Some were told the meetings concerned possible resettlement to a third country.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/31/bangladesh-halt-pilot-plan-return-rohingya

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Skip to cookie privacy notice Skip to main content Australia's Governor-General David Hurley will visit Hanoi this week to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the governments of Australia and Vietnam . Hurley should publicly and privately raise a number of serious human rights concerns with the Vietnamese leadership. It's crucial that he discuss the plight of more than 160 people in prison for peacefully exercising their basic rights.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/03/australia-should-raise-abuses-during-vietnam-visit

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The government of the Central African Republic is cracking down on civil society , media, and opposition political parties ahead of local and national elections in 2023. The specter of a de facto one-party state should raise serious concerns about the potential for human rights violations and the narrowing of democratic space and free expression. Diplomats and regional groups should press for building strong institutions to protect human rights, but the greatest responsibility falls on the president himself.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/04/central-african-republic-closing-civic-space

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(New York, April 11, 2023) – Pakistan authorities are forcibly evicting thousands of farmers near the city of Lahore for a massive infrastructure project, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should enforce environmental protections and reform colonial-era laws that grant the government broad powers to acquire land for private as well as public use. The Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project was begun in August 2020 by then-Prime Minister Imran Khan, who claimed it would address Lahore's many problems – pollution, sewage, water, housing, and employment – while reviving its 'lost glory .

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/11/pakistan-farmers-forcibly-evicted-urban-project

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Many times, I refused to leave the house to try to escape; it was just too difficult for me to run with crutches. It would take several people to help me get into the car, which would make them an easy target for an airstrike. I wanted to avoid exposing other people to that risk.   —      Thara J., who lost a leg in an airstrike in 2015 when she was 13 The conflict in Syria has been one of the deadliest in the world, killing at least 350,000 people over the past decade and forcibly displacing over 13 million.

https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/09/08/it-was-really-hard-protect-myself/impact-armed-conflict-syria-children

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(New York) – Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe should immediately end the use of draconian counterterrorism laws to target peaceful protesters and release those in custody, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities detained three student activists who participated in an August 18, 2022 demonstration under the abusive Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which allows up to a year's detention without trial. Since he was sworn in as president on July 21 following the flight and resignation of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President Wickremesinghe has suppressed rights including the freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/31/sri-lanka-end-use-terrorism-law-against-protesters

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(Bangkok) – Rohingya Muslims are still awaiting justice and protection of their rights five years after the Myanmar military began a sweeping campaign of massacres, rape, and arson in northern Rakhine State on August 25, 2017, Human Rights Watch said today. More than 730,000 Rohingya fled to precarious, flood-prone camps in Bangladesh, while about 600,000 remain under oppressive rule in Myanmar. No one has been held accountable for the crimes against humanity and acts of genocide committed against the Rohingya population.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/24/myanmar-no-justice-no-freedom-rohingya-5-years

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