CategoriesAdvocacy Statements

Statement from the Washington Center for Human Rights in Support of Cameroon Obtaining Temporary Protected Status

In view of the current humanitarian crises and violent conflicts in Cameroon, Washington Center for Human Rights encourages President Biden and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to grant Cameroon Temporary Protected Status (TPS). If compelled to return to their home country, an estimated 40,000 Cameroonians living in the United States face horrific violence, displacement, and death. […]

CategoriesAdvocacy Statements

Biden must halt the increase of monitoring and abolish the whole immigration detention system.

The Biden administration is contemplating an extended home detention and curfew pilot program for immigrants seeking asylum or other protection in U.S. immigration courts, according to Axios.  National Immigration Project (NIPNLG), National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Detention Watch Network, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Black Alliance […]

CategoriesAdvocacy

Veterans and allies call on Congress to protect Afghan refugees six months after the fall of Kabul

On the eve of the six-month anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, a coalition of military veterans and Afghan friends urged Congress to act immediately to help refugees by approving the Afghan Adjustment Act. The gathering, organized by the Evacuate Our Allies alliance, gathered on Capitol Hill to urge the Biden administration to guarantee […]

CategoriesStatements

WCHR: Indian government should work hand in hand civil society organizations to protect freedom of expression

Human Rights Watch said today that Indian authorities are using politically motivated claims of tax evasion and financial irregularities to suppress human rights activists, journalists, and other opponents of the government. Authorities monetary officers raided journalists’ residences, news offices, an actor’s premises, and the home and office of a human rights activist in September 2021 […]

CategoriesAdvocacy

WCHR: International community must increase pressure on al-Sisi to end death sentences

Amnesty International said today, on the eve of the eighth anniversary of the massacre, that the Egyptian authorities have failed to hold a single member of security forces accountable for the deaths of at least 900 people during the violent dispersal of sit-ins in Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares. Twelve individuals are facing execution, and […]

CategoriesAdvocacy Statements

WCHR: In danger Afghan civilians require evacuation and protection

Afghans who are at risk of being persecuted by advancing Taliban troops require immediate evacuation and international protection. Foreign countries should make obtaining visas and assisting in the safe transit of civilians who may be targeted for abuse by the Taliban due to their former employment or status, as well as their close family members, […]

CategoriesStatements

WCHR: Iranian authorities should immediately put an end to the human rights violations

According to Amnesty International, Iranian security forces used unlawful force, including mass arrests, to mercilessly suppress mostly peaceful rallies that erupted across the country in recent weeks. Activists, protestors, and onlookers, including children, have been subjected to enforced disappearance, torture, and other ill-treatment as a result of the surge of arrests. Security personnel unlawfully fired […]

CategoriesAdvocacy

WCHR: Russia should allow people to exercise their right to protest

Authorities in Russia have degraded the right to freedom of peaceful assembly by employing increasingly restrictive regulations, heavy-handed police methods, and criminal prosecutions to stifle peaceful opposition, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing. The group examines how the crackdown on peaceful protests, which began with the Federal Law on Assemblies in 2004, has […]

CategoriesAdvocacy Statements

WCHR: Violations of humans rights in Nigeria must come to an end

In response to the spiralling violence in Southeast Nigeria, security forces have committed a slew of human rights violations and crimes under international law, waging a repressive campaign that has included sweeping mass arrests, excessive and unlawful force, torture, and other ill-treatment since January. The armed group known as the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the […]

CategoriesAdvocacy Statements

WCHR: Blinken’s visit to KSA should result in better human rights record in KSA

On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, repeating a plea for human rights progress. Blinken and the Saudi minister discussed regional security, the attack last month on the tanker Mercer Street in the Arabian Sea, which Washington blames on Iran, and other regional matters, […]

CategoriesStatements Advocacy

WCHR: Russian’s crackdown on free speech and human rights unlawful

With the parliamentary elections in Russia scheduled for September 19, every day brings new stories of arbitrary arrests, interrogations, and other attacks on critical voices. The Kremlin’s war on free expression claimed three fresh lives lately. After Roskomnadzor, the government’s communications regulatory organization, suspended their websites, independent news groups MBKh-Media, Open Media, and Open Rights […]

CategoriesStatements

WCHR: Sri Lanka should enhance their human rights compliance

Human Rights Watch said today that Sri Lankan police are increasingly killing and abusing people under the pretext of Covid-19 pandemic efforts and an anti-drug campaign. Extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary incarceration have all been documented in the media recently. The government should re-establish independent police oversight and investigate and prosecute allegations of police misconduct. […]

CategoriesAdvocacy

Blinken accuses Nicaragua’s Ortega of taking undemocratic, authoritarian actions

After authorities arrested another opposing lawmaker ahead of elections later this year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega of pursuing additional undemocratic, dictatorial acts. Blinken claimed in a statement on Saturday that Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, were trying to keep power “at all costs” by disqualifying […]

CategoriesStatements

WCHR: US administration should take concrete steps against Taliban’s human rights violations

According to Human Rights Watch, Taliban militants advancing in Ghazni, Kandahar, and other Afghan provinces have summarily killed captured soldiers, police officers, and civilians with alleged connections to the Afghan government. Taliban forces have allegedly identified individuals who served with the Afghan National Security Forces in places they invade, according to locals from several districts. […]

CategoriesAdvocacy

WCHR: Deterioration of human rights in Nicaragua is worrying

As the presidential election in November approaches, President Daniel Ortega’s regime has increased harassment and indictments against government critics. The legislature passed a bill in October mandating businesses and individuals who accept financing from outside the country to register as foreign agents. The law prohibits such foreign agents from meddling in internal or external political […]

CategoriesStatements

WCHR: US must interfere to stop human rights violations in Cameroon

Since the beginning of the Anglophone conflict in late 2016, government troops have routinely violated human rights during security operations against armed separatists trying to establish an independent Anglophone state known as Ambazonia. “New abuses in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions by both government security forces and armed separatists highlight the urgent need to protect communities at […]

CategoriesStatements

WCHR: US should consider sanctions in response to the systemic human rights violations in Philippines

Eleven Democratic senators have asked  Joe Biden’s administration to denounce the alleged continued pattern of human rights breaches under the Duterte government at the highest levels. Senators voiced concerns about the human rights situation in the Philippines in a letter dated July 26 sent to US State Secretary Antony Blinken, and asked a number of […]

CategoriesAdvocacy

An open letter to Biden’s administration on the human rights violations in Belarus

Following Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s controversial re-election on August 9, Belarusian security forces unjustly imprisoned thousands of people and subjected hundreds to torture and other forms of ill-treatment in an attempt to thwart the demonstrations. The abuse, on the other hand, simply helped to inflame public resentment as thousands of people continued to march peacefully in support […]

CategoriesAdvocacy

Iraqi authorities should bring justice to human rights victims

The use of torture and forced confessions is widespread in Iraq’s criminal justice system, and authorities carry out countless judicial executions despite major due process abuses. Authorities employed a variety of defamation and incitement provisions in Iraqi legislation to silence dissidents, including journalists, activists, and protestors. Students who were kept out of school for months […]

CategoriesAdvocacy

Petition: UAE must stop the appalling human rights atrocities

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government continues to invest in  strategy with the goal of portraying the country as liberal, tolerant, and rights-respecting. Yet, with the prolonged  imprisonment of major human rights defender Ahmed Mansour, academic Nasser bin Ghaith, and other activists and dissidents, the country’s extreme intolerance of criticism was on full display. Some […]

CategoriesStatements

WCHR urges the US government accelerate the SIV program for Afghan interpreters

As the Taliban advances, 200 Afghan interpreters and their families have arrived in the United States, the first of 2,500 Afghans being evacuated. The translators are being relocated as part of a visa program for people who worked with the US during the Taliban’s 20-year conflict, which concluded recently. They arrived early Friday morning and […]

CategoriesAdvocacy

An Open Letter to the United States Congress on China’s treatment of the Uyghur

This year was marked by violent persecution of human rights campaigners and suspected dissidents, as well as systematic ethnic minorities suppression. Despite the criticism from the UN, restrictions on freedom of expression remained in place unchanged. Foreign journalists were subjected to detention and expulsion, as well as visa renewal delays and denials. Outside of China, […]

CategoriesAdvocacy

Open letter: the White House must harshly act on Russia’s suppression of freedoms

The Covid-19 pandemic offered an excuse for Russian authorities to limit human rights in a variety of ways, as well as to impose additional restrictions, particularly in the area of privacy rights and Freedom of political participation. In 2020, constitutional changes were a major development. Several oppressive laws have been strengthened through constitutional amendments. Authorities […]

CategoriesTopics

Zambia: Killings and brutal crackdown against dissent set the tone for August election

In a new report, “Ruling by fear and repression”, the organization details how the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly have come under increasing attack particularly over the past five years, with opposition leaders and activists jailed, independent media outlets shut down, and at least five people killed by police since 2016. Zambia’s ruling […]

CategoriesCountry Profile

China issues furious response after Canada condemns human rights record

Canada has led more than 40 countries in expressing serious concerns over Beijing’s repressive actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet, prompting a furious response from Beijing over Canada’s colonial history. The exchange at the UN human rights council on Tuesday marks the latest downturn in relations between Canada and China, which have deteriorated steadily […]

CategoriesCountry Profile Topics

US sanctions Chinese solar firms for Uighur human rights abuses

The United States on Wednesday restricted exports to five Chinese companies that it said were implicated in Chinese human rights violations, including large producers of polysilicon for the solar panel industry. The companies were listed over human rights violations and abuses of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, according to a US government filing on Wednesday. The […]

CategoriesBriefs Country Profile Topics

UN Envoy Accuses Russian Mercenaries Of Human Rights Abuses In C.A.R.

The UN envoy to the Central African Republic (C.A.R.), as well as diplomats from the United States and France, has accused the national security forces and their Russian paramilitary allies of wide-ranging human rights abuses. Russia helps President Faustin Archange Touadera combat rebel groups in the resource-rich country’s ongoing civil war, including fielding Russian mercenaries […]

CategoriesAdvocacy Topics

Human rights groups raise concerns about Harris’s Latin America trip

Several human rights organizations are worried that Vice President Harris’s upcoming trip to Mexico and Guatemala risks focusing too much on immigration and not other issues such as rule of law and government corruption. The Washington Office on Latin America, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Latin America Working Group, Due Process of Law Foundation and […]

CategoriesTopics

The New Environmental and Human Rights Treaty in Latin America

The Escazú Agreement came into force in April 2021 with 12 ratifications (out of a possible 33) from Latin American and Caribbean countries. Guided by a secretariat at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, it is the first environmental treaty in the region, and affirms Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, resting […]

CategoriesAdvocacy

Open Letter to the UN on Venezuela

May 14, 2021 Dear Mr. Secretary-General,  We strongly support the United Nations and the resolutions on human rights protection, as nongovernmental organizations continue working to alleviate humanitarian sufferings in different regions around the world.   Throughout the year, there were reports of extrajudicial executions, excessive use of force, and unlawful killings by security forces in […]

CategoriesStatements

WCHR: Decisive actions required in Myanmar

Washington Center For Human Rights expresses grave concern about the situation in Myanmar following the removal of civilian authorities from government and the arbitrary detention of dozens of political leaders, human rights defenders, journalists, activists and others by the military. On January 31, the Myanmar military seized  power in the country, consolidated its control over the […]

CategoriesStatements

WCHR: EU’s resolution a great step, other international bodies must follow

The European Parliament adopted a joint resolution called “forced labour and the situation of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region”.  The resolution expressed its strong condemnation of the Chinese government’s policy of forcing the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Muslim minorities to work in closed factories and camps in Xinjiang The resolution called […]