Research Team

Western governments are implicated in supporting, and thereby strengthening, autocracies across the Arab World in a variety of legal and illegal ways. Over the last three decades, similar strategies have been pursued toward Russia, increasing President Vladimir Putin’s riches and power, culminating in his megalomaniacal invasion of Ukraine. Complicity policies toward authoritarian countries in the […]

After weeks of speculation, the Chinese government named John Lee, a former top police officer, as Hong Kong’s future leader on April 8. Hong Kong was once the sole Chinese-controlled region holding semi-democratic elections. They are no longer in use in Beijing. Instead of a genuine election, Hong Kong residents are instead treated to a […]

Washington Center for Human Rights applauds the Biden Administration’s designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ukrainian nationals and reiterates requests for TPS for people of Cameroon, Mauritania, and other non-European nations. Human rights and immigrant rights organizations have frequently sought for TPS designations for various African, Central American, and Asian countries that fit the […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Amnesty International has uncovered that Iranian authorities secretly executed a young guy who was a minor at the time of his detention and had spent nearly a decade on death row. On the morning of August 2, Sajad Sanjari was hanged in Dizelabad jail in Kermanshah province, but his family was not informed until a […]

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who was kicked off the Belarusian team after criticizing her coaches in the Tokyo Olympics, is auctioning a medal from the 2019 European Games to support athletes who claim they have been targeted by authorities. On Aug. 1, Belarusian team officials took the 24-year-old to Tokyo’s Haneda airport against her will, a day […]

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 […]

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 […]

In the six months following the February 1, 2021 coup, Myanmar’s military junta has committed various atrocities against the civilians that amount to crimes against humanity, according to Human Rights Watch. Millions of people have come to the streets all around the country to peacefully protest the military coup, calling for a restoration to a […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Saudi Arabia supposedly began the war in Yemen to prevent Iran from gaining a foothold on the Arabian Peninsula, which borders the strategically important Bab al Mandab straits. Nearly six years later, the war has given Iran just that, as well as causing the world’s largest humanitarian disaster. When the Houthi rebels agreed to enable […]

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, […]

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 […]

In 2015, the UAE government hacked Mr. Ahmed Mansour’s phone, using a spyware developed by an Israeli-based firm called NSO Group making his smartphone a tool to monitor him. His phone was hacked to spy on him and his colleagues. Ahmed Mansour, 51 years-old, an Emirati engineer, poet, blogger and father of four. He is […]