Research Team

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that global civil and political rights are facing their gravest threat in decades, citing a “democratic recession” accelerated by the reelection of U.S. President Donald Trump and a widening authoritarian surge worldwide. In its annual global report, HRW said nearly three-quarters of the world’s population now lives under autocratic […]

Omar Shakir, the Israel/Palestine director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), has resigned in protest over the new leadership’s refusal to publish a report that found Israel’s denial of the right of return to Palestinian refugees to be a crime against humanity. Shakir spent over a decade at HRW before his resignation. He said that the […]

Five years into the escalating conflict that has devastated Nigeria’s North East, the conflict’s civilian toll, particularly children, remains catastrophic. What started as an insurgency by Boko Haram has escalated into a humanitarian crisis that involves several armed groups, massive displacement, and attacks on schools and communities.  While there have been some government and international […]

It has been five years since the military in Myanmar took control of the government and arrested the country’s elected leaders. The political, humanitarian, and economic crises in Myanmar have continued to worsen. It is estimated that violence, displacement, and the military-dominated electoral process have consolidated authoritarian rule instead of restoring civilian-led rule, leaving the […]

South Korea in 2025 was at a critical juncture between the strength of its democracy and the influence of the state of emergency rule that followed the martial law crisis on December 3, 2024. Although the country’s institutions managed to resist the challenge to their authority, issues such as security laws, discrimination, and intimidation of […]

In the first 18 days of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, more than 7,000 Palestinians were killed, including nearly 3,000 children, even as international calls for a ceasefire mounted. Yet rather than confronting the scale of civilian suffering, senior Western officials—particularly in the United States—moved quickly to question the credibility of Palestinian casualty […]

Unverified estimates of protest-related deaths in Iran have circulated widely since the January 8–10 crackdown, shaping global public opinion in ways that extend far beyond Iran itself. These figures have not only fueled calls for foreign military intervention but have also been deployed—often implicitly—to relativize and downplay the ongoing genocide in Gaza. At the center […]

Human rights are not permanent guarantees. The freedoms people now regard as universal were assembled piece by piece after the catastrophes of the 20th century, when states accepted—often reluctantly—that power must be restrained by law, institutions, and a shared understanding of human dignity. That postwar architecture is now under severe strain. Long weakened by China […]

On January 25, 2026, the government forces in South Sudan ordered the evacuation of civilians, humanitarian staff, and United Nations personnel from opposition-controlled zones in Jonglei state in preparation for an impending military operation. The operation targets counties such as Nyirol, Uror, and Akobo, among others, and is taking place against the backdrop of intensified […]

A human rights group, Dawn, has issued a stark warning to New York state and local officials, claiming that investing public funds in bonds issued by Israel violates international law and fiduciary duties. The group cautioned that these investments could expose officials and beneficiaries to “substantial legal, ethical, and financial risks.” On Friday, Dawn submitted […]

The move by Georgia to put off talks with the European Union (EU) on accession until 2028 has led to a disturbing deterioration in human rights standards, including brutal suppression of protests, restrictive laws, and attacks on civil society. The decision, announced by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on November 28, 2024, follows criticism by […]

A Chinese citizen who recorded footage of alleged human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region has been granted asylum in the United States, following an immigration judge’s ruling that he has a “well-founded fear” of persecution if he is sent back to China. Guan Heng, 38, secretly recorded detention centers in northwestern China in 2020, […]

The families of two Trinidadian nationals who lost their lives in a US missile strike in October have sued the US government for wrongful death and extrajudicial killing. This comes after a missile strike targeting a civilian vessel in the Caribbean resulted in the deaths of Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, along with […]

Federal immigration enforcement agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, over the weekend, marking the second fatal killing by federal immigration authorities in the city this month. The incident has intensified concerns about the unchecked use of force by federal agencies and the apparent obstruction of state-led investigations into potentially unlawful deaths. State […]

Protests broke out in Iran on 28 December 2025, following a dramatic fall in the Iranian currency. The fall contributed to the already high inflation rates, making living conditions difficult for Iranians. The protests, which began as a result of a strike by Iranian shopkeepers in the Grand Bazaar of Tehran, soon turned into a […]

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) has confirmed it will provide Israeli authorities with the personal details of some of its Palestinian and international staff operating in Gaza and across the occupied Palestinian territory. The decision has triggered widespread anger among medical professionals, activists, and humanitarian observers, who warn that Israel […]

Kenya’s string of you-led protests that have been happening since 2024 has turned out to be one of the biggest tests of President William Ruto’s administration, owing to entrenched inequality in terms of economics, arrested democratization, and mistrust of public institutions. What began as a demonstration against planned taxes has now become a full-blown movement. […]

In a landmark ruling announced on January 26, a Japanese district court held the North Korean government legally liable for gross violations of human rights perpetrated against Koreans and Japanese citizens who were inveigled into going to Pyongyang as a result of its “repatriation” campaign under its “Paradise on Earth” banner. The court ordered North […]

Student-led rebellion in Bangladesh in mid-2024 constitutes direct defiance of the traditional and longstanding tradition of the patronage-well-entrenched-corruption-modeled authoritarianism under the leadership of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina. In seeking jobs to be hired on the merit of the individuals, there has been a national rebellion. The demonstrations that gripped the country were […]

A Pakistani court handed a Pakistani human rights activist, a lawyer by profession, and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, a 10-year sentence for “anti-state social media posts.” The sentencing has been handed down in a country where the government has been intensifying the suppression of dissent, particularly through legal means like the Prevention of Electronic […]

The authorities in Georgia are misusing the restrictions on the right to assemble in public places by holding those who engage in peaceful protests arbitrarily. This has become an almost unsurmountable barrier to the right to protest peacefully. Since the law was passed, the police have instituted dozens of legal proceedings against peaceful protesters for […]

More aggressive activities carried out by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement organization, such as the arrest of toddlers, detention of citizens of this country, and a fatal shooting carried out by a customs agent, all paint a sorry picture of how enforcement of the law is being allowed to take place with impunity and little […]

The uptick in conflict in north-east Syria once again underscores the vulnerability of civilian protection, the IS question, and the inadequacy of a human-rights-based approach to detention, displacement, and governance. The change of hands in governance of parts of north-east Syria, as well as detention centers of individuals associated with IS, does not terminate but […]

At least 11 Palestinians, including two children and three journalists, were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since dawn on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza in the latest display of Israeli disregard for civilian life. Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Egyptian Ministry of Interior, told Al Jazeera that the killed […]

The proposed hate speech bill by the federal government has raised increasing concern among civil liberties organizations and lawyers, as well as the media, who fear that the bill could undermine freedom of speech following its rushed passage through parliament. According to Labor, the bill is required in order to enhance national security and social […]

The current situation in Haiti is also going through a crisis in the justice and healthcare sectors because of the increase in gang violence and the inability of the public services to provide for the citizens. The current situation is most immediately affecting migrants and internally displaced persons (IDPs) because they are most vulnerable to […]

El Salvador’s Foreign Agents Law, approved on May 20, 2025, by the Legislative Assembly dominated by President Nayib Bukele’s New Ideas party, has rapidly emerged as one of the most controversial and repressive pieces of legislation in the country’s recent history. Passed with 57 votes in favor and virtually no public consultation, critics argue the […]

One year since the return of Donald Trump to the presidency, the United States is experiencing a perilous onset of the degradation of democratic principles and human rights safeguards. A new report from Amnesty International, “Ringing the Alarm Bells: Rising Authoritarian Practices and Erosion of Human Rights in the United States,” details the alarming trend […]

Following Venezuela’s hotly contested presidential election, which took place on July 28, 2024, there has been an escalating human rights crisis in this Latin American nation due to arbitrary arrests, torture, and attacks against human rights advocates and opposition politicians. As a result of what started out as opposition to an electoral outcome, what is […]

Reports of Iranian law enforcement sexually assaulting protesting Iranians, including a 16-year-old minor, have further escalated international concern regarding Iran’s response to its current round of nationwide protests. Iran’s handling of this recent spate of protests is accompanied by allegations of systematic abuse, torture, and violence, according to human rights organizations. The Kurdistan Human Rights […]

The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem have made a dire prediction that the existence of Christianity in the Holy Land is threatened not only by demographic change and political turbulence but also by ideologically motivated and government-supported actions that destroy the coexistence of religious traditions. The Patriarchates and Heads of the Churches […]

The clashes in Syria’s southern Sweida governorate in July 2025 were more than just a local problem pitting Bedouin armed groups against Druze ones. They revealed a more general pattern of systemic violence, impunity, and state-enabled repression that has marked Syria’s transitional government. Events in Sweida formed part of a serious human rights crisis, consisting […]

The letter to Cornell University dated October 14 by the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations is more than a diplomatic warning. This letter represents an important condemnation of how American universities, which are traditionally known to be places of free speech and political liberties, are rapidly being transformed into places of fear and suppression, […]

Now, eighteen days into Iran’s nationwide protests against its government, “the level of repression by the Iranian government has become alarming.” According to Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), at least “3,428 people have been killed since the beginning of protests, started on 28 December 2025, while thousands of others are injured.” “The number of deaths reported […]

When Bangladesh heads to the polls on February 12, it has been described by the caretaker government as an important event, being the first general election taking place since the ‘Monsoon Revolution’ in August 2024, which ensured ideals of democracy were renewed in a nation seen to have drifted towards authoritarianism for many years. Nevertheless, […]

Amnesty International strongly criticized prosecutors on Monday seeking the death penalty for former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on grounds that such a move would be retrogressive for human rights and democratic norms. Chiara Sangiorgio, a spokesperson for the organization, said that while no individual should stand above the law, capital punishment is inherently […]

The Saudi government has reportedly executed at least 356 citizens in 2025. The figure is a new record of executions within a year since citizens began monitoring and reporting human rights cases in Saudi Arabia. The new execution rate has beaten the previous 2024 record of 345 executions, showing a disturbing rising trend of use […]

An Iranian youth protester is days away from having a death sentence carry out, as human rights organizations have warned that this could be a menacing portent of a new wave of oppression that Tehran has been resorting to regarding the ever- brazen defiance by the populace of clerical rule. The youth, a demonstrator, has […]

MPs in the UK are scheduled to vote on 14 January on a proposed amendment to the Public Order Act 2023 (POA) that would classify “life sciences” facilities as “key national infrastructure.” The amendment would dramatically extend the powers of the state to police dissent if adopted, exposing anyone organizing or participating in protests around […]

The Guantánamo Bay detention facility has remained among the most debated exemplars of the United States’ foreign and domestic policies during the 21st century. Opened shortly after the attack of September 11, 2001, the facility was intended to be a “safe” place to keep those known as “enemy combatants.” Twenty years on, the facility still […]

The killing of 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good through gunshots by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026, has triggered widespread condemnation among human rights activists and communities in the USA. Contrary versions from video evidence and eyewitness accounts dispute arguments raised by the authorities about Good using her vehicle as […]

The Trump administration’s announcement that the United States is withdrawing from 66 international organizations, conventions, and treaties has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups, who describe the move as a direct attack on the global system of cooperation. Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, called the decision […]

Iranian authorities have unleashed a violent crackdown on nationwide protests since December 28, 2025, marked by unlawful use of firearms, beatings, and mass arbitrary arrests, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reported. Security forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s police force (FARAJA), have used rifles, shotguns loaded with metal pellets, water […]

The Trump administration’s brazen military action in Venezuela has sparked fears of a major human rights crisis, Human Rights Watch warned on January 6, 2026. In the early hours of January 3, the US military carried out strikes on Venezuela and took into custody President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both have since […]

The protest right in England and Wales is under unprecedented attack, say two major reports that point to new and existing laws which are systematically destroying basic rights and criminalizing peaceful protest. According to Human Rights Watch and legal reform organization Justice, new laws have produced a chilling effect on peaceful protest, and new restrictions […]

At least six members of the underground Protestant church have been detained by Chinese authorities in Chengdu in the province of Sichuan, Human Rights Watch revealed. Furthermore, the detainees are only the latest in a widespread pattern of human rights abuses stemming from the detention of prominent “house churches” in China. The crackdown reflects the […]

A broad-ranging report published today by the UN Human Rights Office outlines the suffocating impact of Israel’s laws, policies and practices on every area of life for Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. The report states that Israel is in violation of international law that obliges States to prevent and […]

Piled into one tent in a United Nations-managed school in the center of Gaza City, Alaa Alzanin, wife, five children, 71-year-old mother, and younger sister huddle together to survive in the aftermath of the loss of their dwelling in the Beit Hanoon area during the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. This is the eighth […]

The Supreme Court of India recently granted bail to five Muslim students and activists who were imprisoned for over five years without trial in connection with the riots that shook the national capital in 2020. However, two high-profile scholars, namely Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, were denied bail and have been continuing their imprisonment in […]