By Abier Almasri | Research Assistant, Middle East and North Africa Division | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – Friends abroad often ask how I’m coping after last year’s escalation in Gaza. I struggle to find the words to describe the terror of lying awake at night not knowing if I’d see daylight again, […]
Ukraine: Migrants Locked Up Near Front Lines: Free Migration Detainees; Allow Them to Leave Country for Safety
Human Rights Watch – (Berlin) – Migrants and asylum seekers locked up in a migrant detention center in Mykolaiv on the edge of the front lines in southern Ukraine are in danger and should be released, Human Rights Watch said today. Ukraine should urgently release the dozens of migrants and asylum seekers arbitrarily detained in […]
Iran: Labor Protests Surge: Unpaid Wages, Unsafe Work Conditions, Arbitrary Arrests, Prosecutions
Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian workers are facing mounting economic and political challenges to realizing their labor rights, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights Activists (HRA), an Iranian human rights documentation group, said today, ahead of International Workers’ Day on May 1, 2022. Over the past four years, amid a deterioration of Iran’s […]
Confiscating Palestinian Land for a Horse Farm: Israel’s Separation Barrier Restricts Livelihoods in the Occupied West Bank
By Eric Goldstein, Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Division | – ( Human Rights Watch) – On April 14, 2002, Israel’s cabinet approved construction of a “separation barrier,” ostensibly to halt a wave of deadly attacks inside Israel by Palestinians from the occupied West Bank. Last week, 20 years later, I drove up […]
Israel: Release Long Detained Gaza Aid Worker: 6 Years After Arrest, Mohammad al-Halabi Has Not Been Convicted of a Crime
Human Rights Watch – (Jerusalem) – Israeli authorities should immediately release Mohammad al-Halabi, a humanitarian worker from Gaza detained for nearly six years both before and during his trial, Human Rights Watch said today. The Israeli Supreme Court on February 17, 2022, renewed al-Halabi’s detention for 90 days: its 23rd such renewal. Israeli prosecutors have […]
Unlawful Killing in Yemen: Recent Saudi-UAE Attack Targeted Civilians
Human Rights Watch – (Sanaa) – The Saudi and UAE-led coalition carried out three attacks in Yemen in late January 2022 in apparent violation of the laws of war that resulted in at least 80 apparently civilian deaths, including three children, and 156 injuries, including two children, Mwatana for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch […]
US Assistance to Saudi-Led Coalition Risks Complicity in War Crimes
By Afrah Nasser Yemen Researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division | – ( Human Rights Watch) – The protracted conflict in Yemen has killed almost a quarter of a million people directly or indirectly due to inadequate food, health care, and infrastructure. It has included unlawful attack after unlawful attack, with homes, hospitals, schools, […]
Syrian Government, the World’s Great Torturer, outlaws Torture: If it is a Joke, it isn’t Funny
By Sara Kayyali | Syria Researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division | ( Human Rights Watch ) – This is not an April Fools’ joke. Syria, where torture is routine and pervasive, has passed a law criminalizing the practice. In an announcement that might have appeared as satire, the Syrian State News Agency (SANA) […]
Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Exacerbates Hunger in Middle East, North Africa: Strong Government Response Needed to Protect the Right to Food
Human Rights Watch) – (Beirut) – Governments should ensure that the conflict in Ukraine does not worsen the food crisis in the Middle East and North Africa and protect the right to affordable, adequate food for everyone, Human Rights Watch said today. Both Ukraine and Russia are leading exporters of agricultural products to many Middle […]