By Bill Van Esveld Associate Director, MENA, Children’s Rights Division ( Human Rights Watch ) – The United Nations’ core human rights agency is mandated to produce a database, updated annually, of businesses involved in Israel’s unlawful policy of establishing Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. So far, this has been […]
Sudan: Abusive Warring Parties Acquire New Weapons
Renew, Expand UN Arms Embargo
The West must end its Two-Tier Approach to Protection of Civilians in Gaza and Ukraine
Published in: The New Arab Yasmine Ahmed Director, United Kingdom YasmineAhmed001 ( Human Rights Watch ) – Britain’s response to the attack, delivered by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting in Kyiv was unequivocal: the attack was a display of “cowardly depravity,” and Russia’s actions constituted “barbaric acts of violence.” Attacks directed at […]
Israel: Palestinian Healthcare Workers Tortured
Human Rights Watch – (Jerusalem) – Israeli forces have arbitrarily detained Palestinian healthcare workers in Gaza since hostilities began in October 2023, deported them to detention facilities in Israel, and allegedly tortured and ill-treated them, Human Rights Watch said today. The detention of healthcare workers in the context of the Israeli military’s repeated attacks on hospitals in […]
Yemen: Israeli Port Attack Possible War Crime: Retaliatory July Strike on Hodeidah Threatens Food, Aid, Electricity Supply
Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – The Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port on the evening of July 20, 2024, were an apparently unlawful indiscriminate or disproportionate attack on civilians that could have a long-term impact on millions of Yemenis who rely on the port for food and humanitarian aid, Human Rights Watch said today. The […]
Israeli Lawmakers try to Block Torture Prosecutions
By Bill Van Esveld, Associate Director, MENA, Children’s Rights Division | – A standoff at Israel’s Sde Teiman military base this week has thrown longstanding abuses against Palestinian detainees and the Israeli military’s history of impunity for torture into stark relief. On July 29, Israeli military police arrested nine Israeli soldiers at the base on […]
War Crime: Israelis Circulating Degrading Sexualized Photos of Palestinian Prisoners
Human Rights Watch – (Jerusalem) – Israeli forces have been publishing degrading photographs and videos of detained Palestinians, including children, a form of inhumane treatment and an outrage on their personal dignity that amount to war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. In many cases, detainees were stripped of their clothing, sometimes fully, then photographed or […]
Netanyahu Visit Highlights Risk that US Officials could also be Prosecuted under International Law
Human Rights Watch – (Washington, DC) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearance before a joint session of Congress on July 24, 2024, highlights the continued and significant US supply of weapons to Israel’s military despite credible allegations of ongoing war crimes by Israeli forces in Gaza, Human Rights Watch said today. “US officials are […]
World Court Finds Israel Responsible for Apartheid, says its Presence in Palestinian Territories is Illegal
Human Rights Watch – (New York) – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion on July 19, 2024, with significant consequences for human rights protections in Palestine under Israel’s 57-year occupation. The opinion stems from a December 2022 request by the United Nations General Assembly to the court to consider the legal consequences of Israel’s policies and practices in […]