Abier Almasri Research Assistant, Middle East and North Africa Division @abier_i @abier_i ( Human Rights Watch ) – Israel’s airstrikes in Jenin in the occupied West Bank in early July reminded me of the nights during rounds of hostilities in Gaza when my family and I worried we wouldn’t survive to see daylight again. […]
The State of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: Yemen, Freedom of Speech, Women, Executions
Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 45th Session of the UN Universal Periodic Review Introduction ( Human Rights Watch ) – Although at its last UPR Saudi Arabia supported many recommendations, it continues to commit widespread violations of basic human rights within and beyond its borders. The Saudi government […]
Survivors Speak Out on Sexual Violence in West Darfur
Laetitia Bader Director, Horn of Africa ( Human Rights Watch ) – Nusra and Khadija share the bond of being cousins and of living in the same small town in West Darfur. Now they share a darker bond: both survivors of sexual violence in the conflict in Sudan. Human Rights Watch researchers spoke with […]
Middle East and North Africa: End Curbs on Women’s Mobility (HRW)
Many Middle East and North Africa countries still prevent women from moving freely in their own country or traveling abroad without the permission of a male guardian. Women in the region are fighting rules that authorities often claim are for their protection, but that deprive women of their rights and enable men to control and […]
Tunisia: Crisis as Black Africans Expelled to Libya Border
( Human Rights Watch) – (Tunis) – Tunisian security forces have collectively expelled several hundred Black African migrants and asylum seekers, including children and pregnant women, since July 2, 2023 to a remote, militarized buffer zone at the Tunisia–Libya border, Human Rights Watch said today. The group includes people with both regular and irregular legal […]
Lebanon: Armed Forces Summarily Deporting Syrians
Lebanese Armed Forces have summarily deported thousands of Syrians, including unaccompanied children, back to Syria between April and May 2023. Syrians in Lebanon are living in constant fear that they could be picked up and sent back to nightmarish conditions, regardless of their refugee status. Lebanese authorities should enable Syrians to regularize their status in […]
Iran: New Charges against Journalists
Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have brought vague “propaganda” and “national security” charges against three journalists, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should drop the charges, which stem from the journalists’ reporting and writing on social media, and end the ongoing harassment, prosecution, and punishment of those exercising their rights to […]
Unveiling Resistance: The Struggle for Women’s Rights in Iran
Tara Sepehri Far Iran and Kuwait Senior Researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division @sepehrifar ( Human Rights Watch ) – The sweeping public protests that erupted across Iran in response to the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini in custody of Iran’s morality police last September have been characterized by many observers as the first […]
Put People’s Rights first in Syria Sanctions
Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – The United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union should urgently renew the earthquake-related humanitarian exemptions they introduced to their Syria sanctions’ regimes in February 2023 to more effectively facilitate aid to the Syrian people, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch issued a question-and-answer document examining […]