53rd Session UN Human Rights Council Item 2 – Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and in Israel Less than a year ago, Israeli authorities, with Yair Lapid as prime minister, raided the offices of and issued closure orders against seven prominent Palestinian civil […]
Governments at Bonn Climate Talks Should Press United Arab Emirates on Rights
Joe Stork Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Division (Human Rights Watch ) – Ahmed Mansoor, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) best-known human rights defender, has been arbitrarily imprisoned, in isolation, since security forces raided his home just before midnight on March 20, 2017. Local media reported he was arrested and convicted for publishing […]
Palestinian Forum Highlights Threats of Autonomous Weapons
Susan Aboeid Associate, Arms Division @aboeidsusan ( Human Rights Watch) – In late May, I addressed a panel on the militarization of digital spaces – specifically on how Israeli authorities use surveillance technologies to deepen systemic discrimination against Palestinians. I warned that the use of autonomy in weapons systems was a dangerous part […]
Saudi Arabia Executes Two Shia Bahrainis on Terrorism Charges in “Grossly Unfair” Trial
By Leila Saad | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – Two Bahraini Shi’a men have been executed in Saudi Arabia following what Amnesty International described as a “grossly unfair trial” on terrorism-related charges. Jaafar Sultan and Sadeq Thamer were arrested in May 2015 and held incommunicado for more than three months, according to Amnesty International. […]
75 Years Later, Israel Blocking Palestinian Refugees’ Return
Omar Shakir Israel and Palestine Director, Middle East and North Africa Division @OmarSShakir From the morgues of Cairo to the cells of Guantanamo, I’ve seen a lot of anguish and cruelty in my human rights work over the years. But often more than blood spilled, it’s the lives stunted, solely because of a person’s […]
Tunisia: Move to Dismantle Country’s Largest Opposition Party
( Human Rights Watch ) – (Tunis) – Tunisian authorities have intensified their attack on opponents of President Kais Saied’s 2021 power grab, moving to neutralize the country’s largest political party, Ennahda, Human Rights Watch said today. Since December 2022, the Tunisian government has arrested at least 17 current or former members of the party, […]
Iraq Gas Flaring Tied to Cancer Surge
Antonia Juhasz Senior Researcher, Environment and Human Rights @AntoniaJuhasz ( Human Rights Watch) – Ali Hussein Jaloud, an Iraqi man barely in his 20s, died April 21 of leukemia, a disease Ali and his family attributed to the pollution from the oil production and constant gas flares that surround their community in the southern […]
Tunisia Doubles Down on Democratic Rollback
Published in: Foreign Policy Eric Goldstein Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Division goldsteinricky ( Human Rights Watch ) – Some coups and power grabs start with the arrest of the leader of the political opposition. In Tunisia, it took almost two years for President Kais Saied to jail Rached Ghannouchi, the longtime […]
Any New Yemen Truce must allow Participation of Citizens and Civil Society
Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Negotiations for a new truce in Yemen by Saudi and Houthi authorities present an opportunity to incorporate accountability and monitoring mechanisms that are essential for protecting Yemenis’ fundamental rights, Human Rights watch said today. Based on news reports, negotiations are apparently making progress. To effectively address Yeminis’ human rights, […]