Human rights watch

Torture, sexual violence, forced confessions: Experts reveal mass human rights violations in Iran

As part of its campaign of suppression, Tehran has arrested people in mass, detaining individuals in unofficial facilities where they cannot communicate with the outside world.

A bus burned during protests, on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2026
 L to R: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump. (illustration)

Tehran must be confronted: Trump, Netanyahu should lead the West's moral stand - editorial

US President Donald Trump (C), Vice President JD Vance (L) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) pictured in the White House, November 6, 2025; illustrative.

Trump declines to take sides between Vance, Rubio in 2028 successor debate

US President Donald Trump sits at his desk, behind a hat that reads "America is back" at the White House in Washington, DC, US, February 3, 2026.

Trump has attacked pillars of democracy, Human Rights Watch alleges


HRW raises alarm about future of Lebanese hospitals

Rights group: If government does not act quickly, medical professionals may no longer be able provide treatment

Human Rights Watch logo

Human Rights Watch head slammed for tweet on Iran’s attack on Saudi

The Head of HRW called Iran's attack on Saudi Arabia “far better than the Saudi crown prince’s attacks on Yemen.”

Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth speaks during a interview with Reuters in Geneva, Switzerland, April 9, 2018

Human Rights Watch's Shakir defiant as Israel deports him: I'll be back

Omar Shakir’s deportation marks the end of one of the most controversial fights ever between Israel and one of its human rights critics.

Human Rights Watch Israel-Palestine Director Omar Shakir speaks in Israel before being deported on Monday, November 25, 2019

HRW official to be deported by November 25 after High Court Chief ruling

Official appealed for wider High Court panel to block deportation

OMAR SHAKIR, Human Rights Watch Israel and Palestine director, looks up before a hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem in September

Did Israel sledgehammer its reputation as a functioning democracy?

And, are Israel’s ongoing conflicts with international bodies endemic to being viewed as the ‘occupier’?

OMAR SHAKIR, Human Rights Watch Israel and Palestine director, looks up before a hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem in September

Is HRW official being expelled for BDS or criticism of Israel? - analysis

The court suggests it was about both human rights and boycotts – and where they are connected, Israel can deport someone whose human rights’ criticism takes the shape of specific calls to boycott.

Human Rights Watch representative Omar Shakir

Israel’s Supreme Court rules HRW Director can be deported over BDS

Human Rights Watch is weighing an appeal to a larger judicial panel of the verdict by a three judges. If not appeal is lodged, Shakir could be asked to leave the country within 20-day.

Omar Shakir from Human Rights Watch

Algeria shuts down Protestant churches, police arrest worshipers

“This last notification is not the result of coincidence, but a provocative response to the sit-in of October 9 in front of the Bejaia Province headquarters,” said EPA head Pastor Salah Chalah.

A Protestant Berber woman sings during a mass at a church in the Berber capital of Tizi Ouzou, 100 km (60 miles) east of Algeria's capital Algiers, October 2, 2010. Under Algerian law, all faiths are allowed to practise if they meet certain conditions. But there has been tension between the Christia

Omar Shakir's lawyer: Let new Israeli gov't make deportation decision

Case pits protecting free speech-vs-combating BDS

Omar Shakir from Human Rights Watch

HRW head says no one questions Israel's right to exist as democratic state

Roth added that "Israel can define itself any way it wants. Lots of governments define themselves in nationalist terms."

Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth