Articles by Human Rights Watch
Indonesia’s abusive blasphemy law under fresh scrutiny
The blasphemy law has been used to prosecute and imprison members of religious minorities and of traditional religions.
Interrogated, assaulted and robbed over grocery store lineup
A Turkmenistan alternative radio correspondent experienced harrowing harassment by police and unidentified attackers over grocery store lineup pictures.
Saudi Arabia: Sentence over, activist still held
Saudi authorities are still holding a Saudi activist even though his eight-year sentence for protesting the war in Gaza expired on October 5, 2016.
Did British intelligence spy on Human Rights Watch?
HRW demands that UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal confirm whether they were subject to surveillance by GCHQ.
Asia Pacific October round-up: Travel bans, award winners, and impunity in Afghanistan
October: Authorities use immigration rules to ban journalists and activists in Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand; free expression advocates from Bangladesh and Malaysia win awards.
Directive bans all protests without government permission in Ethiopia
A new directive banning all protests without government permissions follows large-scale, and mainly peaceful anti-government protests have been sweeping through Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest region, since November 2015, and the Amhara region since July 2016
Azerbaijani activist detained for spraying graffiti, sentenced on false drug charges
An Azerbaijani court has handed down a ten-year prison sentence to a 22-year-old activist, who is part of a pro-democracy youth group. Giyas Ibrahimov was detained for spraying graffiti on a statue of a former president. However, he was convicted on serious drugs charges.
New rules gag lawyers in China
Lawyers and law firms are now required to “support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party,” and to establish Party branches in law firms. Lawyers are prohibited from expressing opinions that “reject the fundamental political system” of China or may “endanger national security.”