Scores of academics & students at public universities in Bangladesh have been arbitrarily punished because of their alleged affiliation with former ruler Sheikh Hasina & the Awami League party says @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2026/11...

Bangladesh: Academics Allegedly Targeted for Supporting Hasina

Scores of academics and students at public universities in Bangladesh have been arbitrarily punished because of their alleged affiliation with former ruler Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party.

hrw.org

The International Court of Justice has announced that it will deliver its judgment on November 19, 2026, in the case brought by Gambia against Myanmar for alleged violations of the Genocide Convention. Read @hrw's Q&A about the case: www.hrw.org/news/2026/11...

World Court Set to Rule in Myanmar Genocide Case

The International Court of Justice has announced that it will deliver its judgment on November 19, 2026, in the case brought by Gambia against Myanmar for alleged violations of the Genocide Convention...

hrw.org

Thai authorities should not forcibly return 2 Uyghurs to China, where they face grave risks of torture & other serious abuses. The 2 men were transferred from prison to immigration detention in Bangkok after being pardoned, apparently in preparation for deportation. www.hrw.org/news/2026/11...

Thailand: Two Uyghurs at Risk of Return to China

Thai authorities should not forcibly return two Uyghur men to China, where they face grave risks of torture and other serious abuses.

hrw.org

🚨News alert from India, via @elainepearson.bsky.social / @hrw.org⤵️ “The authorities should immediately scrap the voter roll revision process that has denied India’s most marginalized people their right to vote and other government services.” Read more⤵️

India: Mass Voter Roll Exclusions Deeply Flawed

The Indian authorities’ removal of over 130 million names from the country’s electoral rolls, is arbitrary and deeply flawed.

hrw.org

This week a Chinese sports forum unearthed an April 2026 interview with Kylian Mbappé jokingly likening himself to a “Chinese dictator” (dictateur chinois). Read this dispatch by @mayawang.bsky.social & @minkyworden.bsky.social on what happened next. Spoiler alert: the Streisand Effect ⤵️

Mbappé, Mao, and La Liga

This week a Chinese sports forum unearthed an April 2026 interview with Real Madrid football star Kylian Mbappé jokingly likening himself to a “Chinese dictator” (dictateur chinois).

hrw.org

Some good news from Indonesia - A Constitutional Court ruling requires reform of the military justice system so that military personnel accused of ordinary crimes can be tried in civilian courts. This is a major step for justice in Indonesia. www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

Indonesia: Landmark Ruling Allows Civilian Trials of Soldiers

The Indonesian Constitutional Court’s ruling requiring reform of the military justice system so that military personnel accused of ordinary crimes can be tried in civilian courts is a major step for j...

hrw.org

Sri Lanka’s organized crime bill would enable prolonged detention without adequate judicial oversight or evidence of criminal conduct & could encourage torture by allowing convictions based on confessions obtained by the police. New from @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

Sri Lanka: Organized Crime Bill Violates Rights Standards

The Sri Lankan government’s Prevention of Organised Crimes Bill, submitted to parliament on October 20, 2026, risks enabling arbitrary detention, torture, and other rights violations.

hrw.org

New @hrw research shows how the Indian authorities’ removal of 130 million+ names from electoral rolls was arbitrary & deeply flawed. Authorities should scrap the voter roll revision process which has especially impacted India’s most marginalized. www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

India: Mass Voter Roll Exclusions Deeply Flawed

The Indian authorities’ removal of over 130 million names from the country’s electoral rolls, is arbitrary and deeply flawed.

hrw.org

Globally, women in public life face alarming levels of political violence, including tech-facilitated sexual & gender-based violence, with little protection or recourse. New from @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

Alarming Attacks on Women Politicians

Globally, women in public life face alarming levels of political violence, including tech-facilitated sexual and gender-based violence, with little protection or recourse.

hrw.org

The Vietnamese government is systematically suppressing the rights of workers to organize independent unions. Despite making pledges in free trade agreements, the government has failed to make meaningful reforms & routinely represses independent labor organizing. www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

Vietnam: Independent Trade Unions Suppressed

The Vietnamese government is systematically suppressing the rights of workers to organize independent unions.

hrw.org

Leaders of the European Union, Belgium & Denmark should urge Vietnam to make concrete progress in improving its human rights record during Vietnamese President To Lam’s visit to Copenhagen & Brussels the week of October 19-24, 2026. More from @hrw.org 👇 www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

EU, Belgium, Denmark: Raise Rights With Vietnam’s Leader

Leaders of the European Union, Belgium, and Denmark should urge Vietnam to make concrete progress in improving its human rights record during Vietnamese President To Lam’s visit to Copenhagen and Brus...

hrw.org

Opposition activist Voeung Samnang will spend 11 years in prison. The case illustrates the Cambodian government’s increased use of vague plotting charges to prosecute opposition activists & social media users and sentence them to long prison terms. www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

Cambodian Supreme Court Maximizes Sentence for Opposition Activist

Cambodia’s Supreme Court on October 14 denied opposition activist Voeung Samnang’s request to serve his two sentences concurrently, meaning he will spend 11 years in prison.

hrw.org

A care facility in Thailand's Kanchanaburi made headlines when photos of conditions in the facility went viral. Thailand should move beyond institutional care & guarantee everyone the support required to live independently in the community. @hrw.org's Audrey Gregg 👇 www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

Abusive Care Facility in Thailand Raises Broader Concerns

A care facility in Kanchanaburi, Thailand made headlines in early October when photos of conditions in the facility went viral, including images allegedly depicting metal cages that confine residents ...

hrw.org

Excessive force. Beatings. Arbitrary detentions. Harassment of journalists. Indian authorities have not let up their assault on peaceful protesters, who are denouncing a voter list revision process that deleted over 130 million names.

The Vietnamese authorities should immediately release 3 activists associated with the overseas Viet Tan organization who went missing in Cambodia & drop charges against them. www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

Vietnam: Free Abducted Democracy Group Activists

The Vietnamese authorities should immediately release three activists associated with the overseas Viet Tan organization who went missing in Cambodia, and drop all charges against them, Human Rights W...

hrw.org

Indian authorities are using abusive methods to crack down on thousands of peaceful protesters in New Delhi and other Indian cities. The protests have demanded the resignation of India's top election official over alleged wrongdoing and the scrapping of a contentious voter list revision process.

India: End Crackdown on Protesters, Arbitrary Detentions

Indian authorities are using abusive methods to crack down on thousands of peaceful protesters in New Delhi and other Indian cities.

hrw.org

Police in Delhi are responding to peaceful protests with seemingly unnecessary or excessive force & have wrongfully detained thousands of people. The Modi government should stop throwing protesters in jail & instead engage with them on the right to vote & fair elections. www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

India: End Crackdown on Protesters, Arbitrary Detentions

Indian authorities are using abusive methods to crack down on thousands of peaceful protesters in New Delhi and other Indian cities.

hrw.org

Philippine authorities relocated 90 families from Pulo island in Pampanga to a low-lying area that was a former fish pond as part of a flood control project. At the new site, they face chronic flooding & few livelihood opportunities. New from @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

Philippines: Flood Control Project Disregards Rights

Philippine authorities disregarded the rights of residents who were removed from a small island in Pampanga province for a flood control project and relocated to a site with chronic flooding and few l...

hrw.org

As protests in India escalate, so too have reports of detentions and abuses against peaceful protesters. Indian authorities should exercise restraint & stop beating peaceful protesters. They should stop harassing journalists & allow them to do their jobs. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

CJP at Jantar Mantar: Delhi sees more protests as freed 'cockroach' group's leaders vow to continue fight

Hundreds of people who came out on the streets despite the police's restrictions were detained on Sunday.

bbc.co.uk

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s invitation to Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing to coordinate the forced return of people who fled military atrocities in Myanmar is an invitation for further abuse. www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

Malaysia: Press Myanmar Junta Leader to End Abuses

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should press Myanmar’s junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, to end human rights abuses during his visit to Kuala Lumpur on October 7, 2026, Human Rights Watch said tod...

hrw.org

Amid protests over large-scale changes to voter rolls, Indian authorities should release those detained solely for peacefully expressing their views. Authorities should order police to exercise restraint, stop suspending internet services to stifle protests. www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

Protests intensify in India over demands for election chief to quit

Thousands of youth protesters and opposition supporters rallied in Delhi and Mumbai ‌on Sunday to demand the resignation of India's election commission chief over changes to voter rolls, as police det...

reuters.com

The mass arrest of around 290 attendees at an opposition political gathering in Dhaka on September 26 is the latest incident in the Bangladesh authorities’ ongoing assault on civil and political rights. www.hrw.org/news/2026/10...

Bangladeshi Police Round Up Opposition Supporters

The mass arrest of attendees at a small left-wing party’s meeting in Dhaka on September 26 is the latest incident in the Bangladesh authorities’ ongoing assault on civil and political rights.

hrw.org

This week marks 25 years since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. The US & coalition countries have yet to provide genuine justice or redress for war crimes and other grave abuses in Afghanistan in the 25 years. See @hrw.org's timeline of our reporting on the conflict: www.hrw.org/feature/2026...

Afghans Await Justice 25 Years After War Began

The United States and coalition countries have yet to provide genuine justice or redress for war crimes and other grave abuses in Afghanistan in the 25 years since the war began on October 7, 2001.

hrw.org

Naoero’s decision to leave the ICC amid extreme pressure on the court from the US, betrays victims of serious international crimes around the world. ICC member countries, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, should speak out in support of the ICC & urge Naoero to reconsider its decision.

Responding to Xi and Trump’s Illiberal World Order www.hrw.org/news/2026/09...

Responding to Xi and Trump’s Illiberal World Order

As US President Donald Trump hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington in this week, tariffs, artificial intelligence, and Taiwan may all be on the table. One subject almost certainly will not ...

hrw.org

The Russian government’s escalating attacks on censorship circumvention services is part of its broader assault on access to information, privacy, and freedom of expression. These repressive tactics affect millions of people in Russia seeking to connect to the internet without state censorship.

Russia Crackdown on Bypassing Online Censorship

Russian authorities are doubling down on their efforts to quash freedom of expression, including access to information, by increasingly suppressing tools to circumvent draconian censorship laws, Human...

hrw.org

The Myanmar military junta subjects women political prisoners to torture, sexual violence & life-threatening denial of medical care. Among30,000+ political prisoners detained since the junta’s February 2021 coup are about 6,600 women and 640 children. New from @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2026/09...

Myanmar: Women Political Prisoners Tortured, Ill-treated

The Myanmar military junta subjects women political prisoners to torture, sexual violence, and life-threatening denial of medical care.

hrw.org

When Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay meets world leaders at the United Nations general assembly in New York this week, they should urge him to release the at least 28 political prisoners who are still held in dreadful conditions in his country’s jails. www.hrw.org/news/2026/09...

Bhutan Should Release All Remaining Political Prisoners

When Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay meets world leaders at the United Nations general assembly in New York this week, they should urge him to release the at least 28 political prisoners who a...

hrw.org

The Chinese government is tightening its rules to decide arbitrarily who can and cannot leave China, violating the internationally protected right to leave one’s country. New from @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2026/09...

China: New Border Decree Curtails Right to Leave

A new Chinese government decree expands the discretion of administrative authorities to arbitrarily bar people from leaving China, violating the internationally protected right to leave a country.

hrw.org

"I was not counted as a human being. I was counted, like a number, like ‘ah 16!’. They never called me by my name." Since 2001, Australia has forcibly transferred more than 5,000 asylum seekers to offshore detention, causing profound harm to those seeking refuge. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4ixAWzu