Human Rights Watch Archives - Voice of the Cape

US, UN express concern about India’s religion-based Citizenship Law

The US government and the United Nations, on Tuesday, expressed concerns about a contentious religion-based citizenship law in India, with the UN calling the legislation “fundamentally discriminatory in nature”, Reuters reports. Rights advocates have criticised the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act, which the Indian government moved to implement on Monday. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say it discriminates against Muslims. Just weeks before Indian elections, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government has been pushing to implement […]

14 March 2024

International News

Myanmar’s camps face ‘catastrophe’ from virus: rights group

Hundreds of thousands of people displaced by conflict in Myanmar face a health "catastrophe" from the coronavirus pandemic, a rights group warned, as international calls grow for an end to fighting. Overcrowded camps with an estimated 350,000 people were "Covid-19 tinderboxes," Human Rights Watch said. Myanmar has 16 confirmed infections and one death, but experts say the lack of testing and poor health infrastructure mean the true figure is likely […]

3 April 2020

International News

Saudis torture and ‘disappear’ civilians in Yemen, claims HRW

Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report today highlighting abuses by Saudi Arabia and the forces it supports in the ongoing conflict in Yemen, specifically in the eastern province of Al-Mahrah, which shares a border with Oman. The report, released a day before the fifth-anniversary of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, traces the serious abuses since June last year, including arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances and the illegal transfer […]

26 March 2020

International News

HRW: Saudi forces torture, disappear Yemeni civilians

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned Saudi Arabia and Saudi-backed forces in war-torn Yemen for carrying out a series of abuses against Yemeni civilians in the furthermost eastern province of al-Mahra. In a report published on Wednesday, the New York-based group said the abuses included arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances and illegal transfers of detainees from Yemen to Saudi Arabia. "Saudi forces and their Yemeni allies' serious abuses against local-Mahra residents […]

25 March 2020

International News

Qatar fake news law ‘repressive’ and ‘vaguely worded’: Amnesty

Amnesty International has raised concerns over free speech in Qatar, after the gas-rich nation enacted a new law that criminalises the publication of "false" or "biased" news with up to five years in prison. The rights group said in a statement on Monday that the new measure, which includes a fine of more than $25,000, was both "repressive" and "vaguely worded". "Qatar already has a host of repressive laws, but this new legislation deals another […]

21 January 2020

International News

Beirut turns into a battleground as clashes escalate

Protesters threw stones at security forces who fired back with tear gas and water cannon during the most violent weekend in Lebanon's capital since the beginning of mostly peaceful demonstrations three months ago. It was the second consecutive night that violence erupted as people grow frustrated by the worsening financial crisis and impasse over the formation of a new government. Medics said 90 people were injured in the latest clashes, taking […]

20 January 2020

International News

Human rights group calls on Iran to drop charges against headscarf protesters

Iran should stop persecuting women who refuse to wear the headscarf, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday. The organisation called for charges to be dropped against three women who were arrested in Iran in January following the beginning of anti-government protests in the country. Nargess Hosseini, who was arrested on 29 January, became famous after a photo began circulating on social media of her standing on an electric utility box […]

25 February 2018

International News

Myanmar accused of ‘bulldozing’ proof of crimes against Rohingya

Myanmar's government has razed at least 55 villages once populated by Rohingya, destroying with them evidence of crimes against the persecuted minority, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Satellite images released by the rights group on Friday show that, between December 2017 and mid-February, areas that were once full of buildings and greenery had been completely cleared. HRW described the actions by Burmese security forces as an "ethnic cleansing campaign" […]

24 February 2018

Uncategorized

Israel passes bill making it harder to divide Jerusalem

Israeli legislators have approved a bill that makes it more difficult to divide Jerusalem. The bill passed early on Tuesday and stipulates that two-thirds support is needed in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, before Israel can relinquish control over any portion of the holy city to a foreign entity, according to local media. The bill is widely seen as intended to make it more difficult to give up part of […]

2 January 2018

Human Rights Watch

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