In Vietnam, more than 160 political prisoners are currently locked up simply for exercising their basic rights. Rights bloggers and activists face police harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and interrogation on a daily basis. Activists face long stints of pre-trial detention, without access to lawyers or family in a one-party police state that tolerates no dissent.

In the early aughts, a campaign to “Save Sudan” became the bipartisan issue of the time. Celebrities and politicians alike implored a global audience to pay attention to and advocate against Suan’s human rights crisis. As interventions waned, so did the attention of many global onlookers. But, since the Sudan Armed Forces

When Robert Taylor bought land and began to build a home in St. John Parish in Louisiana, he envisioned a compound that would house his family for generations to come. Now, Taylor hopes that his grandchildren don’t have to live in this “Sacrifice Zone.” The Taylors’ home is situated in what’s known as Cancer Alley, an 85

Persistent Failure to Ensure Right to Work; Quotas Unfilled

In 2023, Human Rights Watch researcher Nadia Hardman came across a letter the United Nations had sent to the government of Saudi Arabia expressing concern over the killing of Ethiopian migrants who were attempting to enter the kingdom. Migrants from the Horn of Africa had long used the so-called “eastern migration route”

Harassment and Prosecutions; Total State Control Over Legal Profession

What happens to cargo ships at the end of their lives? Often, they wind up beached on shores in the global south where untrained and unprotected workers are tasked with breaking them apart in dangerous conditions. In this episode, Host Ngofeen Mputwbwele takes listeners to the beaches of Bangladesh where Human Rights Watch

Municipal Officials Absent from Investigations for Authorizing and Approving Defective Buildings That Collapsed in Earthquake.  

The Russian military assault on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol between March and May 2022 left thousands of civilians dead and injured, including many in apparently unlawful attacks, and trapped hundreds of thousands for weeks without basic services. Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials should be investigated and appropriately prosecuted for their role in apparent war crimes committed by Russian forces during the fighting there, and Russia should provide reparations to victims of laws-of-war violations and their families. Our City Was Gone’: Russia’s Devastation of Mariupol, Ukraine,” analyzes the civilian suffering and damage to thousands of buildings, including several hundred high-rise apartments, hospitals, educational facilities, and electricity and water infrastructure. They describe repeated attempts by Ukrainian officials and international agencies to organize official evacuations and aid deliveries in the face of Russian obstruction.