Human Rights Watch's Blog

Click to expand Image Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (R) welcomes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Rome, Italy, October 27, 2025. © 2025 Marco Iacobucci/SOPA Images/Sipa USA via AP Photo

For the second time in less than a year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has referred an EU member to its oversight body, the Assembly of States Parties, for failing to cooperate with the court.

On January 26, ICC judges asked the court’s member countries to hold Italy to account for refusing to surrender Osama Elmasry Njeem, a Libyan suspect who had been in its custody. That follows the referral of Hungary last July for failure to arrest and surrender Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The ICC relies on its own members to enforce its rulings and secure justice for victims and survivors of atrocity crimes.

Italian authorities arrested Njeem, wanted by the ICC for serious crimes committed in Libya, in January 2025, but released him and sent him back to Libya. Victims and survivors denounced Italy’s move as a stark denial of justice.

In November, Njeem was arrested by Libyan authorities but little is known about the case, let alone whether Libya will comply with its own obligations to surrender him to The Hague. Human Rights Watch wrote to the Libyan attorney general in December requesting information on the charges against Njeem, Libya’s cooperation with the ICC, and information on other ICC suspects believed to be in Libya, but has received no reply.

The Njeem affair set off parliamentary debates, governmental inquiries and legal proceedings in Italy. But the ICC asked the Assembly to step in because it was not convinced Italy would cooperate in future cases.

The judges were silent as to why they did not also refer Italy’s noncooperation to the UN Security Council, given that the Council had requested the Libya investigation.

The recent noncooperation by Hungary and Italy, and the, at best, mixed signals by other EU member states’ officials as to whether they would arrest Netanyahu have undermined the EU’s credibility to advance equal access to justice for all victims, regardless of where serious international crimes are committed and by whom.

Hungary and Italy have let victims and survivors down. EU institutions and member states’ leaders should at the very least have tough conversations with Hungary and Italy, acknowledge their own obligations, and unambiguously reaffirm their own commitment to cooperate with the court across all situations.

Click to expand Image A correctional services department vehicle believed to be carrying Hong Kong publisher and activist Jimmy Lai leaves the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts following Lai's sentencing, Hong Kong, February 9, 2026. © 2026 Chan Long Hei/AP Photo

(New York) – The Hong Kong High Court’s sentencing of Jimmy Lai, Apple Daily founder and democracy advocate, to 20 years in prison is a devastating blow to media freedom in the city, Human Rights Watch said today. It is by far the harshest sentence handed down under the National Security Law since the Chinese government imposed the draconian legislation on Hong Kong in June 2020. 

Lai, a 78-year-old British citizen, was convicted on December 15, 2025, on two counts of “conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces” under the National Security Law and one count of “conspiracy to publish seditious publications” under the Crimes Ordinance. The Hong Kong government should immediately and unconditionally release Lai.

“Hong Kong’s pretrial detention and baseless prosecution of Jimmy Lai since his arrest in 2020 have been marked by unrelenting cruelty,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The 20-year sentence for 78-year-old Lai—effectively life in prison—shows the Chinese government’s determination to crush independent journalism and critics of the Communist Party.”

Six former Apple Daily executives and editors, who previously pleaded guilty to similar charges in the same case, also received severe sentences ranging from 6 years and 9 months to 10 years in prison. Three of them testified against Lai in exchange for reduced sentences.

Two activists linked to the campaign group Stand with Hong Kong, Andy Li and Wayland Chan, also pleaded guilty earlier to “conspiring” with Lai to commit “foreign collusion” and testified against Lai in exchange for lighter sentences. Li and Chan were sentenced to 7 years and 3 months and 6 years and 3 months in prison, respectively.

In its sentencing decision, the court ruled that Lai’s role as the “mastermind and the driving force” behind the “conspiracies” constituted an aggravating factor justifying a longer prison term. The court granted a slight, but inconsequential, sentence deduction due to Lai’s “old age, health condition, and solitary confinement,” but said his “serious and grave criminal conduct” warranted the 20-year sentence.

In response to the ruling, Chief Superintendent Steve Li of the Hong Kong Police Force’s National Security Department said officers were “still investigating some matters” regarding Lai’s case but offered no further details.

Hong Kong authorities deployed a heavy police presence outside the courthouse. On the eve of the hearing, police removed a person from the line outside the court because they had an Apple Daily keychain. Officers searched courtgoers and confiscated items including a UK-flag bandana and Lunar New Year decorations. On the day of the hearing, police separated journalists from the general public and reportedly prevented reporters from speaking to people waiting to attend the proceedings.

Lai’s prosecution was marred by multiple serious violations of fair trial rights, including being tried by judges handpicked by the Hong Kong government, being denied a jury trial, facing prolonged pretrial detention, and being barred from having counsel of his choice. In 2023, the High Court upheld the government’s decision to bar a British lawyer, Timothy Owen, from representing Lai. The authorities also denied Lai consular access from the United Kingdom, in violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which China is party.

Lai is already serving a sentence of 5 years and 9 months on charges of “fraud” and “participating in an unauthorized assembly.” He suffers from diabetes and has been held in prolonged solitary confinement, a form of torture, since December 2020. His family has repeatedly raised concerns about his deteriorating health, including heart problems and signs of physical decline.

Prosecuting someone for exercising their right to freedom of expression violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is incorporated into Hong Kong’s legal framework through the city’s de facto constitution, the Basic Law, and expressed in the Bill of Rights Ordinance. Hong Kong’s national security legal regime is incompatible with these human rights guarantees.

Foreign governments, leaders and parliaments have expressed concerns over Lai’s case and called for his release. Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, as well as the European Union have issued statements criticizing the sentencing, with the EU, US, and UK calling explicitly for Lai’s release.

In recent months, however, many government leaders visiting China have largely avoided raising human rights issues as they seek to expand trade with Beijing. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to visit Beijing in late February, and US President Donald Trump plans to visit in April.

Since 2020, Hong Kong authorities have arrested at least 365 people and convicted 174 people under national security laws, according to official figures; nearly everyone charged is eventually convicted.

Few governments have taken concrete actions in response to Hong Kong’s rapidly deteriorating rights and freedoms. The US imposed sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials in 2020, 2021, and 2025 for abuses linked to the National Security Law, but has been the only government to do so. Australia, the UK and the EU—each of which has a human rights sanctions regime—should impose targeted sanctions on the Chinese and Hong Kong officials most responsible for serious rights violations, Human Rights Watch said.

“Jimmy Lai’s outrageous sentence is a test of the international community’s resolve to defend fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong and China,” Pearson said. “Governments should ensure consequences for the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities responsible for imprisoning a prominent advocate of free speech and democracy.”

Mali’s junta has jailed a prominent journalist, sparking renewed concerns over media freedom in the country.

Malian journalists confirmed national and international media reports that police arrested Youssouf Sissoko, editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper L’Alternance, at his home in Bamako, Mali’s capital, on February 5.

Click to expand Image Youssouf Sissoko, Bamako, Mali, 2025. © Private

The police took Sissoko before a cybercrime unit prosecutor, who charged him with spreading false information and insulting a foreign head of state, among other offenses, and ordered him held in pretrial custody. Sissoko is in Bamako’s central prison, with his trial scheduled to begin on March 9 before the specialized anti-cybercrime tribunal.

The arrest followed the publication, on February 2, of an article by Sissoko in L’Alternance questioning public statements by neighboring Niger’s military ruler, Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani. The article examined Tiani’s remarks about a late-January attack on Niamey’s international airport, claimed by the armed group the Islamic State in the Sahel Province, and challenged his allegations that France, Côte d’Ivoire, and Benin were involved.

Sissoko was arrested under Mali’s 2019 cybercrime law, which has been criticized for blurring the line between preserving national security and suppressing free speech. Articles 20 and 21 criminalize “threats” and “insults” made via digital platforms and carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison, yet the law does not clearly define these terms, granting the authorities broad discretionary powers.

On February 5, the Malian Association of Private Print Media Publishers denounced Sissoko’s arrest, and on the following day, Reporters Without Borders called for his release.

Since seizing power in a 2021 coup, Mali’s junta has suspended media outlets, dissolved civil society organizations, abolished multiparty politics, and pursued criminal cases against critics.

In January, the Ministry of Territorial Administration issued a decree banning the circulation and distribution of Jeune Afrique, among the most influential news outlets covering African affairs.

Sissoko’s arbitrary detention highlights the fragile state of independent media in a country fraught with repression and shrinking civic space. The authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Sissoko and drop all charges against him.

Click to expand Image Houthi police soldiers patrol during a protest in Sana'a, Yemen, on February 16, 2024. © 2024 Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images

(Beirut) – Houthi authorities have arbitrarily arrested over 20 Christians in Yemen over the last three months, Human Rights Watch said today. The Houthis should immediately release them, along with the hundreds of others they are arbitrarily detaining across the areas of Yemen under their control.

“Rather than addressing the alarming rates of hunger that Yemenis are facing, the Houthis seem to only know how to arrest and detain people,” said Niku Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Houthis should stop detaining people, including members of the marginalized Christian community, and ensure that everyone in their territory have adequate access to food and water.”  

Human Rights Watch spoke to two members of the Christian minority in Yemen who were collating information about the arrests and reviewed information shared online, including statements and social media posts.

Starting in late November and early December 2025, the Houthis began a campaign of arbitrary detention against Christians in Yemen. One Yemeni Christian interviewed and the National Council for Minorities in Yemen said that the Houthis initially arbitrarily detained seven Yemeni Christians at the start of December, and then later expanded their arrests on December 24, Christmas Eve. Another person from the Christian community said that two Christians had also been detained in late November. 

Both people interviewed said that as of January 12, Houthi authorities had arbitrarily detained over 20 Christians from Sanaa, Ibb, and other governorates under Houthi control. One person interviewed knew of 24 people who were detained, while the other person knew of 21.

The first person said his number is based on his “communications with official Christians,” but that there may have been more detentions that he is unaware of. The national council stated that “dozens” have been detained as part of the campaign. Most of the detentions they described would appear to meet the definition of enforced disappearance. 

“People were detained from streets, others from their houses,” the second person said. He added that in the cases they were aware of, authorities had not presented arrest warrants to any of those they were arresting. “The forces didn't introduce themselves, we don't know who they were. They raided houses, broke doors, and arrested people by force.” The people interviewed said that no reason has been given to detainees that would warrant their arrest. 

The first person interviewed said that as far as he knew, none of those detained had any communication with their families, nor had the authorities provided their families with information about their whereabouts when asked. He said that some of those detained suffer from health problems, including heart disease and diabetes, that require medical care. He did not know whether they had received the care they needed. 

The other person said he knew of two people who had been able to contact their families with short phone calls, but the others had not had any contact. “We are hidden communities, marginalized and targeted by all authorities in Yemen, including religious authorities,” he said. “[We are] pursued and persecuted by clerics and authorities, spread across various regions of Yemen.” 

Enforced disappearances, in which the authorities detain a person and then refuse to acknowledge their whereabouts or situation when asked, are serious crimes under international law and are prohibited at all times under both international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, there were previously an estimated 41,000 Christians in Yemen, including Yemenis, refugees, and expatriates from abroad. However, the commission stated in 2025 that “the community has shrunk to only a few thousand” in recent years due to many fleeing as a result of the conflict. Exact figures are impossible to determine due to the lack of a census and the fear by many religious minorities of persecution. 

In 2016, Human Rights Watch reported on the then-beginning conflict’s impacts on the Christian community, including attacks on individuals and Christian institutions. Since then, Houthi authorities, as well as other Yemeni authorities, have continued to abuse religious minorities in Yemen, including Christians, Jews, and Baha’is. As recently as 2023, Human Rights Watch documented the Houthis’ arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance of 17 members of Yemen’s Baha’i community, building on years of the Houthis’ systematic arrests of Baha’is.

The Houthis’ arrests of Christians also come on the heels of the Houthis’ arrests of hundreds of people across Houthi-controlled territory over the last year and a half, including UN workers, members of civil society, human rights defenders, journalists, and others exercising their right to free speech. 

“The Houthis have made many claims that they are the champions of justice against Western oppression, and yet their continuous violations against their own people demonstrate the hollowness of these claims,” Jafarnia said. “Those who oppose injustice abroad should not be carrying out injustice at home.”

Click to expand Image Screenshot of a video showing the aftermath of the January 6, 2026 military strike in Kokoloko, Niger. © 2026 Private

(Nairobi) – An apparent Nigerien military drone strike killed at least 17 civilians, including 4 children, and injured at least 13 others at a crowded market in western Niger on January 6, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. The strike, which also killed three Islamist fighters, violated laws-of-war prohibitions against indiscriminate attacks and might amount to a war crime.

The attack occurred in the village of Kokoloko in Tillabéri region, about 120 kilometers west of the capital, Niamey, and less than 3 kilometers from the border with Burkina Faso. Residents said the Islamic State in the Sahel (IS Sahel), an Islamist armed group, has been active in Kokoloko and surrounding areas for several years. Islamist armed groups have carried out attacks against the military and civilians in Niger since 2019.

“The Nigerien military attack that killed three Islamist fighters also killed and injured a large number of civilians in a market in violation of the laws of war,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch “The Nigerien authorities should ensure a transparent and impartial investigation into this attack, appropriately prosecute those responsible, and adequately compensate victims and their families.”

Human Rights Watch interviewed fifteen people by telephone, including six witnesses and nine members of domestic and international nongovernmental organizations, journalists, and residents of the Kokoloko area. Human Rights Watch also analyzed and geolocated three videos posted online showing the aftermath, as well as satellite imagery of the location of the strike. 

The Nigerien military junta, which took power in a July 2023 coup, did not issue any public comment following the drone strike. Human Rights Watch sent a letter on January 26 to the junta’s cabinet, sharing its findings and requesting responses to specific questions. Human Rights Watch did not receive a response.

Witnesses said that between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on January 6, they saw a drone flying over Kokoloko twice, then drop a munition on the village at about 1:30 p.m., when hundreds of people packed the market. 

“I saw the whitish drone flying, then heard something like a whistling before a large explosion,” said a 36-year-old trader who narrowly escaped injury. “The market was hit, and it was full of women and children, women who sell cooked rice, meat soup, and other food; their kids were around, as well as many traders.”

Witnesses also said that at the time of the strike, three IS Sahel fighters without weapons and dressed in civilian clothes with turbans were in the market, while three others were in the village. “That day, at about 9 a.m., I saw six IS Sahel fighters, armed with Kalashnikovs [assault rifles] and a machine gun, arriving in the village and three of them entered the market,” the trader said. “IS Sahel fighters shop in every market of the area, they buy their things and leave.”

Residents said many of the bodies were torn apart and burned. “I counted 17 bodies, mostly women and children,” said a religious leader, 67, who returned to the market at about 6 p.m. that day. “The bodies were charred, making identification very difficult.” They said IS Sahel fighters helped residents collect the bodies which were buried in the village cemetery. “We put the women and children together, in a mass grave, and the men in another grave,” said one man.

The three videos show scorched earth and extensive fire damage to market stalls, some of them still on fire. Fire detection data provided by NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) captured active fires over Kokoloko on January 6 at 1:31 p.m. local time. Low-resolution satellite imagery from January 7 shows new burn marks over Kokoloko that did not appear on imagery the previous morning.

High-resolution satellite imagery from January 20 shows burned areas in various parts of the village along the main road. Witnesses said the air-dropped munition caused the fire, which was intensified by fuel at the market, as well as by stalls made of wood, which allowed the flames to spread rapidly.

Click to expand Image Image © 2026 Planet Labs PBC. Graphic © 2026 Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch was unable to identify the drone or munition used. Since 2022, the Nigerien military has reportedly acquired various types of Turkish-made drones, including Bayraktar TB-2, Karayel-SU, and Aksungur UCAV. These drones can be equipped with sensors that allow for active surveillance with live video feeds and can be equipped with guided munitions. 

Videos from the site posted online and reviewed by Human Rights Watch show extensive fire damage to structures that could have been caused by high explosives. Witnesses reported that the wounded had a range of injuries, including burns and wounds from munition fragments. 

Following the strike, nearly all of Kokoloko’s 1,200 residents fled to neighboring villages or across the border to Mali. “I spent the first night in a nearby village with my children,” said a woman who lost her cousin, 50, and nephew, 5, in the strike. “Then, we crossed to Mali with almost nothing.”

Human Rights Watch obtained a list compiled by residents with the names of 17 civilians killed and 13 injured. Those killed included 11 women, ages 29 to 50; 2 men, 32 and 55; and 4 children, 5 to 10. Among those injured were 4 women, ages 28 to 45; ;7 men, 23 to 62; and 2 children, 14 and 15.

Witnesses said residents found the bodies of the three fighters and IS Sahel took care of their burial. 

Under international humanitarian law, also called the laws of war, parties to an armed conflict must distinguish at all times between combatants and civilians and never target civilians. Attacks that use a means or method of combat whose effects cannot be limited as the laws of war require, and that therefore strike military objectives and civilians without distinction, are unlawfully indiscriminate. Even if several Islamist fighters were present, the drone strike on the crowded market in Kokoloko with at least one explosive weapon was indiscriminate. If those who ordered or carried out the strike did so with criminal intent—that is, deliberately or recklessly—they would be responsible for war crimes. 

According to the nongovernmental group Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), in 2025 the Tillabéri region recorded the “highest number of fatalities from attacks on civilians” in central Sahel by IS Sahel, the Nigerien military, and the Al Qaeda-linked armed Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen, or JNIM).

In September 2025, media reported that Nigerien military airstrikes hit a weekly market in Injar village, Tillabéri region, killing over 30 civilians in an attack on suspected militants. In January 2024, media reported that Nigerien military drone strikes against Islamist armed groups killed several civilians in Tiawa village, also in Tillabéri region. 

“Foreign governments supporting Niger’s military should press the authorities to adopt measures to avoid harming local populations,” Allegrozzi said. “The government needs to provide services to help people recover from injuries and trauma and provide adequate compensation to victims and their families.”

Click to expand Image The Parliament Building in Tbilisi, Georgia. © 2025 Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via AP Photo

Georgia’s ruling party proposed on January 28 a new package of legislation that would criminalize core civic activity and erect sweeping barriers to political participation.

If adopted, the draft laws would make it a criminal offense to receive foreign funding without prior government authorization, punishable by up to six years in prison. The bill defines a “foreign grant” as any funding or material support received from abroad that authorities deem intended to influence a public authority or a “segment of society” in shaping Georgia’s domestic or foreign policy.

The proposed legislation also takes aim at Georgian groups operating in exile. The laws would, among other things, require government approval before foreign organizations could fund their local branches in Georgia; before foreign-registered entities whose activities primarily relate to Georgia could receive funding; and before foreign actors could hire local experts. In certain circumstances, the authorization requirement would also apply to the provision or receipt of technical assistance, expertise, or knowledge from foreign sources.

The bill further expands the definition of “foreign donor” to include not only foreign nonprofit organizations, foundations, and associations, but also foreign individuals. As a result, even private financial transactions between individuals could fall under government scrutiny. The legislation sets no minimum financial threshold, meaning transfers of any amount could require prior approval. Failure to obtain authorization or to comply with related requirements would trigger criminal liability, including up to six years’ imprisonment.

The package also introduces an eight-year ban on political party membership for anyone previously employed by an organization the authorities deem as representing “foreign interests.” This designation would apply to any organization that receives more than 20 percent of its funding from foreign sources in a calendar year. In practice, this would bar many current and former civil society employees from joining political parties. Notably, the amendments could apply retroactively.

Georgian human rights groups have warned the proposals would have a devastating impact on political freedoms and are fundamentally incompatible with human rights and democratic principles. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has similarly stated that the amendments conflict with Georgia’s international obligations to protect freedom of association.

Georgian authorities should abandon these unjustifiable measures and instead uphold the country’s constitution and international commitments. A vibrant, independent civil society is essential to the protection of civil and political rights in Georgia.

Click to expand Image Greek emergency personnel wait to transfer bodies of dead migrants, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the island of Chios, in the port of Chios, Greece, February 3, 2026. © 2026 Konstantinos Anagnostou/Reuters

On February 3, a devastating collision between a Greek Coast Guard vessel and a migrant boat occurred off the Greek island of Chios. The collision, which resulted in 15 deaths and 24 people injured, including 11 children, raises serious questions about the actions of the Greek Coast Guard at sea.

Although officials were quick to blame the migrant boat and smugglers for the accident, the disaster fits a broader, well-documented history of reckless behavior by the Greek Coast Guard.

Authorities claim the migrant boat rammed the coast guard vessel, while survivors describe a scene of chaos where the much larger coast guard vessel conducted dangerous maneuvers in the dark of night, with some claiming it passed on top of the migrant boat.

The Greek Coast Guard has repeatedly faced allegations of dangerous conduct at sea and failing to protect life. The Chios disaster echoes the 2023 Pylos shipwreck, where more than 600 people drowned in what survivors described as a towing attempt by the Coast Guard that caused their boat to capsize. By November 2025, criminal charges related to the wreck had been brought against 21 Coast Guard officials.

In 2022, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Greece over the 2014 Farmakonissi shipwreck for failing to protect life during the Coast Guard’s fatal attempt to tow a migrant boat toward Türkiye and for failing to conduct an effective investigation into the resulting deaths of 11 women and children.

The Chios collision also took place amid a smear campaign against migrant rights defenders. On February 5, Greece adopted a law linking humanitarian work with criminal conduct. Government officials portrayed humanitarians as accomplices who encourage perilous journeys and put lives in danger, accusing them of manipulating survivors of the Chios shipwreck to make false allegations against the Coast Guard. United Nations Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor expressed concern that the law “demonise[s] civil society,” violating Greece’s international obligations.

It is vital that the investigation opened by the Chios prosecutor be thorough, independent, and impartial. While the justice system seeks truth and accountability for this latest tragedy, it is crucial that the Greek authorities address structural problems in the authorities’ response to migrant boats in the Aegean Sea to avoid further loss of life.

Click to expand Image A US Border Patrol Tactical Unit agent sprays pepper spray into the face of a protestor near the scene where a woman was shot and killed by a federal agent, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 7, 2026. © 2026 Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images

Congress approved five of six federal funding bills this week, delaying funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over concerns regarding recent immigration crackdowns, including killings and other abuses. Congress is now negotiating possible reforms for DHS and two of its agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). 

The American Immigration Lawyers Association and rights organizations from across the country have compiled a list of 10 legislative proposals to include in the bill. They include Congressional investigations into deadly use of force and killings, stopping racial profiling, ending qualified immunity for immigration enforcement officers, halting warrantless arrests, and putting a stop to detaining families. Congress should consider at least some of these policy recommendations and produce—with no excuses—a robust set of reforms to strengthen oversight and rein in the rampant abuses that have led to this point.

Thousands have taken to the streets to protest the recent killings and other abuses in Minneapolis and across the US. They are speaking out against the ways in which immigration enforcement officials conceal their identities, break down doors without judicial warrants, and target people for arrest based on their perceived nationality and the color of their skin. Many of these arrests are violent, leading to deaths, injury, and at times detention of US citizens. Detained people are often abused, neglected, and deprived of their due process rights.  

Human Rights Watch investigations, over various administrations and many years, have documented abusive actions by ICE and CBP. There has been little to no accountability for agents and other officials implicated in unlawful killings, other physical and verbal assaults, or sending immigrants to be arbitrarily detained and tortured in third countries. All of this has made communities fearful and undermined public safety.  

It is long past time for Congress to exercise meaningful oversight of DHS and secure accountability for human rights abuses. In 2025, Congress increased the DHS budget by $165 billion in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but the Trump administration has drastically reduced staffing in oversight offices at the agency, eliminating internal oversight mechanisms. In drafting the DHS funding bill, Congress should prioritize oversight of enforcement operations and detention and create accountability for human rights violations.  

Congress should not allow DHS to continue using abusive tactics with impunity.

Click to expand Image Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2026. © 2026 Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP Photo

In the wake of the Bondi Hannukah attack, the deadliest mass shooting in Australia in three decades, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese invited Israeli President Isaac Herzog to visit, to “engage with members of the Jewish community who are grieving the loss of 15 innocent lives.”

President Herzog is Israel’s head of state, with a constitutional and ceremonial role. Although Herzog’s trip is focused on the Bondi attacks and the antisemitism many Australian Jews have been experiencing, it is impossible to ignore violations by the government Herzog represents. 

On October 13, 2023, Herzog stated in reference to the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, “it’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It is not true, this rhetoric about civilians who were not aware and not involved. It is absolutely not true.” Herzog is hardly a champion of human rights.

He is not the subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, unlike Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or the former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. However, based on Herzog’s October 13 statement, he was recently one of a handful of Israeli leaders accused of “direct and public incitement to commit genocide” in a United Nations Commission of Inquiry report. 

In 2023, South Africa filed a case with the International Court of Justice alleging that Israel has violated the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in which it referred to statements by Herzog and other senior Israeli officials as evidence of Israel’s genocidal intent. This case is ongoing.

Herzog’s visit also comes at a time when Israeli authorities are expelling humanitarian agencies from Gaza, where Palestinians face dire humanitarian conditions. In the West Bank, settlements are being expanded, and settler attacks and violence against Palestinians are rising. 

While showing appropriate concern for the Jewish community, the Australian government should not shy away from denouncing and pushing for an end to the Israeli government’s longstanding serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

Australia should look to whether its domestic laws could be used to investigate and prosecute serious international crimes committed in Israel and Palestine, and make clear that as an ICC member it stands ready to carry out the court’s arrest warrants across its docket.

Click to expand Image Burkina Faso soldiers patrol aboard a pickup truck on the road from Dori to the Goudebo refugee camp, on February 3, 2020. © 2020 OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT/AFP via Getty Images

On January 29, the junta’s Council of Ministers approved a decree dissolving all political parties in the country and a draft law repealing the legislation governing their operations and financing. The minister of territorial administration, Émile Zerbo, said the action is part of a broader effort to “rebuild the state,” following what the junta describes as “abuses” and “division of citizens” caused by the multiparty system.

This is the latest in a series of attacks on the political opposition that began immediately after junta leader President Ibrahim Traoré seized power in September 2022. Despite promises to return to civilian rule, Traoré instead consolidated his authority and suspended political parties. Following nationwide consultations that were widely boycotted by opposition parties and civil society groups, Traoré announced in May 2024 that the junta would remain in power for an additional five years. In April 2025, he stated that Burkina Faso was “no longer in a democracy,” but rather in a “progressive people’s revolution.”

Since the coup, the junta has also carried out a relentless assault against perceived political opponents, civil society organizations, the media, and peaceful dissent, shrinking the country’s civic and political space. The military authorities have used a sweeping emergency law to arbitrarily arrest, forcibly disappear, and unlawfully conscript critics, dissidents, judges and journalists.

The dissolution of political parties comes amid Burkina Faso’s deepening Islamist insurgency, underscoring how the country’s armed conflict is unfolding alongside a sharp contraction of political space.

“The military are putting democratic institutions on trial using the pretext of terrorism,” said Ahmed Newton Barry, a journalist and former president of the Burkinabè national electoral commission who is currently in exile. “The junta believes that the fight against terrorism is incompatible with democracy, but counterterrorism efforts should not undermine civil liberties and the rule of law.”

The dissolution of political parties marks a significant escalation in the country’s democratic backslide. Burkina Faso’s international partners, including the African Union, the United Nations, and the European Union, face a clear choice: remain passive as democratic institutions disappear, or signal decisively that, unless the junta’s trajectory changes, continued repression will carry political, economic, and diplomatic costs.