An older woman collecting food at a Tafel-run\ food bank in Berlin, Germany, July 3, 2023. © 2023 Carsten Koall/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

1/5 Today, we publish a new @hrw.org report on the poverty and the right to social security in #Germany.

The full report is here:

“It Tears You Apart”
Poverty and Gender in Germany’s Social Security System

www.hrw.org/report/2025/...

🔵NEU von @hrw.org:

Im drittreichsten Land der Welt klafft nach wie vor eine große Lücke zwischen der Höhe der gewährten Sozialleistungen und der Armutsrgrenze.

#Deutschland hat ein Armutsproblem, insbesondere ein Frauenarmutsproblem.

Hier geht's zum Bericht:
www.hrw.org/de/report/20...

Children and future generations of Kabwe, Zambia are in dire danger from the toxic legacy of a former mine. Today, new mining in lead waste is making things worse. Comprehensive remediation is the only solution for a #leadfreekabwe

New @hrw.org report out today: www.hrw.org/news/2025/03...

HRW UK Director Yasmine Ahmed recently visited Laila Soueif in a London hospital.

Laila has been on hunger strike for 151 days in protest of her son Alaa Abdel Fattah's imprisonment in Egypt.

A prominent writer and activist, Alaa has been detained unlawfully for over a decade.

Turkey said it would become a ‘zero waste’ nation. Instead, it became a dumping ground for Europe’s rubbish When China stopped receiving the world’s waste, Turkey became Europe’s recycling hotspot. The problem is, most plastics can’t be recycled. And what remains are toxic heaps of trash

Turkey said it would become a ‘zero waste’ nation. Instead, it became a dumping ground for Europe’s rubbish.

www.theguardian.com/news/2025/fe...

Congrats to Science Moms for the amazing add during #SuperBowl its vital that everyone understands and acts on climate, for #climatejustice and the right to a #healthyenvironment

Healthy Environment: A Human Right and Customary International Law By Astrid Puentes Riaño, UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest judicial organ of the UN, i...

I am pleased to share my analysis of a healthy environment as a human right and customary international law, contributing to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) conversation on State obligations regarding climate change.

Thanks to @iisd.bsky.social for the space.
sdg.iisd.org/commentary/g...

In 2024, the ECHR found that Switzerland had failed to comply with its duties concerning climate change.

Now 30+ organizations are calling on Switzerland to step up & comply with the court's climate judgment to #ActOnClimate.

climatelitigationnetwork.org/wp-content/u...

Nearly a quarter of a billion children’s schooling was disrupted by climate crises in 2024.

New @unicef.org report: www.unicef.org/press-releas...

US Paris Agreement Withdrawal Threatens Global Efforts to Tackle Climate Change United States President Donald J. Trump announced yesterday the US’ withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Agreement, the landmark international treaty aiming to limit the rise of global temperatures to 1.5 d...

The US Paris Agreement withdrawal threatens global efforts to tackle climate change. It comes weeks after 2024 was declared the hottest year on record globally due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/01...

Criminalising climate protest while ignoring the crisis The scales of justice are tilted against peaceful protesters—while those responsible for the crisis act with impunity.

Criminalising climate protest while ignoring the crisis

The scales of justice are tilted against peaceful protesters—while those responsible for the #ClimateCrisis act with impunity.

Read our op-ed in Social Europe:
#ClimateActionNow #ClimateJustice

www.socialeurope.eu/criminalisin...

BREAKING: Human Rights Watch launches World Report 2025 - rights trends in 100+ countries around the globe. bit.ly/4gUvG5f

#Rights2025

Repression of climate and environmental protest is intensifying Climate protests increased dramatically in 2018-2019 and have not declined since - and so has the repression they face.

"Repressions are taking place in a context where States are not taking adequate #ClimateAction. By criminalizing activists, States depoliticize them. This conceals the fact these activists are ultimately right about the state of the climate & environment."
www.climatechangenews.com/2025/01/06/r...

Türkiye should address air pollution as part of its constitutional and international legal obligations to realize the human rights to health, life, and a healthy environment, and in particular Türkiye should halt the expansion of all coal plants in line with those obligations.

While local community members and environmental groups in Türkiye prepare to file a lawsuit against the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change’s approval of the expansion, it is clear that decisions like this undermine Türkiye’s attempts at proving its climate credentials.

Our analysis of air pollution levels in Elbistan shows that the average PM2.5 concentration was more than five times the annual WHO recommended level & almost three times the proposed 2030 EU standards between January 2021 and June 2024.

Satellite data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission shows that the average concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO2) was significantly higher over the plant and in the surrounding villages than over the closest monitoring station in Elbistan.

While Türkiye has a total of 380 air quality monitoring stations across the country, the closest to the plant for which public data is available is located in the town of Elbistan, 22 km away.

Hacıkız Savran, 70, can see the plant’s chimney belching out smoke from her living room, and has had severe asthma for more than 7 years:

[My] doctor was surprised to hear that I had never smoked in my life. He said, "Why did you become [this sick] if you never smoked?”.

The decision to greenlight two additional new units at Afşin-Elbistan plant A comes despite local community concerns the expansion will exacerbate the already dangerous health impacts.

People living nearby described a myriad of health problems that academic studies have attributed to toxic air.

Turkish Government Approves Coal Power Plant Expansion Amid growing concerns about its existing air pollution problem, Turkish authorities have approved the expansion of one of Türkiye’s biggest coal power plants. The decision to greenlight two additional...

Amid growing concerns about its existing air pollution problem, Turkish authorities have approved the expansion of one of Türkiye’s biggest coal power plants.

Together with HRW colleagues, we analysed air quality data and talked to residents in the area last year:
www.hrw.org/news/2025/01...

⬇️🧵

Georgia: Brutal Police Violence Against Protesters Police and other security forces have used brutal violence against largely peaceful protesters in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, Human Rights Watch said today.

In widespread & apparently punitive acts, police & other security forces in #Georgia have used brutal violence against largely peaceful protesters. The scale of police violence is shocking & suggests that the authorities have sanctioned or condoned it, says @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2024/12...

Despite joyous images of Syrian refugees going home following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, no person should be sent back involuntarily.

HRW's @billfrelick.bsky.social speaks to Al Jazeera about the continued need for refugee protection ⤵️

The Cost of Fossil Fuel Reliance: Governments provided USD 1.5 trillion from public coffers in 2023 Government support for fossil fuels reached at least USD 1.5 trillion in 2023, new data shows.

Government support for fossil fuels totalled at least $1.5 trillion in 2023, with #Germany & #France among the top 10 subsidizers.

To protect people and the planet, governments should urgently shift financial flows from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

New from @IISD_Energy:
tinyurl.com/3tkj87wk