Rights & Wrongs

Shipbreaking Updated: The Most Dangerous Job in the World In mid 2024, students in Bangladesh organized mass protests and brought down the repressive government of Sheikh Hasana. The country is now under a caretaker government of Muhammed Yunus, a Nobel Laureate who is attempting reforms. Months before this Monsoon Revolution, we told you about shipbreaking, the waste management of industrial ships sent to Bangladesh that has been dubbed “the most dangerous job in the world.” Guest Rizwana Hasan was then the country's only environmental lawyer and fierce advocate against the shipbreaking industry. Today, she is the new government's Adviser for Environment, Forest and Climate Change. What has changed for shipbreakers under this new government. This week, host Ngofeen Mputubwele revisits last year's episode and catches up with Human Rights Watch researcher Julia Bleckner to understand this new moment in Bangladesh, and how it will impact shipbreaking. Julia Bleckner: Senior Researcher for the Asia Division and Global Health Initiative at Human Rights Watch Rizwana Hasan: Adviser for Environment, Forest and Climate Change of Bangladesh

For decades, Congo's minerals have been coveted by the rich and powerful. You might not know much about the Democratic Republic of Congo, but its natural resources are quietly central to your daily life. Recently, an armed group backed by Rwanda, Congo's neighbor, took control of two cities in eastern Congo, injuring and killing civilians, and displacing hundreds of thousands of residents. Host Ngofeen Mputubwele, whose family hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo, talks with two very special guests – his parents – as well as Human Rights Watch associate director Lewis Mudge, who spent years in the country. If you think this war has nothing to do with you, think again. Lewis Mudge: Associate Director of Africa Division at Human Rights Watch Makim Mputubwele: Retired Associate Professor at Lane College; Ngofeen's papá Mulata Moba: Retired Counselor for Mental Health Agency; Ngofeen's mamá Emmanuel Sekiyoba: Professor of Economics

Today, there are more displaced people in the world than at any other time in history. It is a humanitarian crisis on a global scale. But rather than seeking humane solutions to this crisis, many governments are choosing to weaponize it, creating a hostile environment for migrants and implementing laws that criminalize migration and undermine human rights. We have all read the headlines demonizing migrants, but we rarely hear from the people behind those headlines-their stories, their challenges, and what drove them to make a perilous journey in the hope of finding sanctuary far from home. In this week's episode, host Ngofeen Mputubwele speaks to Hanaa R., a former policewoman who, fearing for her life, fled Afghanistan when the Taliban took control. We will hear about the risks she took and the sacrifices she made on her journey to become an asylum seeker in the US. But we will also hear why Trump's new migration policies mean that this incredible story wouldn't be possible today. Hanaa Rahimi: Former Afghan policewoman sharing her story under alias Bill Frelick: Director of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Division at Human Rights Watch

In late 2024, the international football association (FIFA) announced that Saudi Arabia would host the 2034 World Cup. This means the world's largest sporting event will be taking place in a country where the government imprisons scores of activists and dissidents for peaceful criticism, denies women fundamental civil and human rights, and cheats migrant workers out of their pay, after treating them brutally. There's a word to describe countries notorious for human rights abuses hosting major sporting events: “sportswashing.” Host Ngofeen Mputubwele traces the history of sportswashing from the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany to Saudi Arabia's hosting of the World Cup. What can fans and athletes do to fight back against sportswashing? Listen to find out. Minky Worden: Director of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch John Hird: Co-founder of Newcastle United Fans Against Sportswashing

The International Criminal Court (ICC) was created to try the worst crimes in the world – war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide. Established in 1998 following the brutal civil war in Yugoslavia and genocide in Rwanda, the ICC has indicted 63 suspects. All of the court's 125 member countries areobligated to arrest these suspects should they set foot in their territory, but the arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are testing member states' resolve. And now the US is threatening to sanction court officials. Can the ICC survive 2025? Richard Dicker: Founding Director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights WatchElizabeth Evenson: Director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch

We've bid farewell to 2024, but a lot of us are asking: What in the world just happened? Every January, Human Rights Watch publishes a World Report examining the human rights events of the previous year around the globe. In this episode, host Ngofeen Mputubwele talks with Human Rights Watch Executive Director Tirana Hassan about the status of human rights in 2024 – from conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan to leadership changes in Syria and the United States – and what it means for 2025. Tirana Hassan: Executive Director of Human Rights Watch.

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. But living in this 85-mile stretch of land along the banks of the Mississippi River that is home to some 200 fossil fuels and petrochemical operations has taken its toll. Known as Cancer Alley, Taylor now hopes his grandchildren don't have to live in the "Sacrifice Zone." Learn what has happened since we first aired this episode - and how AI hosts would have told the story. Human Rights Watch request for comment in advance of publication. Comment received from Denka Performance Elastomer LLC.

Donald Trump built his reelection campaign off big promises – among them, the mass deportation of migrants, retaliation against political opponents, deploying the military to crush dissent, and allowing states to decide abortion rights. Having won a second term as the President of the United States, the question is, now what? Ngofeen Mputubwele talks to three Human Rights Watch experts from the front lines of advocacy in the United States. Tirana Hassan, Tanya Greene and Sarah Yager discuss not only the threats looming over human rights in the United States and abroad, but how they maintain their hope that rights can be protected and promoted. Tirana Hassan: Executive Director of Human Rights Watch Tanya Greene: Director of Human Rights Watch's US Program Sarah Yager: Washington Director at Human Rights Watch

Gen. Sri Rumiati served as a policewoman in Indonesia for decades, but her life's work became centered around protesting a policy of the state security forces. When she was summoned for military service, she was shocked to learn that she was required to take a virginity test. The Indonesian military and police held the misogynistic belief that female soldiers and officers needed to be chaste and that they could test for virginity by examining a woman's hymen, an abusive practice that has no scientific basis. The policy lasted for decades, until a Human Rights Watch report and tireless advocacy by activists like General Rumiati moved the immovable. Indonesia's military and police forces stopped requiring virginity tests. Andreas Harsono: Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch Sri Rumiati: Retired police general & activist Meenakshi Ganguly: Deputy director of the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch

In the late 1960s, the United Kingdom made a deal allowing the US to build a military base on Diego Garcia, one of 58 islands that make up the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The UK, which had colonized the islands in the 1800s, claimed there was “no permanent population” in Chagos. But that was a lie. Several hundred Chagossians lived on those islands. They were all forcibly removed by 1973 and have been campaigning to return ever since. In 2024, the UK announced it would relinquish its last colony in Africa, recognizing the sovereignty of Mauritius. What does this mean for the Chagossians? Will they finally be able to return home? Mausi Segun: Executive Director of the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch Ellianne Baptiste: Second-generation Chagossian

Finn Lau, a Hong Kong activist, was taking his daily walk along London's River Thames when Chinese government thugs beat him up. Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was filing paperwork at a Saudi consulate in Turkey when Saudi government assassins murdered and dismembered him. And Bi-2, a dissident Russian-Belarusian rock band, narrowly avoided being forcibly sent to Russia while on tour in Thailand. All had fled repression and thought they were safe in exile. But increasingly, governments are reaching beyond their borders to target critics – is anywhere safe? Sarah Yager: Washington Director at Human Rights Watch

President Nayib Bukele came to power in El Salvador on a promise of ending gang violence. He succeeded, turning a state that was the world's murder capital into to one with one of the lowest homicide rates in the Western Hemisphere. But in the process, he systematically dismantled democratic checks and balances and arbitrarily detained tens of thousands of people, including children. El Salvador now has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. What's to be done when an elected leader attacks human rights, yet remains wildly popular? That question is personal to Augustín, a Salvadorian teenager who spent his whole life trying to avoid gangs but was wrongly detained in Bukele's crackdown. Juanita Goebertus Estrada: Director of Human Rights Watch's Americas Division José Miguel Cruz: Director of Research at Florida International University's Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center

Since April 2023, more than a half-million people have been displaced in Sudan due to fighting between two armed forces who were once aligned. The story of how the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces turned on each other, with devastating consequences for Sudan's civilians, can be traced back to 2013 when a group of dissidents were told by their interrogators to ride a bicycle drawn with chalk on the wall of a Sudanese jail. Detained for providing legal support to torture survivors, Human Rights Watch researcher Mohamed “Mo” Osman was introduced to the power structures that have shaped today's conflict. In “The Chalk Bicycle,” host Ngofeen Mputubwele takes listeners through a decade that began with conflict, then saw the ousting of a dictator and great hopes for democracy only to be plunged back into conflict again. Mohamed Osman: Researcher, Africa Division at Human Rights WatchChristopher Tounsel: Associate Professor of History, Director of Graduate Studies and Director of African Studies Program at the University of Washington

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 and the Rapid Support Forces began fighting in April 2023, over 500,000 Sudanese civilians have been displaced. What has happened in Sudan since the world stopped paying attention? Mohamed Osman: Researcher, Africa Division at Human Rights Watch Christopher Tounsel: Associate Professor of History, Director of Graduate Studies and Director of African Studies Program at the University of Washington

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-mile stretch of land along the banks of the Mississippi River that was once home to sugar plantations, but now houses some 200 fossil fuel and petrochemical operations. Through this ‘porch chat' conversation with Robert and his daughter, Tish, we learn not only about the rare cancers, respiratory ailments, and miscarriages that afflicted their family and friends, but also how the duo is fighting back to stop these pollutants from ruining their environment.   Robert Taylor: Founder of Concerned Citizens of St. John Parish and long-time resident of St. John Parish, located in Cancer Alley Tish Taylor: Member of Concerned Citizens of St. John Parish and daughter of Robert Taylor.

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” through war-torn Yemen in the hope of getting employment in Saudi Arabia – but the UN letter mentioned a mass grave of up to 10,000 in a remote border region. The Saudi government denied the allegations, saying the UN had no dates, and no locations. So, Nadia stepped in to see if she could verify them. Nadia couldn't reach the remote border, so she began interviewing people in Yemen. One of the people she was in touch with began sending her social media videos from the massacre site. Nadia soon called on Human Rights Watch's digital investigation's lab for help. In this episode, Host Ngofeen Mputubwele takes listeners through how Human Rights utilized satellite imagery of burial sites, conducted interviews with survivors of the attacks, mined social media, and verified video footage from the border to show how Saudi authorities summarily executed hundreds of unarmed migrants – many of them women and children – in what is likely a crime against humanity. In the aftermath of the report and the media attention it generated, Germany and the United States ceased funding and training Saudi border guards. Nadia Hardman: Researcher, Refugee and Migrant Rights Division at Human Rights Watch Sam Dubberley: Managing Director, Digital Investigations Lab at Human Rights Watch Devon Lum: Former Assistant Researcher, Digital Investigations Lab at Human Rights Watch

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 Mputubwele takes listeners to the beaches of Bangladesh where Human Rights Watch recently completed an investigation of the shipbreaking industry. Here, in what the International Labour Organization calls the most dangerous job in the world, workers are hit with nails, maimed by exploding pipes, sickened by exposure to asbestos and have been trapped in burning hulls as they “recycle” the ships that transport consumer goods to Europe, the United States and beyond. Julia Bleckner: Senior Researcher at Human Rights Watch. Rizwana Syeda Hasan: Bangladeshi environment attorney Learn more at HRW.org Support our work at HRW.org/podcast/donate

The Russian military assault on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol between February 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, Human Rights Watch along with Truth Hounds and SITU research produced a report with extensive findings. It called on 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. Host Ngofeen Mputubwele revisits the investigation and walks listeners through experiences on the ground in Mariupol throughout and after the invasion. Guests:BelkisWille: Associate Director of Crisis & Conflict division atHuman Rights Watch.Maryna Slobodyanuk: Head of Investigations at Truth HoundsLearn more at HRW.orgSupport our work at HRW.org/podcast/donate

Teaser: Rights & Wrongs