How the world violates human rights, country by country

Human Rights Watch identifies the threats facing citizens in more than 90 countries including torture, detention and censorship. Click on each shaded country (colour-coded by continent) for a snapshot of the situation there, according to HRW

By Raziye Akkoc 02 February 2015 • 12:18am

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This map provides a snapshot of the human rights violations identified by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in their 25th annual review.

The analysis of more than 90 countries is undertaken with human rights activists in the respective countries and this year, Kenneth Roth, HRW director, said human rights violations were fuelling the rise of groups like Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Boko Haram and others.

“Human rights violations played a major role in spawning or aggravating many of today’s crises,” Mr Roth said as the report was published on Friday. “Protecting human rights and ensuring democratic accountability are key to resolving them.”

The organisation welcomes the recent report into torture in the US but highlights that Barack Obama has "refused to investigate, let alone prosecute, those who ordered the torture detailed in the Senate report".

HRW also expressed concern about France's reaction to the Charlie Hebdo attacks - which led to 17 people killed by terrorists Said and Cherif Kouachi as well as Amedy Coulibaly - amid fears the government will use counterterrorism laws "to prosecute speech that does not incite violence... and encourage other governments to use such laws to silence their critics".

The several hundred page report can be read here, and country chapters are available here.