What did you learn from Human Rights Watch’s videos this year? Whether you watched HRW advocates address the European Parliament or saw one of our reels on International Women’s Day, we hope you learned about how rights around the world are being violated – and defended. HRW’s video work was viewed several million times in 2025. Here are the 10 most viewed videos of the year.
1. Saudi Comedy Festival
Earlier this year, the Saudi government used the Riyadh Comedy Festival to deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations.
2. Aid Struggles to Reach Gaza
When Gaza’s “last lifelines” collapsed, humanitarian aid agencies fought desperately to provide relief in the region.
3. Türkiye Opposition Leader Arrested
A Turkish court arrested Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu just days before he was due to be selected by his party as a future presidential candidate, violating the right of millions of voters to elect someone as their political representative and repressing İmamoğlu’s right to free speech.
4. HRW Responds to Trump's UNGA80 Address
When United States President Donald Trump addressed and belittled the United Nations General Assembly in September, Human Rights Watch’s interim executive director urged countries to “reject out of hand Trump’s nonsensical proposals, like to undermine the global asylum system.”
5. Why the EU should halt arms transfers and suspend its trade agreement with Israel
In June, Human Rights Watch advocate Claudio Francavilla addressed the European Parliament in the face of Israel’s atrocity crimes, to urge the European Union to halt arms transfers and suspend its trade agreement with Israel.
6. International Women's Day
On International Women’s Day in March, Human Rights Watch celebrated the hard-won advances in the rights of women’s and girl’s rights around the world.
7. United States Carries out Strikes on Boats
Washington Director Sarah Yager took to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in November to condemn the US attacks on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.
8. Indonesia Passes New Military Law
The Indonesian government backtracked on human rights this year, codifying an amendment allowing military officers to take up key civilian positions in the government, leading to increased military influence.
9. Geospatial Analysis of Goma Camps
In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, camps were dismantled and thousands of displaced people were left without housing. Human Rights Watch’s geospatial analysis tracked the destruction.
10. Youth Protests in Tanzania
When opposition parties were excluded from Tanzania’s presidential election in November, youth took to the streets in protest. Authorities responded by shutting down the internet and imposing a 24-hour lockdown.
