(Johannesburg) - Southern African countries committed serious human rights violations throughout 2025, creating vicious cycles of abuse and impunity, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2026.
Security forces in Angola, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe used excessive and at times lethal force, and arbitrarily arrested and detained protesters. The authorities severely restricted freedom of expression, association, and assembly, and attacked journalists and human rights defenders. Neither the African Union nor the Southern African Development Community (SADC) took sufficient steps to address these and other violations, or to ensure that member countries complied with their regional human rights obligations.
"Southern African governments are, in many cases, failing to meet their international legal obligations to bring those responsible for human rights violations to justice, creating an environment for abusers to thrive," said Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Southern African governments need to promptly and impartially investigate and prosecute alleged rights violations."
In the 529-page World Report 2026, its 36th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices inmore than100 countries. In his introductory essay, Executive Director Philippe Bolopion writes that breaking the authoritarian wave sweeping the world is the challenge of a generation. With the human rights system under unprecedented threat from the Trump administration and other global powers, Bolopion calls on rights-respecting democracies and civil society to build a strategic alliance to defend fundamental freedoms.
The World Report 2026 highlights the failure of Southern African countries to prioritize human rights protections and justice for victims of abuses. For instance:
The SADC should focus on human rights issues in its engagements with member countries and improve measures for monitoring and ensuring that members meet their human rights obligations.
Source: Human Rights Watch
