▦ THE WATCHLIST

12 countries on the watchlist.

Sorted by editorial severity. Click any card for the country profile, recent dispatches, and the long-form overview.

North Korea

pop 26M

Hereditary totalitarian state. Political prison camps, forced labor, near-total information blackout.

›Prison camps
›Famine
›Total surveillance

Severity 10/101 dispatch

Syria

pop 23M

Mass disappearances, torture, chemical weapons use against civilians, prolonged conflict atrocities.

›Civil war atrocities
›Disappearances
›Chemical weapons

Severity 10/109 dispatches

Afghanistan

pop 41M

Taliban rule. Total exclusion of women from education and public life, summary executions.

›Women's rights
›Taliban rule
›Summary executions

Severity 10/1011 dispatches

China

pop 1.4B

Mass detention of Uyghurs, Hong Kong democracy crackdown, total internet surveillance, Tibet repression.

›Uyghur internment
›Hong Kong
›Tibet

Severity 9/1061 dispatches

Iran

pop 88M

Mass executions, suppression of women's rights movement, persecution of religious and ethnic minorities.

›Executions
›Women's rights
›Protest crackdowns

Severity 9/1028 dispatches

Yemen

pop 33M

Ongoing conflict, famine as weapon of war, child soldiers, attacks on humanitarian workers.

›Conflict atrocities
›Famine
›Child soldiers

Severity 9/103 dispatches

Myanmar

pop 54M

Military junta, Rohingya genocide, civilian airstrikes, mass arbitrary detention.

›Rohingya genocide
›Military junta
›Ethnic violence

Severity 9/104 dispatches

Russia

pop 144M

Wartime suppression of dissent, jailing of journalists and opposition figures, anti-LGBTQ legislation.

›Political prisoners
›Press suppression
›Anti-LGBTQ laws

Severity 8/1044 dispatches

Saudi Arabia

pop 36M

Public executions, persecution of dissidents abroad, male guardianship system, religious police.

›Executions
›Dissident persecution
›Women guardianship

Severity 8/107 dispatches

Iraq

pop 44M

Militia violence, attacks on protesters, persecution of journalists, weak rule of law.

›Militia violence
›Press freedom
›Rule of law

Severity 7/103 dispatches

Pakistan

pop 240M

Blasphemy laws used against minorities, enforced disappearances, attacks on press freedom.

›Blasphemy laws
›Religious minorities
›Honor killings

Severity 7/1021 dispatches

Bangladesh

pop 173M

Enforced disappearances, restrictions on press, violence against minorities and political opposition.

›Disappearances
›Press restrictions
›Political violence

Severity 6/108 dispatches

See the 12-row data table for stats side-by-side, or the full dispatch archive.