In 2012, a Ugandan TV host asked trans activist Pepe Julian Onziema a now-infamous question: “Why are you gay?” The clip went viral, spawning internet fodder around the world – but behind the memes lies a chilling reality. In this episode of Rights & Wrongs, host Ngofeen Mputubwele looks at Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, a 2023 law that punishes same-sex intimacy with life in prison or even death. He speaks with “Emmanuel,” a young man in Kampala whose Grindr date turned into a violent police sting. Human Rights Watch researcher Oryem Nyeko explains how the law has fueled mob violence, extortion, and fear. But amid the repression, mothers of queer children are speaking up, leading the resistance in one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBT climates. 

Oryem Nyeko: Senior researcher in the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch 

Last year, we told the story of how 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 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.  

This year, the story took a darker turn. The Trump administration deported over 200 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, where they were locked up in a maximum-security prison with no way to challenge their detention. We’re re-airing this episode with a chilling update on the dangerous deal between Trump and Bukele— and how it signals Trump’s growing alliance with authoritarian leaders to advance his hardline agenda. 

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 

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took office with a vow to eliminate illegal drugs. His “war on drugs” resulted in the brutal killing of between 12,000 and 30,000 people. Despite the international outcry and extensive media coverage of the deaths and their impact, Duterte remained popular—and untouchable – until recently.  In March, he was arrested on an International Criminal Court warrant for crimes against humanity and is now sitting in a jail cell in The Hague. 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, whose fearless reporting helped expose Duterte’s brutal drug war, was targeted by Duterte – accused of everything from tax evasion to libel. In this episode of Rights & Wrongs, host Ngofeen Mputubwele speaks with Ressa and Human Rights Watch researchers about Duterte’s bloody legacy, the importance of standing up to dictators, and what his arrest means for other leaders indicted by the ICC.  

Maria Ressa: CEO of Rappler and Nobel Peace Prize winner 

Carlos Conde: Senior researcher at the Asia division of Human Rights Watch 

Maria Elena Vignoli: Senior counsel in the International Justice Program of Human Rights Watch 

You’ve probably heard that authoritarianism is on the rise across the globe. Increasingly, countries are adopting policies that undermine democracy, reduce accountability, and erode civil liberties and human rights. But why is authoritarianism on the rise, and how do authoritarian leaders come to power?   

Lauded by Donald Trump and condemned by rights-defenders, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban provides a useful case study for those hoping to better understand the authoritarians’ playbook.  

This week, host Ngofeen Mputubwele speaks to a Hungarian journalist and civil liberties strategist to map Orban’s journey to autocracy, and how his lurch towards authoritarianism has decimated civil liberties and allowed him to exert a stranglehold on Hungarian politics for more than 15 years.  

Stefania Kopronczay: Former director of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union; visiting scholar at Columbia University   

Viktória Serdült: Journalist at HVG.HU 

Roger and his partner Daniela arrived in the U.S. in January,  conditionally approved as refugees by a US State Department-run program called the Safe Mobility Initiative. Hours later, she was deported. He was detained and then, he vanished. In this episode of Rights & Wrongs, host Ngofeen Mputubwele looks at what happened to Roger—and also examines the fate of 137 Venezuelans swept up under the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used 18th-century law has only ever been used in times of war. 

What began with border agents at the Houston airport questioning Roger about his tattoos turned into ICE detention and a secret transfer to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Roger, who has no criminal record, hasn’t been heard from since. Human Rights Watch’s Akshaya Kumar explains how an obscure law once used to detain Germans during both World Wars is now being deployed in peacetime for mass deportations. And Roger’s uncle, desperate for answers, shares how he watched helplessly as his nephew disappeared into a system where due process has collapsed—and fear has taken its place. 

Akshaya Kumar: Director of Crisis Advocacy at Human Rights Watch  

Noel Guape: Uncle of Roger Eduardo Molina Acevedo  

Juan Pappier: Deputy Director of Americas at Human Rights Watch  

They’re chained to trees. Locked in sheds. Confined and forgotten — because they have a mental health condition. Across the globe, people with mental health conditions are shackled — hidden away, dehumanized, and neglected in overcrowded, filthy rooms, sheds, cages, even animal shelters. This week, host Ngofeen Mputubwele talks to Human Rights Watch researchers who are fighting to end this cruel practice — and to survivors who show that with the right support, healing and dignity are possible.  

Elizabeth Kamundia: Director,Disability Rights Division at Human Rights Watch 

Kriti Sharma: Associate Director, Disability Rights Division 

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