"The Middle East has become closed to civil society," said HRW Middle East and North Africa Director Sarah Leah Whitson in her opening remarks at the event, held at London's Frontline Club.
Many countries in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Morocco, have imposed strict visa restrictions on HRW officials to bar them from entering, Whitson said.
"This means people's stories and experiences aren't getting told," she said.
Other countries, such as Egypt, have banned the work of the rights group altogether, while Israel is currently attempting to expel one of HRW's researchers, based in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, over allegations he supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Nevertheless, Whitson said her organization is using different resources to try to document the realities on the ground in the MENA region - a reality she said is shared by journalists and even some government officials.
On Tuesday, HRW named four key stories to watch across the region in the coming year: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and women's rights.
HRW’s advocacy and communications director, Ahmed Benchemsi, described Egypt as “a full-fledged dictatorship”, pointing to the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi imposing a virtual ban on protests and inaugurating 19 new jails to accommodate a surging number of political prisoners.
Sisi's re-election last year was "a farce", Benchemsi said. A former military general who ousted his predecessor Mohammed Morsi in a coup, the Egyptian president has been accused of pushing out any rival candidates that could mount a viable challenge to his continued rule.