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RSS News Feed   Testimony of Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno before the Canadian Parliament I am honored to appear before you today. Thank you for your invitation to address the situation of violence against trade unionists in Colombia and the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement that is now under negotiation. I would like to request that my written remarks be incorporated in the record. June 2, 2008 Testimony Printer friendly version Saudi Arabia: Nour Miyati Denied Justice for Torture Judge Ignores Evidence in Case of Extreme Abuse against Indonesian Domestic Worker An appeals court should overturn a Riyadh court’s decision to drop charges against the Saudi employer who abused Nour Miyati, an Indonesian domestic worker, so severely she required several surgeries, including amputation of her toes and fingers, Human Rights Watch said today. The judge awarded Nour Miyati 2,500 riyals as compensation, or approximately US$670, a small fraction of what such injuries would normally garner in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2008 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version Joint NGO Statement to the Eighth Session of the Human Rights Council Third Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises We thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises (SRSG) for the extensive work done to produce his third report. The report emphasizes three key principles: the state duty to protect, the corporate responsibility to respect, and access to remedies for victims. May 20, 2008 Written Statement Printer friendly version Global Internet Freedom: Corporate Responsibility and the Rule of Law Testimony to the US Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law Human Rights Watch believes that the internet is a transformative force that can help open closed societies and provide the near-instantaneous flow of information to inform the public, mobilize for change, and ultimately hold institutions accountable. In this testimony, Arvind Ganesan, Busines and Human Rights Program director, discusses some governments' restrictions on the internet, ongoing efforts for self-regulation, and prospects for government-led change to ensure respect for human rights. May 20, 2008 Testimony Printer friendly version Labour Regulations Foreign domestic workers need rest, too By Emily Allen and Nisha Varia Published in The Straits Times Today as many of us celebrate May Day with a break from our jobs, others in Singapore are expected to work through the day. In fact, foreign domestic workers often work through all holidays. Far too many of them work every day of the week, every week of the year, without a single day of rest. May 1, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version The Future of Human Rights: U.S. Policy for a New Era The thirteen essays in this volume, edited by William F. Schulz, provide thematic assessments of the current state of global human rights programs. Human Rights Watch's Refugee Policy Director Bill Frelick writes an essay on U.S. refugee and asylum policy and Senior Labor Rights and Trade Researcher Carol Pier contributes a chapter on labor rights. Taken together, the essays converge on one overarching point: to attract the widest support, the U.S. commitment to universal human rights should be presented as reflecting the best of the American tradition. April 16, 2008 Web Site China: Olympic Flame Turns Up Heat on Sponsors Corporate Social Responsibility Rhetoric Does Not Match Reality With fewer than four months remaining until the start of the Beijing Games, corporate sponsors of the Olympics risk lasting damage to their brands if they do not live up to their professed standards of corporate social responsibility by speaking out about the deteriorating human rights situation in China, Human Rights Watch said today. April 16, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version Olympic Corporate Sponsors: Rhetoric and Reality Excerpts from all 12 “TOP” Olympic sponsor companies’ policies on commitment to social responsibility and their comments on China, the Olympics, and human rights. April 16, 2008 Background Briefing Printer friendly version Advocacy group misrepresented By José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director Published in The Boston Globe RE "THE promise of a Colombia trade pact" (Op-ed, April 11): Edward Schumacher-Matos misrepresents the work of Human Rights Watch on killings of trade unionists in Colombia when he says we "imply" that all such murders are because of labor organizing. April 15, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version Don't Dismiss the Killings in Colombia Letter to the Editor of The Washington Post By Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director Published in The Washington Post If death squads with ties to the U.S. government were targeting Post reporters for assassination, I doubt that The Post would dismiss the problem by arguing that the murder rate for journalists was less than the rate for the District as a whole. Yet that is exactly what The Post did in dismissing the killings of trade union activists by paramilitaries in Colombia on the basis that trade unionists are still less likely to be killed than the average citizen ["The Sin of Speaking Truth," editorial, April 8]. Congress is right to delay approval of a free-trade agreement with Colombia until Mr. Uribe takes on the violent right as he did the violent left. April 10, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version Congress Should Stand Firm on Colombia By Maria McFarland, senior researcher on Colombia Published in The Huffington Post In the remote Nariño region of southwestern Colombia, one mother amongst many mourned her loss. "The paramilitaries said my son was a guerrilla," she told me last month. "They tortured him, tied him up ... and then shot him three times in the head in front of everybody." April 9, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version US: Reject Colombia Free Trade Deal Bogota Fails to Tackle Anti-Union Violence and Impunity The US Congress should vote against the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) because of Colombia’s continuing failure to effectively address anti-union violence and impunity, Human Rights Watch said today. April 7, 2008 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version Universal Periodic Review of the State of Bahrain Human Rights Watch's Submission to the Human Rights Council The Human Rights Council, in its review of Bahrain’s human rights record, should assess this legislation and recommend steps to bring existing legislation, especially in the areas of freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, and accountability for grave crimes April 7, 2008 Written Statement Printer friendly version Universal Periodic Review of Morocco Human Rights Watch's Submission to the Human Rights Council Morocco continues to present a mixed picture on human rights. It has made great strides in addressing past abuses, allowed considerable space for public dissent and protest, and reduced gender inequality in the family code. But authorities, aided by complaisant courts, continue to use repressive legislation to punish peaceful opponents. April 7, 2008 Written Statement Printer friendly version Letter to President Álvaro Uribe We write to express our deep concern about the recent wave of threats, attacks and killings of human rights defenders and trade unionists in connection with the March 6 demonstrations against state and paramilitary human rights violations. We urge you to publicly and immediately adopt effective measures to stop this violence. March 26, 2008 Letter Also available in
Printer friendly version Nigeria: Niger Delta Gang Violence Goes Unpunished Failure to Prosecute Gang Leaders, Politicians Will Fuel Bloodshed The Nigerian government’s failure to hold accountable politicians and gang leaders responsible for a deadly wave of post-election violence in the oil-rich Niger Delta threatens to bring further bloodshed, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. March 21, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version “One Year of My Blood” Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers in Beijing
HRW Index No.: C2003 March 12, 2008 Report Download PDF, 304 KB, 59 pgs Purchase online Read Press Release Business: Rights at Risk in the Global Economy Companies Harm Human Rights Worldwide People in countries across the world are regularly harmed when businesses fail to respect basic human rights, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at New York University School of Law. February 19, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version On the Margins of Profit Rights at Risk in the Global Economy
HRW Index No.: G2003 February 19, 2008 Report Download PDF, 1100 KB, 54 pgs Purchase online Read Press Release Troubled Times Published in Progress Magazine For years, the Bush administration in the United States has stood by the government of President Álvaro Uribe in Colombia unconditionally, turning a blind eye to Colombia’s serious human rights problems. The Blair government in the UK, for the most part, quietly followed suit, providing substantial assistance to Colombia’s military with no strings attached. It’s time to rethink that policy. February 1, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version |
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 Display Only: Reports Briefing Papers Press Releases Themes: Featured Reports: Too High a Price: The Human Rights Cost of the Indonesian Military’s Economic Activities
The Indonesian military's involvement in licit and illicit business threatens human rights. This 136-page report provides a comprehensive account of the harmful effect on civilians of the armed forces' involvement in business. In the report, Human Rights Watch calls on the Indonesian government to ban all military businesses, reform the budget process and hold military personnel accountable for crimes. June 2006
Democratic Republic of Congo: The Curse of Gold
This 159-page report documents widespread human rights abuses linked to efforts by foreign armies and armed groups to control two key gold mining areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The report provides details of how a leading gold mining company established a relationship with an armed group responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in return for assurances of security and access to a mining site in northeast DRC. The report also illustrates the trail of tainted gold from the DRC to neighboring Uganda from where it is sent to global gold markets in Europe and elsewhere. June 2005
Angola: Some Transparency, No Accountability
This 93-page report investigates the use of oil revenues in Angola and the loss of approximately $4.2 billion from government coffers between 1997-2002, and examines how this loss undermines the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of the Angolan people. January 2004
July 2004 Deliberate
Indifference: El Salvador’s Failure to Protect Workers’ Rights
This 110-page report documents violations of workers’ rights – most pervasively, the right to freedom of association – and investigates the government’s disregard and facilitation of such abuses; to prevent these violations, the report recommends revising and strengthening the labor rights protections afforded by the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). December 2003 2004 World Report Chapter: Engine of War: Resources, Greed, and the Predatory
State
Written by Arvind Ganesan, director of the Business and Human Rights Program, this chapter explores how corruption, lack of transparency, and private and public sector profiteering play into the “greed or grievance” theory on the cause of civil conflict; it cites examples from recent conflicts in Angola, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. January 2004  Beijing Olympic Watch |
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