Reports

U.S. Policy on Voting Rights in Global Perspective

The 55-page report, “Out of Step: US Policy on Voting Rights in Global Perspective,” examines the laws of 136 countries around the world with populations of 1.5 million and above and finds that the majority—73 of the 136—never, or rarely, deny a person’s right to vote because of a criminal conviction. In the other 63 countries, the United States sits at the restrictive end of the spectrum, disenfranchising a broader swath of people overall.

People stand in line to vote

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  • February 2, 2010

    The Uncertain Fate of Detained LTTE Suspects in Sri Lanka

    This 30-page report is based on interviews with the detainees' relatives, humanitarian workers, and human rights advocates, among others. The Sri Lankan government has routinely violated the fundamental rights of the detainees, Human Rights Watch found. The government contends that the 11,000 detainees are former fighters or supporters of the defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
  • February 1, 2010

    Palestinian-Origin Jordanians Deprived of their Nationality

    This 60-page report details the arbitrary manner, with no clear basis in law, in which Jordan deprives its citizens who were originally from the West Bank of their nationality, thereby denying them basic citizenship rights such as access to education and health care.
  • January 28, 2010

    Access to Abortion for Women in Ireland

    This 57-page report details how women struggle to overcome the financial, logistical, physical, and emotional burdens imposed by restrictive laws and policies that force them to seek care abroad, without support from the state. Every year thousands of women and girls travel from Ireland to other European countries for abortions.

  • January 25, 2010

    The Illegal Arrest, Arbitrary Detention and Torture of People Who Use Drugs in Cambodia

    In this 93-page report Human Rights Watch documents detainees being beaten, raped, forced to donate blood, and subjected to painful physical punishments such as "rolling like a barrel" and being chained while standing in the sun.

  • January 20, 2010

    Events of 2009

    The 612-page report, the organization's 20th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, summarizes major human rights trends in more than 90 nations and territories worldwide, reflecting the extensive investigative work carried out in 2009 by Human Rights Watch staff.
  • January 15, 2010

    A Digest of the Case Law of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

    This 500-page book is oriented to practitioners, nongovernmental organizations, and academics working in the field of human rights. It will also be a tool for staff at institutions established to try such crimes, such as the International Criminal Court, as well as domestic judiciaries, Human Rights Watch said. It is available online and in print.
  • January 11, 2010

    Failure to End Military Business Activity in Indonesia

    This 20-page report provides a detailed critique of a presidential decree and Defense Ministry regulations addressing military involvement in businesses that were issued in October 2009.

  • January 7, 2010

    Incarceration, Ill-Treatment and Forced Labor as Drug Rehabilitation in China

    This 37-page report based on research in Yunnan and Guangxi provinces, documents how China's June 2008 Anti-Drug Law compounds the health risks of suspected illicit drug users by allowing government officials and security forces to incarcerate them for up to six years. The incarceration is without trial or judicial oversight.

  • December 29, 2009

    Arbitrary Detention of Refugees in the US Who Fail to Adjust to Permanent Resident Status

    This 40-page report examines the detention of refugees for failure to file for lawful permanent resident status, even though US immigration officials already put them through a thorough vetting process at the time they were recognized as refugees.
  • December 20, 2009

    Abuse and Refoulement of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Yemen

    This report documents the harsh treatment of refugees traveling to Yemen and calls on the Yemeni government to stop systematically arresting Ethiopian asylum seekers and forcibly returning them home.
  • December 17, 2009

    The September 28 Massacre and Rapes by Security Forces in Guinea

    This 108-page report describes in detail the killings, sexual assaults, and other abuses at an opposition rally in a stadium in Conakry, the capital, committed largely by members of Guinea's elite Presidential Guard, and the evidence suggesting that the attacks must have been planned in advance.

  • December 15, 2009

    The Yemeni Government’s Brutal Response to Southern Movement Protests

    The 73-page report documents attacks by security forces on supporters of the so-called Southern Movement as well as on journalists, academics, and other opinion-makers. Based on over 80 interviews with victims in the southern Yemeni cities of Aden and Mukalla, the report finds that security forces used lethal force against unarmed demonstrators on at least six occasions.
  • December 13, 2009

    Attacks on Civilians in Eastern Congo

    This 183-page report documents in detail the deliberate killing of more than 1,400 civilians between January and September 2009 during two successive Congolese army operations against a Rwandan Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
  • December 12, 2009

    Human Rights Developments in Libya Amid Institutional Obstacles

    This 78-page report is based on research conducted by Human Rights Watch during a 10-day visit to Libya in April, 2009. The report is also based on ongoing monitoring from outside the country.
  • December 9, 2009

    Naxalite Attacks and Police Occupation of Schools in India’s Bihar and Jharkhand States

    This 103-page report details how the Maoists - known as Naxalites - a longstanding, pan-Indian armed militant movement, are targeting and blowing up state-run schools. At the same time, police and paramilitary forces are disrupting education for long periods by occupying schools as part of anti-Naxalite operations.