Reports

The Cruel and Ineffective Criminalization of Unhoused People in Los Angeles

The 337-page report, “‘You Have to Move!’ The Cruel and Ineffective Criminalization of Unhoused People in Los Angeles,” documents the experiences of people living on the streets and in vehicles, temporary shelters, and parks in Los Angeles, as they struggle to survive while facing criminalization and governmental failures to prioritize eviction prevention or access to permanent housing. Law enforcement and sanitation “sweeps” force unhoused people out of public view, often wasting resources on temporary shelter and punishments that do not address the underlying needs. Tens of thousands of people are living in the streets of Los Angeles; death rates among the unhoused have skyrocketed.

Police remove an unhoused woman from her tent

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  • September 30, 2004

    Barriers to Justice for Rape Victims in Rwanda

    This 58-page report investigates the persistent weaknesses in the Rwandan legal system that hamper the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence. The report also documents the desperate health and economic situation of rape survivors. Many of the women who were raped became infected with HIV.
  • September 28, 2004

    Human Rights Abuses and Political Repression in the Run-up to Afghanistan’s Presidential Election

    The election could be prove to be a historic event for a country that has, over the last twenty-five years, suffered Soviet occupation, civil war, failed governance, severe repression of women, and the vicious rule of the Taliban. The prospect of a future dictated by ballots, and not bullets and bombs, is a cause for great hope.
  • September 26, 2004

    The Indonesian government has been fighting an on-again, off-again war with the armed separatist “Free Aceh Movement” (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or GAM) for more than two decades. After a brief ceasefire and sporadic peace negotiations in late 2002 and early 2003, on May 19, 2003, President Megawati Sukarnoputri imposed martial law and a state of military emergency in Aceh.
  • September 22, 2004

    Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper

    Turkey has made significant progress in reducing torture and other ill-treatment by the security services through successive legislative reforms since 1997. There are continuing problems implementing these laws, however, as the Turkish government itself concedes.
  • September 21, 2004

    Human Rights and Islamic Law in Northern Nigeria

    This 111-page report documents human rights violations since Shari’a was introduced to cover criminal law in 12 northern states. Since 2000, at least 10 people have been sentenced to death and dozens sentenced to amputation and floggings. The majority have been tried without legal representation. Many sentenced to amputation were convicted on confessions extracted under torture by the police.
  • September 10, 2004

    How Nongovernmental Organizations Can Contribute To the Prosecution of War Criminals

    This guide answers some of the frequently asked questions about the Court. In particular it explains how NGOs can contribute to the Court’s work of prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide at the international level. It does so by answering frequently asked questions about the International Criminal Court and the way NGOs can contribute to its efforts.
  • September 8, 2004

    Accomplishments, Shortcomings, and Needed Support

    This 56-page report evaluates developments at the court, identifying achievements and making recommendations where operations should be improved. The report also urges the international community to provide more financial and political support for the court so it can complete its work effectively.
  • August 27, 2004

    Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s defense is scheduled to begin at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on August 31. This series of questions and answers provides background information, explains key concepts, evaluates the progression of the trial thus far, and describes what is yet to come.
  • August 19, 2004

    The interrogation techniques used by U.S. personnel on detainees at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba remain shrouded in mystery. While U.S. policy is that the detainees be treated “humanely,” the Department of Defense has never revealed publicly how the detainees have been interrogated.
  • August 16, 2004

    Brief outlines of the military commissions, the combatant status review panels, and the administrative review procedures adopted by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for use at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
  • August 13, 2004

    This 11-page briefing paper documents how the Zimbabwean government threatens its citizens’ access to sufficient food by concealing the basis for its 2004 crop-yield estimate, the size of its strategic grain reserve and the details of the government’s Grain Marketing Board’s operations in food distribution and assistance.