Palestinian Armed Groups’ October 7 Assault on Israel
The 236-page report, “‘I Can’t Erase All the Blood from My Mind’: Palestinian Armed Groups’ October 7 Assault on Israel,” documents several dozen cases of serious violations of international humanitarian law by Palestinian armed groups at nearly all the civilian attack sites on October 7. These include the war crimes and crimes against humanity of murder, hostage-taking, and other grave offenses. Human Rights Watch also examined the role of various armed groups and their coordination before and during the attacks. Previous Human Rights Watch reports have addressed numerous serious violations by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 7.
Human Rights Watch strongly believes that accountability for serious past crimes is the foundation for post-conflict reconstruction based on the rule of law and respect for human rights. This Briefing Paper looks at the challenges in addressing impunity for the horrific crimes that have been committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1996.
A Briefing for the 4th UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict
Throughout 2003 thousands of children were deployed as combatants, to commit abuses against civilians, as sex slaves, forced labourers, messengers, informants and servants in continuing and newly erupting conflicts. Children were usually used to perform multiple roles, and girls in particular often acted as combatants as well as being sexually exploited.
The Commission on Human Rights should adopt a resolution encouraging the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to implement reforms in its judicial system and to begin investigation and prosecution of violations of international law committed during the recent wars (beginning in 1996 and 1998 respectively).
Court Should Reaffirm Absolute Prohibition against Returning People to Torture in Uzbekistan
Human Rights Watch, in cooperation with the Association for Inidvidual Rights in Europe (AIRE), was granted leave to intervene in the controversial case of Mamatkulov and Askarov v. Turkey before the European Court of Human Rights.
This 61-page report documents hundreds of arbitrary arrests, widespread beatings and torture, and politically motivated job dismissals of members and supporters of the opposition following the October 15 presidential election, which was widely condemned by the international community as fraudulent.
Despite significant changes in the political environment over the past six months, most notably the August 2003 signing of a peace agreement, the departure into exile of president Charles Taylor and the establishment of a newly-mandated United Nations peacekeeping mission, the plight of civilians in Liberia remains dire.
The trial of Bosnian Croat Dominik Ilijasevic-Como, age 38, before the Zenica Cantonal Court, began on December 16, 2002 in Zenica, in Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federation BH).
Tens of thousands of girls in El Salvador work as domestics, a form of labor that makes them particularly vulnerable to physical abuse and sexual harassment. This 35-page report calls on the Salvadoran government to include domestic workers, who are almost exclusively girls and young women, in its program to address hazardous child labor.
The Use of Oil Revenue in Angola and Its Impact on Human Rights
More than four billion dollars in state oil revenue disappeared from Angolan government coffers from 1997-2002, roughly equal to the entire sum the government spent on all social programs in the same period. Meanwhile, although the 27-year civil war ended in 2002, an estimated 900,000 Angolans are still internally displaced. Millions more have virtually no access to hospitals or schools.
Since January 11, 2002, the U.S. government has sent more over 700 people picked up from around the world to Guantanamo. As the detention camp begins its third year, the public still does not know who the detainees are, what they have allegedly done, and whether and when they will be charged with crimes or released.
Bringing Justice for the Human Rights Crimes in Iraq’s Past
Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein witnessed extraordinarily serious human rights crimes. Human Rights Watch has documented genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in its several investigative reports on Iraq over the years.
The Burundian military and armed opposition forces have committed serious war crimes, including civilian killings and rapes. The recent political agreement between the major parties in Burundi’s ten-year civil war should not have granted immunity from prosecution for such blatant and widespread crimes.
This 50-page report documents violations of human rights and humanitarian law since the Indonesian government imposed martial law in Aceh on May 19 and renewed military operations against the armed, separatist Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or GAM).
This 29-page report documents how violence in Nigeria’s southern Delta State this year, especially during the state and federal elections in April and May, resulted in hundreds of deaths, the displacement of thousands of people, and the destruction of hundreds of homes. Among the dead were probably dozens killed by the government security forces.
The Conduct of the War and Civilian Casualties in Iraq
Hundreds of civilian deaths in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq could have been prevented by abandoning two misguided military tactics. The use of cluster munitions in populated areas caused more civilian casualties than any other factor in the coalition´s conduct of major military operations in March and April. U.S.
