Reports

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.

A framed family photo hung up on the wall of a burned home

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  • December 10, 2003

    Addressing the Plight of Kosovo Roma Refugees in Macedonia

    The plight of Kosovo Roma refugees in Macedonia—dramatically demonstrated by their protest occupation of a border area between Greece and Macedonia from May until August this year—highlights the gap between international refugee law on the one hand, and the reality for refugees in Europe today on the other.
  • December 8, 2003

    The New State Commission on “Disappearances”

    On September 20, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced a new body to investigate the thousands of cases of persons who were "disappeared" during the civil strife of the 1990s and who remain unaccounted for.
  • December 3, 2003

    El Salvador's Failure to Protect Workers' Rights

    This 110-page report documents serious violations of workers' human rights and examines the role of the government. It features case studies in the private and public sectors, in manufacturing and service industries, and concludes that workers face an uphill battle to exercise their rights, regardless of the sector.
  • December 2, 2003

    This 40-page report documents killings, arrest, detention, ill-treatment, torture and other forms of harassment and intimidation of real or perceived critics of the government over the past two years. Most of these abuses have been carried out by the Nigerian police or by members of the intelligence services known as the State Security Service (SSS).
  • December 1, 2003

    A Call for Action on HIV/AIDS-Related Human Rights Abuses Against Women and Girls in Africa

    Violence and discrimination against women and girls is fueling Africa's AIDS crisis. African governments must make gender equality a central part of national AIDS programs if they are to succeed in fighting the epidemic.

  • November 25, 2003

    Attacks and Restrictions on the Media

    The Indonesian government has blocked Indonesian and foreign correspondents from covering the military campaign in Aceh, where gross human rights violations are taking place.
  • November 24, 2003

    This report investigates the role that oil has played in Sudan's civil war. This 754-page report is the most comprehensive examination yet published of the links between natural-resource exploitation and human rights abuses.
    Sudan
  • November 21, 2003

    Historically, Iraqi women and girls have enjoyed relatively more rights than many of their counterparts in the Middle East. The Iraqi Provisional Constitution (drafted in 1970) formally guaranteed equal rights to women and other laws specifically ensured their right to vote, attend school, run for political office, and own property.
  • November 13, 2003

    Inadequate Nutrition and Health Care in the Russian Armed Forces

    This 40-page report details how conscripts are deprived of adequate food. The diet of conscripts often lacks meat and green vegetables, and falls short of the Russian military’s own nutritional standard for soldiers. The food they do receive is often of poor quality, rotten, or bug-infested.

  • November 6, 2003

    Egypt should investigate and discipline police and plainclothes security officials who beat demonstrators protesting the Iraq war and tortured some of those detained. In this 40-page report, Human Rights Watch documents excessive use of force by security forces to disperse demonstrators protesting the U.S.-led war against Iraq in March, violating their right to freedom of assembly.
  • October 27, 2003

    A Study of the Case of Igor Sutiagin

    On October 27, 2003, arms researcher Igor Sutiagin faces a troubling anniversary: four years will have passed since security service officers detained him at his home. Ever since, Sutiagin has been waiting in a jail cell for a court to decide his fate.
  • October 24, 2003

    The Politicization of Food in Zimbabwe

    Zimbabwean authorities discriminate against perceived political opponents by denying them access to food programs. International relief agencies in Zimbabwe fail to ensure that access to food is based on need alone and is not biased by domestic or international political concerns.
  • October 21, 2003

    U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness

    Mentally ill offenders face mistreatment and neglect in many U.S. prisons. One in six U.S. prisoners is mentally ill. Many of them suffer from serious illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. There are three times as many men and women with mental illness in U.S. prisons as in mental health hospitals.

  • October 20, 2003

    Post-War Civilian Casualties in Baghdad by U.S. Forces

    The U.S. military is failing to conduct proper investigations into civilian deaths resulting from the excessive or indiscriminate use of force in Baghdad. This 56-page report confirms twenty deaths in the Iraqi capital alone between May 1 and September 30.