Reports

Forced Russification of the School System in Occupied Ukrainian Territories

The 63-page report “Education under Occupation: Forced Russification of the School System in Occupied Ukrainian Territories,” documents violations of international law by the Russian authorities in relation to the right to education in formerly occupied areas of Ukraine’s Kharkivska region, and other regions that remain under Russian occupation. Russian authorities have forced changes to the curriculum and retaliated against school staff who refused to make such changes with threats, detention, and even torture. Human Rights Watch also found that occupying authorities threatened parents whose children were learning the Ukrainian curriculum online.

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  • June 18, 2019

    Adolescent Girls’ Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Dominican Republic

    This report documents how authorities have stalled the rollout of a long-awaited sexuality education program, leaving hundreds of thousands of adolescent girls and boys without scientifically accurate information about their health. The country has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The country’s total ban on abortion means an adolescent girl facing an unwanted pregnancy must continue that pregnancy against her wishes or obtain a clandestine abortion, often at great risk to her health and even her life. 

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  • June 11, 2019

    Serious Abuses Against Talibé Children in Senegal, 2017-2018

    Nearly 10 years after Human Rights Watch’s first report documenting abuses against talibé children in Senegal, the scale of ongoing abuse remains staggering. Over 100,000 talibé children living in traditional Quranic schools are forced to beg daily by their teachers. This report documents scores of serious abuses committed against talibé children in 2017 and 2018 by Quranic teachers or their assistants, including forced begging, beatings, sexual abuse, chaining, imprisonment, and the deaths of 16 talibé children due to abuse, neglect or endangerment. The report also documents human trafficking and dangers linked to talibé migration. 

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  • May 28, 2019

    Egyptian Security Forces and ISIS-Affiliate Abuses in North Sinai

    Since 2011, the Egyptian military and police have battled ISIS-affiliated militants in North Sinai governorate. Sparsely populated, and with roughly half-a-million residents, this northern part of the Sinai Peninsula that borders Israel and the Gaza Strip has been a historically marginalized territory, separated from the rest of the country by the Suez Canal. Thousands have been arrested, and hundreds have been disappeared in the past six years since the conflict escalated in 2013. Tens of thousands of residents have been forcibly evicted or fled their homes due to ongoing violence.

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  • May 27, 2019

    Law, Policy, and Military Doctrine

    This report contains examples of law and practice from 50 countries, from Afghanistan to Yemen, that provide some level of protection for schools or universities from military use. Many of the examples come from countries currently or recently involved in armed conflict. 

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  • May 20, 2019

    Austerity, Welfare Cuts, and the Right to Food in the UK

    This report examines how deep, austerity-motivated cuts to the welfare system, exacerbated by the introduction of the Universal Credit system and other changes, have left many families with children in England going hungry and dependent on food aid from charities. Many of these families are single parent households led by women. Human Rights Watch found that the UK government is failing to meet its duty under human rights law to ensure the right to adequate food. 

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  • May 13, 2019

    Corporal Punishment in Lebanon’s Schools

    This report finds that children suffer from corporal punishment at school because of a lack of accountability for the abusers. Human Rights Watch said that Lebanon should enforce a longstanding ban on corporal punishment and propose ways in which the Education Ministry, with support from international donors, can end the abuse. 

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  • May 1, 2019

    Reverse Engineering a Xinjiang Police Mass Surveillance App

    This report presents new evidence about the surveillance state in Xinjiang, where the government has subjected 13 million Turkic Muslims to heightened repression as part of its “Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Terrorism.” Between January 2018 and February 2019, Human Rights Watch was able to reverse engineer the mobile app that officials use to connect to the Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP), the Xinjiang policing program that aggregates data about people and flags those deemed potentially threatening. By examining the design of the app, which at the time was publicly available, Human Rights Watch found that Xinjiang authorities are collecting a wide array of information from ordinary people. 

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  • April 23, 2019

    How Apparel Brand Purchasing Practices Drive Labor Abuses

    This report identifies key practices by clothing companies that fuel abusive cost-cutting methods by factories that harm workers. Many global brands tout their commitment to ensuring rights-respecting workplaces in the factories that produce their goods, but undercut their efforts with relentless pressure on suppliers to drive down prices or produce faster, Human Rights Watch found. Many suppliers respond to those pressures with abusive cost-cutting methods that harm workers. One factory owner ruefully summarized the problem, saying that brands are “paying for a bus ticket and expecting to fly.”

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  • April 16, 2019

    Environment of Fear in South Africa’s Mining-Affected Communities

    The 73-page report “‘We Know Our Lives Are in Danger’: Environment of Fear in South Africa’s Mining-affected Communities” and video cites activists’ reports of intimidation, violence, damage to property, use of excessive force during peaceful protests, and arbitrary arrest for their activities in highlighting the negative impacts of mining projects on their communities. Municipalities often impose barriers to protest on organizers that have no legal basis. Government officials have failed to adequately investigate allegations of abuse, and some mining companies resort to frivolous lawsuits and social media campaigns to further curb opposition to their projects. The government should protect the activists.

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  • April 10, 2019

    Abusive Prosecutions and Erosion of Fair Trial Rights in Turkey

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  • April 4, 2019

    Large-Scale UN Response Needed to Address Health and Food Crises

    This report documents increased numbers of maternal and infant deaths; the unchecked spread of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles and diphtheria; and sharp increases in the transmission of infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis in Venezuela. Available data shows high levels of food insecurity and child malnutrition, as well as of hospital admissions of malnourished children. 

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  • March 22, 2019

    Atrocities by Armed Islamists and Security Forces in Burkina Faso’s Sahel Region

    This report documents over 40 killings by armed Islamist groups, mostly of people suspected of collaborating with the government, and the execution by Burkinabè security forces of over 115 men accused of supporting or harboring the armed Islamists. The Burkinabè government has promised to investigate the allegations. Key international actors, including the United Nations Security Council, which is visiting Burkina Faso in late March, should urge the government to follow through on this commitment.

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  • March 21, 2019

    Trafficking of Kachin “Brides” from Myanmar to China

    This report documents the selling by traffickers of women and girls from Kachin and northern Shan States into sexual slavery in China. Trafficking survivors said that trusted people, including family members, promised them jobs in China, but instead sold them for the equivalent of US$3,000 to $13,000 to Chinese families. In China, they were typically locked in a room and raped so they would become pregnant.

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  • March 19, 2019

    Japan’s Abusive Transgender Legal Recognition Process

    This report documents how Japan’s Gender Identity Disorder Special Cases (GID) Act harms transgender people who want to be legally recognized but cannot or do not want to undergo irreversible medical procedures like sterilization. 

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  • March 14, 2019

    Education for Children with Disabilities in Kazakhstan

    This report shows that Kazakhstan’s education system segregates and isolates children with disabilities. Even for children who can access schools in their communities, most are taught in separate classrooms with other children with disabilities. Thousands are in special schools for children with disabilities, often far from their homes. Others are educated at home, with a teacher visiting for a few hours per week at best. Children in closed psychiatric institutions receive very little or no education.

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