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.

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  • May 27, 2013

    Women’s Rights in the New Libya

    This 40-page report highlights key steps that Libya should take to meet its international obligations by firmly rejecting gender-based discrimination in both law and practice.

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  • May 23, 2013

    Mozambique’s Coal Mining Boom and Resettlements

    This 122-page report examines how serious shortcomings in government policy and mining companies’ implementation uprooted largely self-sufficient farming communities and resettled them to arid land far from rivers and markets. These communities have experienced periods of food insecurity or, when available, dependence on short-term food assistance financed by Vale and Rio Tinto.

  • May 22, 2013

    The Harmful Impact of US Border Prosecutions

    This 82-page report documents the negative impact of illegal entry and reentry prosecutions, which have increased 1,400 and 300 percent, respectively, over the past 10 years and now outnumber prosecutions for all other federal crimes. Over 80,000 people were convicted of these crimes in 2012, many in rapid-fire mass prosecutions that violate due process rights.

  • May 19, 2013

    Human Rights and Responsible Investment in Mobile and the Internet

    This 24-page report outlines steps necessary to promote adequate protections for Internet and mobile phone users in Burma, and ways to foster responsible investment in Burma’s telecom sector. In January 2013, the Burmese government announced plans to open the country’s telecom sector to foreign investment and is scheduled to award two nationwide licenses to companies by June 27.

  • May 16, 2013

    Assessing the Impact of Hungary’s New Constitution and Laws

    This 29-page report analyzes the new constitution and laws and their negative effects on human rights and the rule of law. It shows how the government has largely ignored criticism from the EU and the Council of Europe and, through further constitutional changes, sought to reverse binding rulings by Hungary’s Constitutional Court upholding fundamental rights.
  • May 14, 2013

    Abuses against Sex Workers in China

    This 51-page report documents abuses by the police against female sex workers in Beijing, including torture, beatings, physical assaults, arbitrary detentions, and fines, as well as a failure to investigate crimes against sex workers by clients, bosses, and state agents.

  • May 1, 2013

    The Irreparable Harm of Placing Children on Sex Offender Registries in the US

    This 111-page report details the harm public registration laws cause for youth sex offenders. The laws, which can apply for decades or even a lifetime and are layered on top of time in prison or juvenile detention, require placing offenders’ personal information on online registries, often making them targets for harassment, humiliation, and even violence.
  • April 24, 2013

    Crackdown on Russia’s Civil Society after Putin’s Return to the Presidency

    This 78-page report describes some of the changes since Putin returned to the presidency in May 2012. The authorities have introduced a series of restrictive laws, begun a nationwide campaign of invasive inspections of nongovernmental organizations, harassed, intimidated, and in a number of cases imprisoned political activists, and sought to cast government critics as clandestine enemies.

  • April 22, 2013

    Crimes Against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Burma’s Arakan State

    This 153-page report describes the role of the Burmese government and local authorities in the forcible displacement of more than 125,000 Rohingya and other Muslims and the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

  • April 10, 2013

    Deliberate and Indiscriminate Air Strikes on Civilians

    This 80-page report is based on visits to 50 sites of government air strikes in opposition-controlled areas in Aleppo, Idlib, and Latakia governorates, and more than 140 interviews with witnesses and victims. The air strikes Human Rights Watch documented killed at least 152 civilians.
  • April 3, 2013

    Accountability for Serious International Crimes in Côte d’Ivoire

    This 74-page report analyzes Côte d’Ivoire’s uneven efforts to hold to account those responsible for serious international crimes committed following the November 2010 presidential election. Since his May 2011 inauguration, President Alassane Ouattara has repeatedly declared his commitment to bring all of those responsible to account, regardless of political affiliation or military rank.

  • March 28, 2013

    Abuses against Internally Displaced in Mogadishu, Somalia

    The 80-page report details serious violations, including physical attacks, restrictions on movement and access to food and shelter, and clan-based discrimination against the displaced in Mogadishu from the height of the famine in mid-2011 through 2012.

  • March 21, 2013

    Human Rights Violations in the Enforcement of Cameroon’s Anti-Homosexuality Law

    The 55-page report presents 10 case studies of arrests and prosecutions under article 347 bis of Cameroon’s penal code, which punishes “sexual relations between persons of the same sex” with up to five years in prison. The report found that most people charged with homosexuality are convicted based on little or no evidence.
  • March 7, 2013

    Child and Forced Marriage in South Sudan

    The 95-page report documents the consequences of child marriage, the near total lack of protection for victims who try to resist marriage or leave abusive marriages, and the many obstacles they face in accessing mechanisms of redress.
  • March 4, 2013

    Juvenile Offenders Awaiting Execution in Yemen

    The 30-page report found that at least 22 individuals have been sentenced to death despite evidence that they were under age 18 at the time of their alleged crimes. In the last five years, Yemen has executed at least 15 young men and women who said they were under 18 at the time of their offense.

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