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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  • December 15, 2009

    The Yemeni Government’s Brutal Response to Southern Movement Protests

    The 73-page report documents attacks by security forces on supporters of the so-called Southern Movement as well as on journalists, academics, and other opinion-makers. Based on over 80 interviews with victims in the southern Yemeni cities of Aden and Mukalla, the report finds that security forces used lethal force against unarmed demonstrators on at least six occasions.
  • December 13, 2009

    Attacks on Civilians in Eastern Congo

    This 183-page report documents in detail the deliberate killing of more than 1,400 civilians between January and September 2009 during two successive Congolese army operations against a Rwandan Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
  • December 12, 2009

    Human Rights Developments in Libya Amid Institutional Obstacles

    This 78-page report is based on research conducted by Human Rights Watch during a 10-day visit to Libya in April, 2009. The report is also based on ongoing monitoring from outside the country.
  • December 9, 2009

    Naxalite Attacks and Police Occupation of Schools in India’s Bihar and Jharkhand States

    This 103-page report details how the Maoists - known as Naxalites - a longstanding, pan-Indian armed militant movement, are targeting and blowing up state-run schools. At the same time, police and paramilitary forces are disrupting education for long periods by occupying schools as part of anti-Naxalite operations.
  • December 8, 2009

    Police Violence and Public Security in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo

    This 122-page report examined 51 cases in which police appeared to have executed alleged criminal suspects and then reported the victims had died in shootouts while resisting arrest.
  • December 7, 2009

    Violence, Discrimination and Barriers to Health for Migrants in South Africa

    This 89-page report describes how harassment, lack of documentation, and the credible fear of deportation prevent many newcomers from seeking medical treatment even though South African law and policy state that asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants have a right to care.
  • December 6, 2009

    Women’s Rights in Afghanistan

    This 96-page report details emblematic cases of ongoing rights violations in five areas: attacks on women in public life; violence against women; child and forced marriage; access to justice; and girls' access to secondary education.
  • December 4, 2009

    Improving Accountability for Electoral Violence in Uganda

    This 28-page report documents recent cases in which high court judges ruling on electoral petitions determined that candidates and campaign staff had committed criminal acts, yet the alleged crimes were rarely investigated and prosecuted. Some of those alleged to have committed the crimes during the 2006 elections continue to hold high office, Human Rights Watch said.
  • December 2, 2009

    The Transfer of Immigrants to Remote Detention Centers in the United States

    This 88-page report presents new data analyzed for Human Rights Watch by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) of Syracuse University. The data show that 53 percent of the 1.4 million transfers have taken place since 2006, and most occur between state and local jails that contract with the agency, known as ICE, to provide detention bed space.
  • December 1, 2009

    The Human Rights Consequences of Illegal Logging and Corruption in Indonesia’s Forestry Sector

    This 75-page report found that more than half of all Indonesian timber from 2003 through 2006 was logged illegally, with no taxes paid. Unreported subsidies to the forestry industry, including government use of artificially low timber market prices and currency exchange rates, and tax evasion by exporters using a scam known as "transfer pricing," exacerbated the losses.

  • November 26, 2009

    Repression of Kurdish Political and Cultural Rights in Syria

    This 63-page report documents the Syrian authorities' efforts to ban and disperse gatherings calling for Kurdish minority rights or celebrating Kurdish culture, as well as the detention of leading Kurdish political activists and their ill-treatment in custody. The repression of Kurds in Syria has greatly intensified following large-scale Kurdish demonstrations in March 2004.
  • November 24, 2009

    British Complicity in the Torture and Ill-treatment of Terror Suspects in Pakistan

    This 46-page report provides accounts from victims and their families in the cases of five UK citizens of Pakistani origin - Salahuddin Amin, Zeeshan Siddiqui, Rangzieb Ahmed, Rashid Rauf and a fifth individual who wishes to remain anonymous - tortured in Pakistan by Pakistani security agencies between 2004 and 2007.
  • November 18, 2009

    Political Prisoners in the Post-Fidel Era

    This report shows how Raúl Castro has kept Cuba’s repressive machinery firmly in place and fully active since being handed power by his brother Fidel Castro. Scores of political prisoners arrested under Fidel continue to languish in prison, and Raúl has used draconian laws and sham trials to incarcerate scores more who have dared to exercise their fundamental rights.

  • November 12, 2009

    China's Abusive "Black Jails"

    This 53-page report documents how government officials, security forces, and their agents routinely abduct people off the streets of Beijing and other Chinese cities, strip them of their possessions, and imprison them. These black jails are often located in state-owned hotels, nursing homes, and psychiatric hospitals.
  • November 10, 2009

    Violence against Minority Communities in Nineveh Province’s Disputed Territories

    This 51-page report calls on the regional government to grant legal recognition to Shabaks and Yazidis as distinct ethnic groups instead of imposing Kurdish identity on them and to ensure that they can participate in public affairs without fear of retribution.