Reports

The Cruel and Ineffective Criminalization of Unhoused People in Los Angeles

The 337-page report, “‘You Have to Move!’ The Cruel and Ineffective Criminalization of Unhoused People in Los Angeles,” documents the experiences of people living on the streets and in vehicles, temporary shelters, and parks in Los Angeles, as they struggle to survive while facing criminalization and governmental failures to prioritize eviction prevention or access to permanent housing. Law enforcement and sanitation “sweeps” force unhoused people out of public view, often wasting resources on temporary shelter and punishments that do not address the underlying needs. Tens of thousands of people are living in the streets of Los Angeles; death rates among the unhoused have skyrocketed.

Police remove an unhoused woman from her tent

Search

  • August 4, 2009

    Dysfunction, Abuse, and Impunity in the Indian Police

    This 118-page report documents a range of human rights violations committed by police, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and extrajudicial killings. The report is based on interviews with more than 80 police officers of varying ranks, 60 victims of police abuses, and numerous discussions with experts and civil society activists.
  • July 29, 2009

    Institutionalizing Discrimination against Gays and Lesbians in Burundi

    This report consists of narratives and photos of Burundian gays and lesbians that bring to life the daily struggles faced by the small lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Burundi. Members of the community talk about how they have been fired from their jobs, beaten by parents and neighbourhood youth, and evicted from their homes.
  • July 20, 2009

    Submission to the Investigative Bodies on the November 28-29, 2008 Violence in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

    Human Rights Watch testified before the Plateau State Judicial Commission of Inquiry on July 20, 2009 in Jos, the capital of Plateau State in central Nigeria, where on November 28-29, 2008, sectarian violence between Muslim and Christian mobs left hundreds dead.
  • July 16, 2009

    Sexual Violence and Military Reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo

    This 56-page report documents persistent sexual violence by the army, and the limited impact of government and donor efforts to address the problem. The report looks closely at the conduct of the army's 14th brigade as an example of the wider problem of sexual violence by soldiers.

  • July 13, 2009

    Threats to Human Rights and Democracy in Somaliland

    This 56-page report says that Somaliland's government has helped create a measure of stability and democratic governance even as Somalia has remained mired in armed conflict. But Somaliland's gains are fragile and currently under threat.
  • July 9, 2009

    Oil and Human Rights in Equatorial Guinea

    This 107-page report details how the dictatorship under President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has used an oil boom to entrench and enrich itself further at the expense of the country's people.
  • July 7, 2009

    Why Accountability Matters for Peace

    This 128-page report draws upon Human Rights Watch's work over the past 20 years in nearly 20 countries. The report documents how ignoring atrocities reinforces a culture of impunity that encourages future abuses. Rather than impede negotiations or a transition to peace, remaining firm on justice can yield short- and long-term benefits.
  • July 2, 2009

    Punitive House-Burning in Chechnya

    This 54-page report documents a distinct pattern of house burnings by security forces to punish families for the alleged actions of their relatives.
  • June 30, 2009

    Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles

    This 39-page report details six incidents resulting in 29 civilian deaths, among them eight children. Human Rights Watch found that Israeli forces failed to take all feasible precautions to verify that these targets were combatants, as required by the laws of war, or that they failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians.

  • June 29, 2009

    Torture, Rape, and Other Serious Human Rights Violations by Kenyan Security Forces in the Mandera Triangle

    This 51-page report documents rampant abuses during the operation and provides detailed accounts of the events in four of the 10 communities that were targeted.
  • June 26, 2009

    Human Rights Abuses in the Marange Diamond Fields of Zimbabwe

    This 62-page report documents how, following the discovery of diamonds in Marange in June 2006, the police and army have used brutal force to control access to the diamond fields and to take over unlicensed diamond mining and trading.
  • June 24, 2009

    Papuans in Merauke Face Abuses by Indonesian Special Forces

    This 16-page report documents how Kopassus soldiers operating in the town of Merauke, in Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua, arrest Papuans without legal authority, and beat and mistreat those they take back to their barracks.
  • June 23, 2009

    A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Mitrovica’s Roma Camps

    This 68-page report tells the story of a decade of failure by the UN and others to provide adequate housing and medical treatment for the Roma, and the devastating consequences for the health of those in the camps.
  • June 22, 2009

    Military Detention, Torture, and Lack of Due Process in Cabinda

    In this 27-page report, Human Rights Watch shows a disturbing pattern of human rights violations by the Angolan armed forces and state intelligence officials. Between September 2007 and March 2009, at least 38 people were arbitrarily arrested by the military in Cabinda and accused of state security crimes.

  • June 21, 2009

    Gaps in Civilian Protection in Southern Sudan

    This 15-page report highlights a recent surge in ethnic violence and the failure of the government of Southern Sudan and the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) to protect civilians.