Reports

U.S. Policy on Voting Rights in Global Perspective

The 55-page report, “Out of Step: US Policy on Voting Rights in Global Perspective,” examines the laws of 136 countries around the world with populations of 1.5 million and above and finds that the majority—73 of the 136—never, or rarely, deny a person’s right to vote because of a criminal conviction. In the other 63 countries, the United States sits at the restrictive end of the spectrum, disenfranchising a broader swath of people overall.

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  • August 2, 2007

    Sexual Violence by Rebels and Pro-Government Forces in Côte d’Ivoire

    Pro-government and rebel forces in Côte d’Ivoire have subjected thousands of women and girls to rape and other brutal sexual assaults with impunity. This 135-page report details the widespread nature of sexual violence throughout the five-year military-political crisis. The report, which is based on interviews with more than 180 victims and witnesses, documents how women and girls have been subjected to individual and gang rape, sexual slavery, forced incest and other egregious sexual assaults.

  • August 2, 2007

    Annex 22-B: A Missed Opportunity on Workers’ Rights in North Korea

    This 13-page briefing paper looks at Annex 22-B of the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and how it flouts the spirit of the recently amended workers’ rights provisions. It also makes recommendations on how to amend Annex 22 in order to effectively protect, in law and practice, the basic labor rights of the workers producing goods under the existing agreement.
  • July 30, 2007

    Attacks on Civilians in the Philippines

    Violent Islamist groups in the Philippines have killed or injured more than 1,700 people in bombings and other attacks since 2000. The attacks, mostly in Mindanao, Basilan, Jolo, and other southern islands, have also included kidnappings, executions, and shootings.
  • July 26, 2007

    Spain’s Failure to Protect the Rights of Unaccompanied Migrant Children in the Canary Islands

    This 115-page report documents how children stay in emergency centers for indefinite periods, in often overcrowded and poor conditions. The children told Human Rights Watch that they have been subjected to beatings by staff, and left unprotected from violence by their peers.
  • July 24, 2007

    Guerrilla Use of Antipersonnel Landmines and other Indiscriminate Weapons in Colombia

    This 34–page report is accompanied by an extensive photo and audio slideshow, and documents the impact on civilian survivors of guerrillas’ use of antipersonnel landmines in Colombia, as well as the difficulties that such survivors face in obtaining needed assistance from the government.
  • July 24, 2007

    Police Killings of Detainees and the Imposition of Collective Punishments

    Deaths in police custody have increased in Rwanda, where officers of the National Police have killed at least 20 detainees since November 2006. This 37-page report is based on dozens of interviews with families of victims, eyewitnesses and others.
  • July 24, 2007

    Intervention Submitted by Human Rights Watch and AIRE Centre

    The third party intervention by Human Rights Watch and the AIRE Centre in the case of Ismoilov and Others v. Russia analyzes states’ reliance upon diplomatic assurances against torture and ill-treatment in extradition context. The intervention includes relevant international, regional, and national jurisprudence regarding the use of assurances against torture.
  • July 19, 2007

    This briefing paper examines the implications of military interference for human rights, as well as a number of other current human rights concerns, including restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, the harassment and prosecution of Kurdish political parties, ongoing problems of impunity for state officials, and police ill-treatment.
  • July 16, 2007

    Families Separated and Immigrants Harmed by United States Deportation Policy

    <table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><img src="http://hrw.org/images/home/2007/100/usdom16402.jpg&quot; align="left" border="0" /></td> <td valign="top">This 88-page report is the first comprehensive assessment of the deportation of non-citizens with criminal convictions and the impact on families and communities in the US.</td></tr></table>

  • July 16, 2007

    Child Soldiers in the Chad Conflict

    This 46-page report documents how the Chadian army, its allied paramilitary militias and rebel forces have used and recruited child soldiers in both northern Chad and along the eastern border with Sudan’s Darfur region.
  • July 4, 2007

    Endemic Abuse and Impunity in Papua’s Central Highlands

    This 81-page report is the product of more than a year of research. The report documents daily abuses by police officers and other security forces in the mountainous and isolated Central Highlands area of the Indonesian province of Papua, located on the western half of the island of New Guinea.
  • July 2, 2007

    Torture and Denial of Due Process by the Kurdistan Security Forces

    This 58-page report documents widespread and systematic mistreatment and violations of due process rights of detainees at detention facilities by Kurdistan security forces. The report is based on research conducted in Iraq’s Kurdistan region from April to October 2006, including interviews with more than 150 detainees.
  • June 30, 2007

    Palestinian Rocket Attacks on Israel and Israeli Artillery Shelling in the Gaza Strip

    This 146-page report finds that both Palestinian armed groups and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have shown insufficient regard for civilian life.
  • June 28, 2007

    Serbia’s War Crimes Chamber

    This 32-page briefing paper evaluates the progress of the War Crimes Chamber since it was established in 2003 as a complement to the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The Hague-based ICTY will only try a limited number of top-level accused before its mandate ends in 2010.
  • June 27, 2007

    Impunity for Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines

    This 84-page report, based on more than 100 interviews, details the involvement of government security forces in the murder or “disappearance” of members of leftist political parties and nongovernmental organizations, journalists, outspoken clergy, anti-mining activists, and agricultural reform activists.