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.
Neighboring States Stop Iraqis Fleeing War and Persecution
Iraq’s neighbors are refusing entry, imposing onerous new passport and visa requirements, and building barriers to keep refugees out. In certain cases, they are also expelling Iraqis back to Iraq.This briefing paper focuses on new restrictive measures taken by Jordan and Egypt to prevent more refugees from coming.
The Consequences of Insurgent Attacks in Afghanistan
This 116-page report describes how Afghan insurgent groups, primarily Taliban and Hezb-e Islami forces, sharply escalated bombing and other attacks in 2006 and early 2007. The report is based on dozens of interviews with civilian victims of attacks and their families and a lengthy review of available documents and records.
Human Rights Abuse and Threats to Free and Fair Elections in Nigeria
In 1999, Nigeria made a definitive break with a post-independence history dominated by three decades of abusive and unaccountable military rule. That year, the country returned to civilian government under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo and since then has enjoyed its longest stretch of uninterrupted civilian rule since independence in 1960.
The Story of Seven Men Betrayed by Russia’s Diplomatic Assurances to the United States
This 43-page report reconstructs the experiences of the detainees after being returned to Russia in March 2004, based on interviews with three of the detainees, their family members, lawyers, and others. Access to the ex-detainees is limited because three of them are in prison and the rest have either managed to leave the country or are in hiding.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is currently considering revisions to its main labor law. Like other countries in the Gulf, the UAE is heavily reliant upon the labor of migrant workers, primarily from South Asia. According to figures from 2005, 95 percent of the UAE’s labor pool, some 2.7 million workers, are migrants, many of whom work in the construction and domestic service industries.
Enforced Disappearances in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces
This 69-page report details 22 cases of unresolved “disappearances” in which the evidence strongly indicates that the Thai security forces were responsible. The report is based on interviews with dozens of witnesses, families of victims and Thai officials since February 2005.
Violations of the Rights of Children in Detention in Burundi
This 62-page report documents the many types of human rights violations that children experience in pre-trial detention, in the investigation and prosecution of cases, and while in prison.
The management of infectious disease in prisons is a human rights imperative as well as a matter of public health. Given the high level of HIV infections among those who enter prison, making condoms readily accessible to inmates is an effective and inexpensive measure that corrections officials should take to limit the spread of infection.
In this first year of its existence, the Council is understandably preoccupied with institution building. But human rights violations haven’t been suspended while the Council focused on these tasks; in fact they have worsened in many locations. The Council’s attention to institution building has created a growing backlog of work that deserves the HRC’s attention.
The North Korean government has hardened its policy towards its citizens it catches crossing the border into China without state permission, or whom China has forcibly repatriated.
This 115-page report documents how state officials arrest, detain and deport undocumented foreign migrants, particularly those from Zimbabwe and Mozambique, in ways that contravene South Africa’s immigration law. The report also details how commercial farmers ignore basic employment law protections even when they employ documented foreign migrants and South Africans.
This 50-page report contains a detailed description of a secret CIA prison from a Palestinian former detainee who was released from custody. The report provides the most comprehensive account to date of life in a secret CIA prison, as well as information regarding 38 possible detainees.
This briefing paper outlines some of the key questions that candidates should consider if they are to tackle the human rights situation in the country: corruption; ethnic and political violence; reform of the security services; and reform of the electoral machinery.
An increased international presence in eastern Chad is urgently needed to protect civilians threatened by worsening insecurity and brutal militia violence. Civilians in eastern Chad have long suffered the consequences of living across the border from Sudan’s troubled western region of Darfur, but violence in Chad has recently taken on its own momentum.
