• US Vows to Better Protect Detained Immigrants
    Aug 9, 2012
    After three years of work by Human Rights Watch, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has adopted a new policy that could substantially reduce the number of transfers, giving immigrants a fairer chance.
  • Saudi Arabia Allows “Qualified” Women to Compete in Olympics
    Jun 28, 2012
    Saudi Arabia has announced that it will send two female athletes to the Olympics for the first time, following more than a year of Human Rights Watch reporting, campaigning, and high-level advocacy with the International Olympic Committee.
  • Protecting Children From Lead Poisoning
    May 31, 2012

    Amina Murtala is only 20, but she has already lost three children to lead poisoning – a deadly consequence of small-scale gold mining in her home state of Zamfara in Nigeria.

    Last week President Goodluck Jonathan agreed to release 650 million Naira (roughly US$4 million) for environmental remediation and to put in place safer mining practices in Zamfara state. This clean-up could give Amina's newest baby a better chance at a healthy life.

  • Aid Sent to Civilians in Burma's Kachin State
    Apr 11, 2012
    Fighting between the Burmese army and Kachin rebels reignited last June, displacing some 75,000 ethnic Kachin and leaving them in desperate need of food, medicine, and shelter. However, the Burmese government has blocked aid to conflict areas. Five days after Human Rights Watch released a report on the abuses in Kachin state, which borders China, the Burmese government granted the United Nations access to Kachin state’s conflict areas, allowing the United Nations to send in a couple of badly needed convoys of aid containing essential food and supplies.
  • Libya’s Government Destroys Landmines
    Mar 29, 2012

    Last week in Libya, Human Rights Watch witnessed the destruction of nearly 100 Chinese-made antivehicle landmines – weapons that kill or maim civilians, often children, long after the fighting has stopped.

  • Justice in Congo
    Mar 15, 2012

    Lubanga’s name is not as quickly recognizable as Joseph Kony’s, because of the Kony 2012 viral video that educated nearly 80 million people on the atrocities of Kony’s rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). But like Kony, Lubanga has the blood of many Congolese on his hands and is one of the most infamous present-day recruiters of child soldiers.

  • Obama Sends Military Support to Help Combat LRA Rebels
    Jan 12, 2012

    In October, 2011, the Obama administration said it would send 100 US military advisers to central Africa to help the region’s armies combat the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a vicious Ugandan rebel group. Human Rights Watch has pressed the US government to help bring Joseph Kony and the LRA’s murderous leadership to justice, even appealing directly to President Barack Obama.

  • Justice in Côte d’Ivoire
    Jan 11, 2012
    Late in the afternoon on November 29, former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo was removed from his prison cell in the dusty northern town of Korhogo and served with an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He was then put aboard a plane to The Hague, where he now faces four counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, and persecution.
  • Ending Forced Labor in Vietnam’s Drug Detention Centers
    Nov 16, 2011

    Since its September release, our report on the drug detention centers in southern Vietnam has already compelled two major multinational companies to cut ties with these facilities—US-based Columbia Sportswear Co. and Swiss-based Verstergaard Frandsen.

  • Burma Frees at Least 200 Political Prisoners
    Oct 12, 2011
    The Burmese government yesterday freed at least 200 of its estimated 2,000 political prisoners. Officially, Burma denies having any such prisoners – but Human Rights Watch has worked hard to make sure these imprisoned activists weren’t forgotten. We held high-level meetings with UN and government officials visiting Burma, arming them with the evidence they used to pressure Burma into releasing these journalists, artists, and Buddhist monks.