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South Korea UN: Sri Lanka’s Defeat a Victory for Human Rights Council UN Vote Upholds Council Membership Standards on Rights NGOs around the world call Sri Lanka's defeat in today's Human Rights Council elections a victory for the UN body. May 21, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version South Korea: Olympic Torch Spotlights China Rights Crisis President Lee Should Press Beijing to Stop Deporting North Korean Refugees South Korean President Lee Myung-bak should use the occasion of the Olympic torch’s passage in Seoul on April 27 to urge Beijing to stop arresting and repatriating North Korean refugees in China, Human Rights Watch said today. The torch relay, which up to now has been dogged by protests over China’s human rights abuses at home and in Tibet, will also pass through the North Korean capital Pyongyang on April 28, one place where protests are not expected. April 25, 2008 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version How Famine Changed N. Korea By Kay Seok, North Korea researcher for Human Rights Watch Published in The Washington Post February 26, 2008 Commentary Also available in
Printer friendly version South Korea: Defend Human Rights By Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch Published in The Korea Times We congratulate you on your election as South Korea's next president. With only a month left until you take office, we are writing to draw your attention to urgent human rights issues on the Korean Peninsula. January 23, 2008 Commentary Also available in
Printer friendly version UAE: Meetings Should Address Migrant Workers’ Rights When labor ministers from 22 Asian and Middle Eastern countries meet in Abu Dhabi this week to discuss Asian contract migrant workers, they should address widespread violations of migrant workers’ rights, Human Rights Watch said today. January 18, 2008 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version Letter to Governments in Asia and the Middle East on International Migrants' Day Migrants’ Groups Call for Key Reforms We are writing on December 18, 2007, International Migrants’ Day, to call upon you to implement key reforms to respect and uphold migrants’ rights. On January 21-22, 2008, the United Arab Emirates will host the latest round of the “Colombo Process,” a series of regional consultative processes focused on Asian contract migrant workers. We believe this meeting could provide an important stepping stone to establishing regional minimum standards regarding recruitment, employment, and protection of migrant workers. December 17, 2007 Letter Printer friendly version Asian Migrant Workers Abandoned to Abuse Migrants’ Groups Call for Key Reforms on International Migrants Day Governments in Asia and the Middle East must take stronger action to fight rampant abuse against migrant workers, several migrants’ and human rights groups said in a joint letter on the eve of December 18, International Migrants’ Day. December 17, 2007 Press Release Printer friendly version Silence Is Complicity By Kay Seok, North Korea researcher at Human Rights Watch Published in The Wall Street Journal The second ever inter-Korea summit, between South Korea's President Roh Mu-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in early October, produced a media frenzy. Journalists reported on every move and statement by the two leaders, including Kim's casual proposal to extend Mr. Roh's stay by one day, and Mr. Roh's polite but awkward refusal to do so. November 19, 2007 Commentary Also available in
Printer friendly version South Korea: Anti-Discrimination Bill Excludes Many Law Should Cover Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity The South Korean cabinet should re-introduce protection from discrimination for categories of people dropped from a proposed federal law this week by the justice ministry, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter LINK to the cabinet. Human Rights Watch highlighted the removal from the non-discrimination bill of language that extended protection to sexual orientation and urged the cabinet to make explicit that the proposed law covers discrimination based on gender identity. November 6, 2007 Press Release Also available in
Printer friendly version Letter: Exclusion Undermines Landmark Bill In the wake of a Ministry of Justice decision to exclude a range of categories from the protection of the proposed non-discrimination law, the Cabinet should show leadership and reintroduce the dropped categories to protect the widest possible number of South Koreans from discrimination. South Korea has shown leadership, domestically and internationally, in support of human rights, and the proposed bill could represent a continuation of that commitment. November 5, 2007 Letter Also available in
Printer friendly version Burma: Security Council Should Impose Arms Embargo Weapons Sales by India, China and Russia Fuel Abuses, Strengthen Military Rule The United Nations Security Council should impose and enforce a mandatory arms embargo on Burma because of continuing massive violations of human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. India, China, Russia, and other nations are supplying Burma with weapons that the military uses to commit human rights abuses and to bolster its ability to maintain power. October 10, 2007 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version Burma: Foreign Investment Finances Regime Companies Should Condemn Crackdown Chinese, Indian, Thai, and other companies doing business in Burma should ensure their operations do not contribute to or benefit from human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. The military government in Burma has launched a violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators that so far has led to many deaths, enforced disappearances, and mass arbitrary arrests. October 2, 2007 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version Korea needs to open its doors South Korea has shirked one of the vital responsibilities that comes with its new status: admitting refugees and asylum seekers Published in JoongAng Daily While many Koreans do not realize it, South Korea also has become a beacon to many pro-democracy and human rights activists around the world. Within a generation, South Koreans shed a dictatorship for a functioning democracy, an achievement that many others hope to emulate. August 21, 2007 Commentary Also available in
Printer friendly version The US-Korea Free Trade Agreement 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. August 2, 2007 Background Briefing Afghanistan: Taliban Should Immediately Free Hostages Hostage-Taking is a War Crime The Taliban should immediately release all hostages in its custody, Human Rights Watch said today. The recent abduction and hostage-taking of at least five Afghan, two German, and 23 South Korean civilians, and the reported killing of several of them, are war crimes. August 1, 2007 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version Burma: Natural Gas Project Threatens Human Rights South Korean, Indian Investments May Lead to Complicity in Abuses Proposed pipeline construction from gas fields off the coast of Burma is expected to exacerbate serious human rights abuses in Burma, Human Rights Watch said today. March 24, 2007 Press Release Printer friendly version North Korea's Cruelty Published in The Washington Post North Korea is again dominating headlines by signing a deal to close its main nuclear reactor and allow international inspectors to return in exchange for energy and economic assistance. As North Korea watchers cautiously welcome this possible step toward a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, a deeply disturbing development has garnered almost no attention: Pyongyang's hardening policy toward North Korean border-crossers. March 17, 2007 Commentary Also available in
Printer friendly version North Korea: Border-Crossers Harshly Punished on Return China Should Grant UNHCR Access to North Koreans in Border Area In an ominous hardening of policy, North Korea appears to be punishing its citizens with longer sentences in abusive prisons if they are caught crossing the border to China or have been forcibly repatriated by Beijing, Human Rights Watch said in a new briefing paper released today. March 5, 2007 Press Release Also available in
Printer friendly version North Korea Harsher Policies against Border-Crossers 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. Until around November 2004 those who crossed the border—often to find food—were typically released after questioning or served at most a few months in forced labor camps, a relatively light punishment by North Korean standards for what is considered an act of treason.1 Recent interviews by Human Rights Watch show that this relative leniency is over: in late 2004 North Korea announced a new policy of harshly punishing border crossers with prison sentences of up to five years. Anyone imprisoned in North Korea is liable to face abusive conditions including beatings, forced labor, and starvation far worse than among the population at large. March 5, 2007 Background Briefing Also available in
Introduction to the World Report 2007 By Kenneth Roth What government is today’s champion of human rights? Washington’s potentially powerful voice no longer resonates after the US government’s use of detention without trial and interrogation by torture. By Kenneth Roth January 11, 2007 World Report Essay Also available in
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