• Sudan: Bombardment of Civilians in Blue Nile and South Kordofan
    Dec 10, 2012
    Since September 2011, Sudanese government forces have bombed indiscriminately across Blue Nile State, spreading palpable fear among civilians who live there. Government bombardments and ground attacks have killed and maimed scores of civilians, and displaced tens of thousands of women, men and children. Women have been forced from their villages into the bush, where they no longer have access to hospitals or health care providers -- even for childbirth. Women and girls who are able to flee the country have had to walk for days and weeks carrying their children and property, while under threat of attack from government forces and militias. Once the women and girls reach the refugee camps in South Sudan, their struggle continues. With limited means to support themselves, women and girls are at risk of sexual violence from soldiers and other men in host communities when collecting firewood outside the camps to cook food.
  • Nigeria: Boko Haram Attacks and Security Force Abuses
    Oct 10, 2012
    Widespread and systematic murder and persecution by Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group in northern Nigeria, likely amount to crimes against humanity. Human Rights Watch documents violence and atrocities, which Boko Haram has claimed responsibility, that has claimed more than 2,800 lives. Boko Haram’s attacks – centered in northern Nigeria – have primarily targeted police and anyone working for or accused of cooperating with the government. Government security forces have also engaged in numerous abuses, including extrajudicial killings, which contravene international human rights law and might also constitute crimes against humanity. Security forces have killed hundreds of Boko Haram suspects and other members of the public with no apparent links to the group, in the name of ending the group’s threat to the country’s citizens. But the authorities have rarely prosecuted those responsible for the Boko Haram violence or security force personnel for their abuses.
  • Ghana: Serious Abuse for People With Mental Disabilities
    Sep 28, 2012
    People with mental disabilities suffer severe abuses in psychiatric institutions and spiritual healing centers in Ghana. Human Rights Watch describes how thousands of people with mental disabilities are forced to live in these institutions, often against their will and with little possibility of challenging their confinement. In psychiatric hospitals, people with mental disabilities face overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. In some of the spiritual healing centers, known as prayer camps, they are often chained outdoors and forced to fast for weeks, while being denied access to medication. Human Rights Watch also highlights the challenges of people with mental disabilities who live in the community, who face stigma and discrimination and often lack adequate shelter, food and healthcare.
  • Ethiopia: Indigenous People Forced From Land
    Aug 28, 2012
    The Ethiopian government is forcibly displacing indigenous pastoral communities in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo valley without adequate consultation or compensation to make way for state-run sugar plantations and the construction of Africa's highest dam, the Gibe III hydropower project. The Lower Omo valley, one of the most remote and culturally diverse areas on the planet, is home to around 200,000 people from eight unique agro-pastoral communities who have lived there for as long as anyone can remember. Their way of life and their identity is linked to the land and access to the Omo River.
  • Nigeria: Mercury in Gold Mining
    Jun 25, 2012
    Negotiations for an international treaty to limit the use of mercury should seek to protect the health rights of artisanal gold mining communities, such as those in Bagega, Nigeria. Mercury is highly toxic that attacks the central nervous system, causing tremors and twitching, memory loss, brain damage, or other neurological and behavioral disorders. It can also damage the kidneys and the lungs. Mercury is particularly harmful to children and can cause developmental problems and irreversible brain damage. Under international human rights law, work with hazardous substances and processes is classified among the worst forms of child labor. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining – gold mining without industrial equipment – is one of the largest sectors for mercury use globally and 13 million people worldwide, including children, work in artisanal gold mining and use mercury to extract gold from the ore.
  • Ethiopia: Indigenous People Forced From Land
    Jun 18, 2012
    The Ethiopian government is forcibly displacing indigenous pastoral communities in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo valley without adequate consultation or compensation to make way for state-run sugar plantations and the construction of Africa's highest dam, the Gibe III hydropower project. The Lower Omo valley, one of the most remote and culturally diverse areas on the planet, is home to around 200,000 people from eight unique agro-pastoral communities who have lived there for as long as anyone can remember. Their way of life and their identity is linked to the land and access to the Omo River.
  • South Omo: Pastoralists forced from their land
    Jun 18, 2012
    The Ethiopian government is forcibly displacing indigenous pastoral communities in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo valley without adequate consultation or compensation to make way for state-run sugar plantations and the construction of Africa's highest dam, the Gibe III hydropower project. The Lower Omo valley, one of the most remote and culturally diverse areas on the planet, is home to around 200,000 people from eight unique agro-pastoral communities who have lived there for as long as anyone can remember. Their way of life and their identity is linked to the land and access to the Omo River. Human Rights Watch reports on how government security forces are forcing communities to relocate from their traditional lands through violence and intimidation, threatening their entire way of life with no compensation or choice of alternative livelihoods. Government officials have carried out arbitrary arrests and detentions, beatings, and other violence against residents of the Lower Omo valley who questioned or resisted the development plans.
  • Color of the Ocean
    Mar 15, 2012

    A conflicted border guard and a desperate African migrant face off in Color of the Ocean, a thriller that's playing at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London. With HRW's Jude Sunderland and host Amy Costello.

  • A Heavy Price: Lead Poisoning and Gold Mining in Nigeria's Zamfara State
    Jan 31, 2012
  • Mali: Child Labor and Mercury Use in Artisanal Gold Mining
    Dec 5, 2011
    An estimated 20,000 to 40,000 children work in Mali’s artisanal (small-scale) gold mines, where they dig pits, work underground, carry, and crush ore. They also touch and inhale mercury, a highly toxic substance that is used to extract gold from the ore. Mercury attacks the central nervous system and is particularly harmful to children. Most child laborers in mines never go to school; some are as young as six years old.