• US: Labor Department Abandons Child Farmworkers
    Apr 27, 2012
    Press release
    The US Labor Department's withdrawal of proposed rules to shield hired child farmworkers from the most dangerous tasks condemns children to be killed and maimed, Human Rights Watch said today. The proposed regulations would have updated for the first time in decades the list of tasks too dangerous for employed children under age 16. The regulations would not have applied to children working on family farms. The Labor Department withdrew the proposal on April 26, 2012.
  • US: Senate Vote on Violence Against Women Act a Victory
    Apr 26, 2012
    Press release
    The US House of Representatives should move quickly to renew the Violence against Women Act (VAWA), Human Rights Watch said today. The US Senate, in a bipartisan vote on April 26, 2012, passed the bill, the primary federal law providing legal protection and services to counter domestic and sexual violence and stalking.
  • Uzbekistan: End Forced, Child Labor in Cotton Fields
    Apr 25, 2012
    Press release
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should urge the Uzbek government to take immediate steps to end forced labor, including the state-sponsored mobilization of children, in the cotton sector, a coalition of nongovernmental organizations said today in a letter to Clinton.
  • US: Transfer CIA Drone Strikes to Military
    Apr 20, 2012
    Press release
    Remarks by a US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official suggesting the agency is not legally bound by the laws of war underscore the urgent need for the Obama administration to transfer command of all aerial drone strikes to the armed forces.
  • US: Investigate Ethics in China Drug Study
    Apr 18, 2012
    Press release
    A study about heroin cravings partially funded by a US agency and conducted in two Chinese drug rehabilitation centers raises serious questions about research ethics, Human Rights Watch said today. The research on memory retrieval and extinction in rats and Chinese drug users was published in an article in Science on April 13, 2012.
  • US: Momentum Against the Death Penalty
    Apr 12, 2012
    Press release
    Connecticut is poised to become the fifth US state in five years to abolish capital punishment, a clear sign that the momentum against the death penalty is gaining force.
  • Alabama: Repeal Unjust Immigrant Law
    Apr 10, 2012
    Press release
    A bill before the Alabama legislature to amend the state’s law restricting immigrant rights does little to remedy the severe harm caused by the law. The Alabama House of Representatives Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security will hold a public hearing on the amendments, contained in House Bill (HB) 658, on April 11, 2012.
  • US: Follow Up Rebuke to Syria on Landmines
    Apr 4, 2012
    Press release
    The United States should act on its recent condemnation of Syria’s use of antipersonnel landmines by joining the international ban on these weapons.
  • US Supreme Court: Take Into Account Prison Hardships for Youth
    Mar 29, 2012
    Press release
    The US Supreme Court, in its deliberations on the cases Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs, should consider the harsh conditions juvenile offenders face in adult prisons. On March 20, 2012, the US Supreme Court held oral arguments in the cases, which question the constitutionality of sentencing youth below the age of 18 to life without parole.
  • US: Implement Farm Safety Rules for Children
    Mar 27, 2012
    Press release
    Legislation introduced in the US Congress in March 2012 to block proposed safety rules for child farmworkers will endanger children who work on farms. The Child Labor Coalition (CLC) called on the US Department of Labor (DOL) to implement immediately its proposed updates to safety rules listing dangerous agricultural tasks that are off limits to hired child farmworkers.