• US: Release Report that Addresses CIA Torture
    Dec 13, 2012
    Press release
    The US Senate intelligence committee’s long-awaited review of the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret detention and interrogation program after September 11, 2001 should promptly be declassified and released.
  • US: Senate Misses Opportunity on Disability Convention
    Dec 4, 2012
    Press release
    The United States missed an opportunity to display global leadership on disability rights on December 4, 2012, as the Senate failed to approve ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
  • US: Prison Officials Thwart Compassionate Release
    Nov 30, 2012
    Press release
    The Federal Bureau of Prisons blocks all but a few federal prisoners from compassionate release, Human Rights Watch and Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) said in a report released today. The 128-page report is the first comprehensive examination of how compassionate release in the federal system works.
  • US/New York: Few Arrested for Pot Become Violent Criminals
    Nov 23, 2012
    Press release
    Few of those who enter New York City’s criminal justice system as a result of marijuana possession arrests become dangerous criminals
  • Thailand: Obama Should Press Yingluck on Rights
    Nov 15, 2012
    Press release
    US President Barack Obama should publicly raise concerns about Thailand’s human rights record during meetings with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in Bangkok on November 18, 2012.
  • Cambodia: Hun Sen Promoting, Rewarding Killers
    Nov 13, 2012
    Press release
    (New York) – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s violent and authoritarian rule over more than two decades has resulted in countless killings and other serious abuses that have gone unpunished, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. President Barack Obama should use his November trip to Cambodia, the first ever by a United States president, to publicly demand systematic reforms and an end to impunity for abusive officials.
  • US: State Votes a Global Victory for Gay Rights
    Nov 7, 2012
    Press release
    The successful ballot initiatives on same-sex marriage in Maine, Maryland, and Washington State on November 6, 2012, were major victories for gay rights both in the United States and globally.
  • US/California: ‘Three-Strikes’ Vote a Humane Step
    Nov 7, 2012
    Press release
    Voters’ approval of Proposition 36, which limits the reach of California’s “three-strikes” statute, is an important step toward a more humane sentencing system in the state.
  • US/California: Continue Effort to Halt Death Penalty
    Nov 7, 2012
    Press release
    California voters’ failure to abolish the death penalty perpetuates a barbaric practice and places the state out of step with national trends
  • EU/US: Press Rights Issues on Balkans Visit
    Oct 29, 2012
    Press release
    United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton should emphasize the importance of improving human rights records in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Serbia and Kosovo during their Western Balkan tour.