• US: Fulfill Promises to Close Guantanamo
    Apr 30, 2013
    Press release
    US President Barack Obama should move swiftly to fulfill newly repeated promises to end indefinite detention without trial at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
  • Guantanamo Bay and Indefinite Detention - Hunger Strike Continues
    Apr 25, 2013
    Press release
    More prisoners have joined a hunger strike at the US-run detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, bringing the reported total to 93 out of 166 held at the facility.
  • US: Ban Fully Autonomous Weapons
    Apr 16, 2013
    Press release
    Temporary US restrictions on lethal fully autonomous weapons should be strengthened and made permanent.
  • US: Bipartisan Study Shows Need to Investigate Torture
    Apr 16, 2013
    Press release
    A bipartisan study finding “indisputable” evidence of torture for which the highest United States officials bear responsibility should spur the US government to thoroughly investigate detainee abuse since September 11, 2001, and provide redress to victims.
  • US: Move Drone Strike Program to Military
    Mar 21, 2013
    Press release
    A reported plan to transfer the United States targeted killing program from the Central Intelligence Agency to the Defense Department could improve transparency and accountability, though a number of other concerns with the program would remain.
  • US: Obama Should Press Mideast Leaders on Abuses
    Mar 21, 2013
    Press release
    US President Barack Obama should press Israeli and Palestinian leaders to tackle persistent human rights abuses during his visit to the region. Obama is visiting the Middle East from March 20 to 22, 2013.
  • US: NY Trial Right for Bin Laden In-Law
    Mar 8, 2013
    Press release
    The Obama administration’s decision to try an alleged al Qaeda figure in federal court rather than before a military commission at Guantanamo best serves the interests of justice. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden who had been an al Qaeda spokesman, was indicted on a criminal charge of conspiracy to kill United States citizens. He appeared in US District Court in Manhattan on March 8, 2013, and pleaded not guilty.
  • United States: The Time has Come to Ban Landmines
    Mar 1, 2013
    Press release
    The Obama administration, which is poised to make a decision on future US policy on landmines, should at long last embrace the ban on antipersonnel landmines.
  • US: Injustices Filling the Prisons
    Jan 31, 2013
    Press release
    The enormous prison population in the United States partly reflects harsh sentencing practices contrary to international law, Human Rights Watch said in the US chapter of its World Report 2013.
  • US: Zero Dark Thirty and the Truth About Torture
    Jan 11, 2013
    Press release
    The movie Zero Dark Thirty, which depicts the hunt for Osama bin Laden, wrongly suggests that torture was an ugly but useful tactic in the fight against terrorism.