• 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
  • 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: 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
  • 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: Teens in Solitary Confinement
    Oct 10, 2012
    Press release
    Young people are held in solitary confinement in jails and prisons across the United States, often for weeks or months at a time.
  • US/California: Governor Should Protect Immigrant Crime Victims
    Oct 1, 2012
    Press release
    A bill known as the Trust Act that California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed on September 30, 2012, would have encouraged immigrants to report crimes and seek redress.
  • US/California: New Hope for Youth Offenders
    Sep 30, 2012
    Press release
    The law on youth sentencing signed by Governor Jerry Brown of California on September 30, 2012, provides hope for nearly 300 youth offenders sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Human Rights Watch said today. The new law, Senate Bill 9, will allow people who were under age 18 at the time of their crime to ask the sentencing court to review their case and consider a new sentence permitting parole after serving 25 years in prison.