• US: New Prison Rape Standards Offer Landmark Protection
    May 17, 2012
    Press release
    The long awaited national prison rape elimination standards issued on May 17, 2012 by the Justice Department, if fully implemented, may end widespread prison rape in the United States. The standards provide detailed guidance to federal, state, and local officials on how to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse in their confinement facilities.
  • DR Congo: Bosco Ntaganda Recruits Children by Force
    May 15, 2012
    Press release
    Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, who mutinied against the Democratic Republic of Congo in early April 2012, has forcibly recruited at least 149 boys and young men into his forces since April 19. Ntaganda, a former rebel leader turned army general, is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes for previous recruitment and use of child soldiers.
  • Nigeria: Show Commitment on Child Lead Poisoning
    May 6, 2012
    Press release
    High-level Nigerian government participation is needed at an upcoming international conference to make progress in ending a lead poisoning epidemic among children in Zamfara State, Human Rights Watch said today.
  • Uruguay: First to Ratify Domestic Workers Convention
    May 1, 2012
    Press release
    Uruguay’s move to be the first country to ratify the international Domestic Workers Convention brings long overdue protections closer to reality for millions of women and girls worldwide, Human Rights Watch said today. The treaty, which extends core labor rights to an estimated 50 to 100 million domestic workers, will come into legal force when it is ratified by two countries.
  • 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.
  • DR Congo: Arrest Bosco Ntaganda for ICC Trial
    Apr 13, 2012
    Press release
    President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo should immediately order the arrest of Gen. Bosco Ntaganda and promptly transfer him to The Hague for a fair trial. Ntaganda is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes.  
  • 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.
  • Egypt: Children on Trial
    Mar 27, 2012
    Press release
    Egypt’s military courts have investigated or tried at least 43 children over the past year,including the pending trial of 16-year-old Ahmed Hamdy Abdel Aziz in connection with the Port Said football riots.
  • Nigeria: Boko Haram Targeting Schools
    Mar 7, 2012
    Press release
    The militant Islamist group Boko Haram has set more than a dozen schools on fire in northern Nigeria. Since the beginning of 2012, suspected Boko Haram members have attacked, damaged, and, in a few cases, destroyed at least 12 schools in and around Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, temporarily leaving several thousand children without access to education.