• Nov 21, 2012
    Press release
    Military prosecutors should immediately refer to the civilian judiciary 25 civilians arrested on November 18, 2012, during an attempted forced eviction by the military police that left one of the inhabitants dead. Civilian prosecutors should investigate the excessive use of force by the military police, in particular the lethal shooting, and prosecute any members of the military responsible for unlawful use of force.
  • Oct 8, 2012
    Press release
    Workers in many leather tanneries in the Hazaribagh neighborhood of Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital, including children as young as 11, become ill because of exposure to hazardous chemicals and are injured in horrific workplace accidents, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The tanneries, which export hundreds of millions of dollars in leather for luxury goods throughout the world, spew pollutants into surrounding communities.
  • Jul 12, 2012
    Press release
    The World Bank undermined the rights of indigenous peoples and the environment with its approval on July 12, 2012, of a US$684 million loan. The loan is for a 1000-kilometer transmission line that would supply power to Kenya from Ethiopia’s controversial Gibe III dam.
  • Jul 11, 2012
    Press release
    Iran’s judiciary should immediately quash execution orders against five activists from Iran’s ethnic Arab minority and allow the men’s lawyers and family members to visit them in detention. Human Rights Watch expressed grave concern for the safety of these and other Iranian-Arab detainees following reports on June 17, 2012 that authorities had executed four Arab men charged with terrorism-related activities.
  • Jul 11, 2012
    Press release
    The World Bank should ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples and the environment are rigorously protected before funding a power transmission line connecting Kenya to a controversial dam in Ethiopia. The World Bank’s board of directors is scheduled to meet on July 12, 2012 to consider the project.
  • Jun 27, 2012
    Press release
    Development initiatives without a clear commitment to non-discrimination and addressing the needs of marginalised and vulnerable communities are wrong in that they violate human rights. But they can also drive injustice, poverty and conflict, and are ultimately unsustainable.
  • Jun 22, 2012
    Press release
    Global economic troubles are being matched by a recession in human rights with worryingly minimal commitments coming out of the United Nations Rio+20 conference on Sustainable Development, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Center for International Environment Law (CIEL) said at the close of the conference.
  • Jun 18, 2012
    Press release
    The Ethiopian government is forcibly displacing indigenous pastoral communities in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo valley without adequate consultation or compensation to make way for state-run sugar plantations. The report contains previously unpublished government maps that show the extensive developments planned for the Omo valley, including irrigation canals, sugar processing factories, and 100,000 hectares of other commercial agriculture.
  • Jun 12, 2012
    Press release
    World leaders have a once in a generation chance to create a meaningful link between sustainable development and human rights, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a joint statement targeting Environment and Foreign Affairs ministers gathering in Rio.
  • Apr 16, 2012
    Press release
    The Hungarian government should revoke a new national law that makes it a crime to be homeless.