• Aug 14, 2012
    Press release
    Abbé Benoît Kinalegu from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Salah Marghani from Libya have been selected as recipients of the prestigious Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism. Recipients of this award are leading voices for justice in their countries, working relentlessly to protect the rights and dignity of others.
  • Aug 6, 2012
    Press release
    Mexico’s Supreme Court has a momentous opportunity to reform the military justice system and eliminate one of the greatest sources of impunity for grave human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today.
  • Nov 9, 2011
    Press release
    Mexico’s military and police have committed widespread human rights violations in efforts to combat organized crime, virtually none of which are being adequately investigated. The 212-page report “Neither Rights Nor Security: Killings, Torture, and Disappearances in Mexico’s ‘War on Drugs,’” examines the human rights consequences of President Felipe Calderón’s approach to confronting Mexico’s powerful drug cartels.
  • Aug 8, 2011
    Press release
    Seven courageous and tireless advocates for human rights will be honored in November 2011 with the prestigious Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism.
  • Jul 6, 2011
    Press release
    A ruling on July 6, 2011, by Mexico’s Supreme Court should bring reform of Mexico’s flawed military justice system and accountability for soldiers accused of human rights violations closer. The court ruled that Mexico’s courts are obligated to comply with an Inter-American Court judgment in an enforced disappearance case and that its jurisprudence should be taken into account by Mexico’s judges.
  • Apr 4, 2011
    Press release
    Mexico’s federal authorities should immediately take over the investigation into the possible enforced disappearance by municipal police of four civilians in Ciudad Juarez. In addition, authorities in Baja California should ensure a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into credible accusations of torture by Julian Leyzaola, now the police chief in Ciudad Juarez.
  • Mar 2, 2011
    Press release
    President Obama should make human rights concerns a central component of discussions about Mexico's public security crisis when he meets with President Felipe Calderón on March 3, 2011.
  • Feb 23, 2011
    Press release
    Federal and state authorities should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into a series of attacks on human rights defenders and their families in the state of Chihuahua. The attacks point up the need for a federal system to protect human rights defenders and the importance of incorporating nongovernmental organizations in designing the program.
  • Feb 3, 2011
    Press release
    In a recent fact-finding mission to Nuevo Leon, Human Rights Watch investigated eight killings during 2010 that evidence indicates were the result of unlawful use of lethal force by Army and Navy officers. Human Rights Watch also documented more than a dozen enforced disappearances in which the evidence points to the involvement of the Army, Navy, and police. Federal and state prosecutors should take immediate steps to prosecute those responsible.
  • Dec 21, 2010
    Press release
    A judgment by the Inter-American Court on December 20, 2010, underscores Mexico’s obligation to stop using the military justice system for human rights abuses by the military. It also shows that President Felipe Calderon’s proposed reform of the military justice system, which would only subject three types of abuses by military personnel to civilian jurisdiction, is inadequate.