• Nigeria: Death Stalking Lead-Poisoned Children
    Dec 6, 2012
    Press release
    The Nigerian government’s failure to produce promised funding to address the worst lead poisoning outbreak in modern history is leaving thousands of children to die or face lifelong disability, the Nigerian Youth Climate Action Network (NYCAN) and Human Rights Watch said today. The organizations opened a social media campaign on December 6, 2012, urging people to post comments to President Goodluck Jonathan’s official Facebook page, asking him why he has broken his promise to release funding for the cleanup of lead-contaminated areas in Zamfara State.
  • Bangladesh: Tanneries Harm Workers, Poison Communities
    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.
  • Ethiopia, Kenya: World Bank Approves Controversial Loan
    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.
  • World Bank: Power Project Threatens Indigenous Peoples
    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.
  • Rio + 20 missed an opportunity to bolster human rights
    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.
  • Mercury Treaty: Ban Mercury Use by Child Gold Miners
    Jun 24, 2012
    Press release
    Negotiations for an international treaty to limit the use of mercury should seek to protect the health rights of artisanal gold mining communities
  • Rio + 20: Outcome Document Undermined by Rights Opponents
    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.
  • Ethiopia: Pastoralists Forced off Their Land for Sugar Plantations
    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.
  • Rio + 20: Anchor Sustainable Development in Human Rights
    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.
  • 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.