Illinois General Assembly Should Support Governor Quinn's Proposal to Close Tamms Correctional Center
April 19, 2012
Referenced content (HRW): 
Illinois: Proposed Closure of Tamms Supermax a Step in the Right Direction
Annotations: 
Conditions at Tamms fail to respect the human rights of the men confined there. These conditions constitute torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and are therefor inconsistent with international human rights standards. Supermaximum security confinement such as provided at Tamms is unnecessary. States like Mississippi and Ohio have shown that reductions to their supermax populations have improved the treatment of their inmates, saved money, and have not diminished prison security.
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TAKE ACTION
  • Tamms Year Ten is a coalition of prisoners, ex-prisoners, families, attorneys and other concerned citizens who came together, after ten years of misguided and inhumane policies, to call for legislative oversight at Tamms. They organized this rally in Chicago in 2012.
    ( William DeShazer, Chicago Tribune / April 4, 2012 )
NATO Summit in Chicago: "Dereliction of Duty"
April 19, 2012
Referenced content (HRW): 
“I Had To Run Away”
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held meetings in Chicago from May 20-21. As the announced departure of US and NATO forces in 2014 draws closer, many Afghan women look to the future with fear. They worry that the troop pullout signals the end of interest in Afghanistan, and with it the international commitment to push the Afghan government to promote and protect women's rights. Stay informed about the situation in Afghanistan and help us keep women's rights at the top of the agenda.
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READ MORE
  • A prisoner covers her face while sitting outside a room that she shares with 15 other women prisoners in March 2010. Women in Afghanistan face serious barriers to obtaining custody of their children in the event of a divorce. Several women told Human Rights Watch that when they left prison they would have to choose between returning to an abusive husband with custody of their children or never seeing their children again. Most planned to return to their husbands.
    © 2010 Farzana Wahidy
Five Chicago Premiere Films Celebrate Human Spirit
April 19, 2012
Annotations: 
From May 18 through 30, the Gene Siskel Film Center collaborates with Human Rights Watch to present the 2012 Human Rights Watch Film Festival. All five films are Chicago Premieres! Discussion with filmmakers, HRW researchers, and local leaders are part of the program for one of each of two screenings for each film. For confirmed guest appearances or to purchase tickets, please visit www.siskelfilmcenter.org.
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LEARN MORE HERE
  • reportero.sergio
Fair Sentencing for Illinois Youth?
August 23, 2010
Referenced content (HRW): 
US: The Young Are Different, Justices Rule
Annotations: 
The Chicago Committee of Human Rights Watch is a member of the Illinois Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Children, a project of the Northwestern Children and Family Justice Clinic. Learn more about how you can get involved to address mandatory life sentences for youth. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the young are indeed different, but what needs to be done at the state level to address the issue?
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JOIN THE FAIR SENTENCING COALITION

  • These photos are of youth who were sentenced to life in prison without parole. Each photo was taken within one year of the time of the crime. In the majority of the United States and under federal law, people are serving sentences of life without parole for crimes committed before their eighteenth birthday.

    © 2005 Private
Voices for Justice
Human Rights Watch Annual Dinner SAVE THE DATE

Please join us in honoring Sister Conseulo Morales, a human rights defender from Mexico, for her leadership, tenacity, and courage to speak out in the face of repression. For her commitment and courage in the defense of human rights, we will honor her with our highest award, The Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism.

Tickets start at $500. Further details to follow!

» Contact Us

Jobi Petersen Cates, Director

Renée Mechanic, Coordinator

T:312-828-9100

Meet the Chicago Committee >>

The Chicago Committee, formed in 2004, is part of a network of support committees composed of opinion leaders from a variety of backgrounds in North America and Europe.

Youth Producing Change: Call for Submissions:
Human Rights Watch and Adobe Youth Voices Seek Films Made by Young People
by 
Deadline: December 10, 2009
October 29, 2009
Human Rights Watch and Adobe Youth Voices Seek Films Made by Young People
Author(s): 
Deadline: December 10, 2009

The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival in partnership with Adobe Youth Voices seeks youth-produced film, video and animated works on human rights issues made by youth ages 19 and under for its third annual YOUTH PRODUCING CHANGE program.

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Human Rights Watch galardona a cuatro activistas
Los activistas trabajan para poner fin a los abusos en Birmania, Congo, Etiopía y Rusia
October 8, 2009
Los activistas trabajan para poner fin a los abusos en Birmania, Congo, Etiopía y Rusia

(Nueva York) - Cuatro valientes e incansables defensores de los derechos humanos - de Birmania, la República Democrática del Congo, Etiopía y Rusia - han sido galardonados con el prestigioso Premio Alison Des Forges al Activismo Extraordinario, señaló hoy Human Rights Watch.

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Human Rights rend hommage à quatre défenseurs des droits humains
Les quatre lauréats du prix « Alison Des Forges Defender Award » ont œuvré pour la cessation des exactions en Birmanie, en RD Congo, en Éthiopie et en Russie
October 7, 2009
Les quatre lauréats du prix « Alison Des Forges Defender Award » ont œuvré pour la cessation des exactions en Birmanie, en RD Congo, en Éthiopie et en Russie

(New York, le 7 octobre 2009) - Quatre courageux et infatigables défenseurs des droits humains originaires de la Birmanie, de la République démocratique du Congo, de l'Éthiopie et la Russie ont été sélectionnés pour recevoir le prix Alison Des Forges Defender Award for Extraordinary Activism, une prestigieuse distinction qui récompense l'activisme extraordinaire de la défunte mi

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