• A member of the Free Media Association shouts slogans in front of an image of missing cartoonist and columnist Prageeth Eknaligoda during a protest in Colombo June 8, 2011. The protest was held to mark 500 days since the disappearance of Eknaligoda, a pro-opposition journalist who worked for Lanka-e-News, a private-owned independent website that was critical of the government. The placard reads "500 days since Prageeth's disappearance."
    © 2011 Reuters
    Sri Lanka: No Progress on Justice

    The Sri Lankan government in the past year failed to advance justice and accountability for the victims of the country’s 26-year-long civil conflict .

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  • The Need for a United Nations Commission of Inquiry into Wartime Abuses in Sri Lanka

    Serious abuses by both government and LTTE forces, which may have amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity, escalated in the last five months of the quarter-century-long armed conflict in Sri Lanka that ended in May 2009. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed and injured. Shortly after the war, President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that he would address accountability for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. Since then, however, the Sri Lankan authorities have failed to undertake genuine measures to provide justice and accountability for wartime abuses. Instead of investigating credible allegations, high-ranking government officials have repeatedly denied that government forces committed any violations, or even that their forces were responsible for any civilian casualties at all. 

    A panel of experts tasked with advising Ban on next steps for accountability in Sri Lanka handed over its report to the secretary-general on April 12, 2011. Human Rights Watch calls on the UN to establish an international investigation into allegations of wartime-abuses by both parties to the conflict.

Reports

Asia

  • Testimony of Ali Dayan Hasan before the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs regarding Human Rights in Balochistan
    Feb 8, 2012
    Balochistan, Pakistan’s western-most province, borders eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan.
  • UN: Russia, China Vetoes Betray Syrian People
    Feb 4, 2012
    Vetoes by Russia and China of the UN Security Council resolution on Syria are a betrayal of the Syrian people, Human Rights Watch said today. A resolution urging the Syrian government to end all human rights violations and cooperate with the UN commission of inquiry and the Arab League observer mission was approved by 13 council members, including India, South Africa, and Pakistan, before being vetoed.
  • Interview with Ali Dayan Hasan
    Feb 3, 2012

    2011 was a particularly bad year even by Pakistan's standards and saw a spike in abuses and expanding impunity for abusers. 

  • The Forbidden Citizen
    Feb 2, 2012
    It's only been a month, and 2012 is already looking bleak for the notion that peaceful criticism can exist within China.
  • Sri Lanka: UN Must Act at Next Human Rights Council Session
    Feb 2, 2012
    The United Nations Human Rights Council should address the lack of accountability for wartime abuses in Sri Lanka during its March 2012 session.
  • Kevin Rudd must up the ante on Sri Lanka
    Feb 2, 2012

    As nations such as Canada and Britain weigh in on accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka, it's time for Australia to add its voice.

  • Letter on Sri Lanka to Permanent Representatives of Human Rights Council Member and Observer States
    Feb 2, 2012

    We write to urge your delegation to work with other member and observer states of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) to bring the issue of accountability for wartime abuses in Sri Lanka onto the agenda of the Council during its March 2012 session.  

  • Philippines: Arrest Ex-General Accused of ‘Disappearances’
    Jan 31, 2012

    Philippine President Benigno Aquino III should order the armed forces to cooperate with civilian authorities in arresting retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan and others charged with the enforced disappearance of two activists in 2006.

  • We Told the Children Not to Enter
    Jan 31, 2012

    The Philippine government is engaged in a long-running armed conflict with the insurgent New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. While the NPA maintains a presence in the mountains of northern Luzon, there has only been limited military action in the Cordillera region since the 1990s. Despite the low levels of conflict, the military continues to place troops and guns in local communities. And in some cases these troops and their guns establish a home on school grounds.

  • India: Prosecute Security Forces for Torture
    Jan 30, 2012

    The Indian government should prosecute members of the security forces for recent high-profile cases of torture, to send a message that such practices will no longer be tolerated.

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