• Nigeria: Child Lead Poisoning Crisis
    Press release
    Feb 7, 2012
    Thousands of children in northern Nigeria need immediate medical treatment and dozens of villages remain contaminated two years into the worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history, Human Rights Watch said today while releasing a video on the issue. Four hundred children have died, according to official estimates, yet environmental cleanup efforts have not even begun in numerous affected villages.
  • Israel: High Court Rulings Undermine Human Rights
    Press release
    Jan 30, 2012

    Recent decisions by Israel’s high court aim to legitimize clear violations of Israel’s international legal obligations. In one decision, the court disregarded international law prohibiting discrimination, and in another, it ignored international law on the use of resources in an occupied territory. Israel should annul a law preventing Israeli citizens from living with their Palestinian spouses and end policies that permit private Israeli companies to strip rocks and other construction materials from quarries in the occupied West Bank for their own economic gain.

  • Angola: End Silence on Missing Funds
    Press release
    Jan 17, 2012

    The government of Angola should publicly disclose its efforts to trace tens of billions of dollars in missing public funds apparently connected to the state oil company, Sonangol, Human Rights Watch in an open letter to the country’s finance minister. In December 2011, the International Monetary Fund reported that there was an unexplained US$32 billion discrepancy in the Angolan government’s accounts from 2007 through 2010.

  • Letter to the Angolan Minister of Finance
    Letter
    Jan 17, 2012

    The government of Angola should publicly disclose its efforts to trace tens of billions of dollars in missing public funds apparently connected to the state oil company, Sonangol. In December 2011, the International Monetary Fund reported that there was an unexplained US$32 billion discrepancy in the Angolan government’s accounts from 2007 through 2010.

  • Equatorial Guinea: Soccer Co-Host Violates Rights
    Press release
    Jan 13, 2012

    The government of Equatorial Guinea, which is co-hosting the Africa Cup of Nations later in January 2012, cracks down on political opponents, intimidates journalists, and disregards due process. Some visiting journalists who have tried to report on Equatorial Guinea over the past year have been detained, interrogated, censored, and deported.

  • Gold’s image tarnished by child labour in mines
    Commentary
    Dec 22, 2011
    There has been a lot of debate about corporate social responsibility. But most gold traders I interviewed showed no concern about the use of child labour.
  • Angola: Explain Missing Government Funds
    Press release
    Dec 20, 2011

    The government of Angola should promptly provide a full public accounting for US$32 billion in missing government funds thought to be linked to the state oil company. A December 2011 report by the International Monetary Fund revealed that the government funds were spent or transferred from 2007 through 2010 without being properly documented in the budget. The sum is equivalent to one-quarter of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

  • Moving from Guidance to Compliance
    Written statement
    Dec 8, 2011

    In response to the United Nations Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises’ public invitation for input, Human Rights Watch submitted four recommendations to advance their work on business and human rights.

  • Mali: Artisanal Mines Produce Gold With Child Labor
    Press release
    Dec 6, 2011
    At least 20,000 children work in Malian artisanal gold mines under extremely harsh and dangerous conditions, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Malian government and international donors should take action to end child labor in artisanal mines, Human Rights Watch said. Artisanal miners rely on low-tech methods and often organize informally.
  • Cambodia: Cut Draft Provision Allowing Prison Labor
    Press release
    Nov 28, 2011

    The Cambodian government should urge the Senate to strike a provision of the draft Law on Prisons that would permit prison labor to be used for producing goods for private firms.