• Bosnia: European Court Halts Syria Deportation
    Press release
    Feb 7, 2012
    The decision by the European Court of Human Rights on February 7, 2012, to block Bosnia’s deportation of a Syrian terrorism suspect highlights Bosnia’s problematic counterterrorism policy.
  • EU: Rights Abuse at Home Ignored
    Press release
    Jan 22, 2012
    The European Union and member governments proved unwilling to tackle human rights abuse at home during 2011, even as they proclaimed the issue’s importance in inspiring the Arab Spring, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2012.
  • Guantanamo’s System of Injustice
    Commentary
    Jan 19, 2012
    Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, chief prosecutor for the Office of Military Commissions, has lately appeared at bar association conferences promoting “reformed military commissions” at Guantanamo. Yet this week, behind thick bulletproof glass in a secure hangar-like courtroom at Guantanamo, I saw vast differences between the two systems.
  • US: Make Guantanamo’s 10th Anniversary Its Last
    Press release
    Jan 11, 2012
    US President Barack Obama’s signing of a bill permitting indefinite detention without trial mere days before the 10th anniversary of the first prisoners arriving at Guantanamo highlights the need for immediate, decisive action to close the detention facility.
  • Letter to President Obama: End Detention Without Trial and Close Guantanamo
    Letter
    Jan 10, 2012
    Human Rights Watch writes to President Obama on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to urge him to reaffirm his stated commitment to closing Guantanamo by prosecuting detainees in federal court and repatriating and resettling those who will not be prosecuted.
  • Guantanamo, Ten Years On
    Backgrounder Briefing
    Jan 6, 2012
    On January 11, 2002, the United States brought the first 20 prisoners to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, marking the beginning of a program of indefinite detention without charge or trial of terrorism suspects that has lasted 10 years.
  • US: End CIA Drone Attacks
    Press release
    Dec 19, 2011
    The US government should transfer Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) command of aerial drone strikes to the armed forces and clarify its legal rationale for targeted killings, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Barack Obama and in a questions and answers document. A dramatic increase in the use of CIA drone strikes underscores the need for the US to demonstrate that the CIA adheres to international legal requirements for accountability, Human Rights Watch said.
  • Q & A: US Targeted Killings and International Law
    Q & A
    Dec 19, 2011
    This Q&A focuses on legal and policy issues related to targeted killings, primarily attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles, known as drones, conducted by the US Armed Forces and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Human Rights Watch raised many of the issues addressed here in a December 2010 letter to President Obama.
  • Letter to President Obama: Targeted Killings by the US Government
    Letter
    Dec 16, 2011
    The Obama administration has taken few steps to provide greater transparency and accountability in conducting targeted killings, intensifying concerns both in the US and abroad about the lawfulness of these attacks.
  • US: Refusal to Veto Detainee Bill A Historic Tragedy for Rights
    Press release
    Dec 14, 2011
    US President Barack Obama’s apparent decision to not veto a defense spending bill that codifies indefinite detention without trial into US law and expands the military’s role in holding terrorism suspects does enormous damage to the rule of law both in the US and abroad.