• 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.
  • 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.

  • Why are people disappearing in China?
    Commentary
    Sep 22, 2011

    Foreign countries should resist China's efforts to make them complicit in the abuse of human rights.  

  • UN: A Move to Support Rights-Respecting Businesses
    Written statement
    Jul 11, 2011

    Candidates for a UN Human Rights Council working group to develop human rights standards for transnational corporations and other businesses should have substantial human rights expertise and meet high standards for impartiality and integrity. A coalition of civil society groups including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, and Rights & Accountability in Development proposed guidelines to the Human Rights Council to help in its selection of the expert panel.

  • UN Human Rights Council: Weak Stance on Business Standards
    Press release
    Jun 16, 2011
    The UN Human Rights Council squandered an opportunity to take meaningful action to curtail business-related human rights abuses. The council, on June 16, 2011, endorsed a set of "Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights" and announced the formation of a working group and an annual meeting of business, government, and civil society representatives focused on disseminating and discussing those principles.
  • Letter to Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and CEO of Facebook, Regarding Human Rights Considerations Before Entering China Market
    Letter
    Jun 3, 2011
    In a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and chief executive officer, on May 10, 2011, Human Rights Watch warns the company that it could become complicit in government censorship and efforts both to stifle online organizing and obtain the personal information of cyberactivists or online critics of the Chinese government.
  • Facebook: Safeguard Users Before Entering China Market
    Press release
    Jun 2, 2011
    Facebook risks abetting Chinese government abuses unless it creates human rights safeguards before entering that market. Facebook should say publicly how it plans to protect users from surveillance and censorship by the Chinese government, which is in the midst of a crackdown on dissent.
  • The Sky Is the Limit for People with Disabilities
    Commentary
    Mar 3, 2011
    The US Department of Transportation received 17,068 disability-related complaints against airline carriers in 2009. The safety and dignity of people with disabilities should not be sacrificed in the name of convenience at the security line, or because of negligence and indifference.
  • Responsible Mining: Companies Can't Go it Alone
    Commentary
    Feb 10, 2011

    Human Rights Watch recently released a report that details brutal gang rapes and other abuses allegedly carried out by employees of Barrick Gold in Papua New Guinea. Barrick, a Canadian firm, is the world's largest gold producer and Porgera is one of the world's largest gold mines. Now the company is scrambling to put things right, investing in new mechanisms for oversight and accountability and firing some of its private security personnel while others are being hauled away by the police.

  • Papua New Guinea: Serious Abuses at Barrick Gold Mine
    Press release
    Feb 1, 2011
    Private security personnel employed at a gold mine in Papua New Guinea have been implicated in alleged gang rapes and other violent abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Porgera mine has produced billions of dollars of gold in its twenty years of operation, and  is operated and 95 percent owned by Barrick Gold, a Canadian company that is the world's largest gold producer.