• Haiti: Duvalier Ruling Disappoints Justice
    Press release
    Jan 31, 2012
    A Haitian judge’s decision to dismiss the case against former president-for-life Jean-Claude Duvalier for grave human rights violations ignores Haiti’s international obligation to prosecute such crimes.
  • Yemen: Governments Should Oppose Saleh’s Immunity
    Press release
    Jan 29, 2012
    Yemeni President Ali Abudllah Saleh’s arrival in the United States for medical treatment highlights the need for international action to serve justice for serious crimes in Yemen.
  • Hold Yemen Officials Who Sanctioned Civilian Attacks Accountable
    Commentary
    Jan 28, 2012

    During an artillery barrage last Nov. 11, Yemeni security forces killed 13 civilians in the city of Taizz. One of them was a patient at al-Rawdha Hospital, which mortar rounds and tank fire struck seven times as the wounded poured in for emergency care.

  • No Joy in Egypt
    Commentary
    Jan 25, 2012

    As Egypt marks the first anniversary of the Jan. 25 civilian revolt that eventually toppled the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, there's no agreement – on how to celebrate or even whether rejoicing is in order.

  • Kenya: ICC Judges OK Election Violence Trials
    Press release
    Jan 23, 2012

    The decision on January 23, 2012 of an International Criminal Court (ICC) pre-trial chamber to send cases to trial against four Kenyans opens the door to justice for victims of Kenya’s 2007-2008 election violence. Kenya’s authorities should take all reasonable steps to ensure that the decision does not lead to violence, and to stop violence if it does break out, given that people thought to have been cooperating with the ICC investigations have been threatened.

  • Yemen: Amnesty for Saleh and Aides Unlawful
    Press release
    Jan 23, 2012

    A new law granting amnesty to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his aides violates Yemen’s international legal obligations, Human Rights Watch said today. The sweeping law provides domestic immunity from criminal prosecution for serious international crimes such as the deadly attacks on peaceful demonstrators in 2011.

  • Libya: Q&A on the ICC and Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
    Q & A
    Jan 23, 2012
  • Uganda: War Crimes Trials Face Challenges
    Press release
    Jan 15, 2012

    Legal and organizational issues that have emerged during Uganda’s first war crimes prosecution pose challenges for Uganda in seeking to ensure justice for victims of the most serious crimes. Uganda’s early experience may provide relevant information to other countries seeking to hold domestic trials for serious crimes committed in violation of international law – genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

     

  • Syria: Army Shoots Protesters Attempting to Reach Observers
    Press release
    Jan 11, 2012

    The Arab League should urgently condemn the Syrian security forces for shooting peaceful protesters who were attempting to reach its observers in the northern city of Jisr al-Shughur, Human Rights Watch said today. In light of these and other blatant violations of the agreement it brokered with the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, the Arab League should report publicly on its findings and assess whether its mission should continue. 

  • Justice in Côte d’Ivoire
    Impact
    Jan 11, 2012
    Late in the afternoon on November 29, former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo was removed from his prison cell in the dusty northern town of Korhogo and served with an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He was then put aboard a plane to The Hague, where he now faces four counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, and persecution.