In late August 2008, the Congolese army (FARDC) and the rebel group, the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), resumed heavy fighting in the most recent episode of more than a decade of war in eastern Congo. The Congolese army was sometimes aided by Congolese militia known as Mai Mai and PARECO, as well as by a Rwandan armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), some of whose leaders participated in the 1994 genocide.

As the Security Council considers adopting a resolution on arrangements for the follow-on by the United Nations of the European operation in eastern Chad and the northeastern Central African Republic, Human Rights Watch offers further concrete and practical measures that the Security Council can take now to reduce abuses and enhance the protection of civilians.

The Nepali government should urgently address the widespread torture and ill-treatment of children in police custody.

Human Rights Watch writes to commend Papua New Guinea on its recent accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Accession is an important step towards guaranteeing respect for fundamental human rights in Papua New Guinea, and we welcome your government’s actions in this regard.

All parents want their children to attend safe schools where the focus is on learning and students of all races are treated fairly. Unfortunately, after months of investigation into the use of corporal punishment in Mississippi, including interviews with dozens of parents, children and educators, we have discovered that neither is true in many of Mississippi's public schools.

In this submission to the committee, Human Rights Watch presents information on child soldiers, children in detention, sexual violence against girls, and abuses against street children in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Guinea’s new leader should put the country’s chronic human rights problems at the top of his agenda. Human Rights Watch identified impunity for unlawful killings, torture, prison conditions, child labor, and child trafficking as among the key issues requiring the Guinean government's immediate attention.