"Human Rights Watch is to be commended. It does not have one standard for Israel and another for Hamas, Hezbollah or the other despotic regimes of the Arab world."
- Richard Cohen, Op-Ed columnist, The Washington Post, April 29, 2009.
(Commenting on the report, Under Cover of War: Hamas Political Violence in Gaza)
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"The government of Guinea refuses to bow to the blackmail of NGOs that are trying to establish contacts with the government to set up hidden contracts to try to clean up their image, as is the case with the famous Human Rights Watch, whose agents have spent years pulling from their sleeves information that lacks all transparency and objectivity. So some agents of this organization have spent years trying to get the government of Guinea to buy its services in exchange for ending this disinformation campaign. The government of Guinea is not for sale. Human Ritch Wath [sic] start cleaning your house because of the financial setbacks of the global crisis provoked by your financial and business institutions."
- Miguel Oyono, head of the information office at the presidential office, The New York Times, July 9, 2009.
(In response to the report, Well Oiled: Oil and Human Rights in Equatorial Guinea)
"American organizations, including HRW, have no credibility. Let them go check the violations undertaken by the previous administration from Guantanamo to the flying prisons to the violations of human rights in Gaza before they talk about other countries."
- Syrian cabinet minister, The Washington Post, February 25, 2009.
(The Post reporter noted: "Human Rights Watch has issued numerous reports, statements and letters on those subjects.")
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Asked by the Associated Press whether Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch would be allowed to enter Zimbabwe, he said: "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Let them keep out."
- Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, The Independent, September 26, 2008
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Following the expulsion of two Human Rights Watch staff from Venezuela:
"El Gobierno ha hecho lo que tenía que hacer, informar a estas personas que han violado gravemente la constitucionalidad del país que no vamos a soportar, ni vamos a tolerar que venga ningún extranjero a tratar de mancillar la dignidad de nuestra República, la dignidad de nuestro pueblo y de nuestras instituciones"
- Nicolás Maduro, September 19, 2008
Translation: "The Government [of Venezuela] has done what it had to do, informed these people that they gravely violated the constitutionality of the country, which we're not going to put up with, nor will we tolerate if any foreigner comes to try and sully the dignity of our Republic, the dignity of our people and our institutions."
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Ingushetia's government-appointed human rights ombudsman called the work of Human Rights Watch and other rights groups "fascist," adding that the Human Rights Watch report was "meant to destabilize the situation." The report documents human rights abuses committed by law enforcement and security forces in Ingushetia.
-Kerim-Sultan A. Kokurkhaev, The New York Times, June 26, 2008
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"Human Rights Watch regularly produces fabricated information that fails to reflect the real situation in Vietnam. We totally reject the wrongful remarks by Human Rights Watch in its press release on March 9, 2007."
-Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Dung, Nhan Dan, May 27, 2008.
Human Rights Watch urged Malaysia to eradicate bias from the electoral process. Malaysian Law Minister denied the allegations, accusing Human Rights Watch of trying to discredit the elections because "they know the National Front will win."
-Malaysian Law Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz, The Boston Globe, March 5, 2008
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"constructive and non-confrontational but doesn't compromise on principles."
-Brian Whitaker, The Guardian, January 14, 2008
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"There's more hard-hitting journalism going on in its offices than in most of the bigger newsrooms in this country."
-Ward Harkavy, The Village Voice, October 18, 2006
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A government spokesperson from Burma denied the report at a press conference yesterday, calling it "baseless information and exaggerated lies."
-Information Deputy Director Ye Htut, AHN Media Corporation October 31, 2007
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"First of all, anyone that is arguing that somehow, a very independent organization like Human Rights Watch is somehow doing the United States' bidding need look no further than most of the reactions we've had to some of their other comments. They are an independent organization, they set their own agenda, and they operate on their own. "
- Tom Casey, Deputy Spokesman, State Department Press Briefing, repsonding to a question about the report, "Civilians under Assault: Hezbollah's Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War". August 29, 2007.
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"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it found the latest report by Human Rights Watch on Somalia factually and morally unacceptable. The statement by the Ministry of Information said Human Rights Watch was preparing as part of a campaign to victimizing Ethiopia with one sided and falsified information."
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia as published in The Ethiopian News Agency. August 14, 2007.
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" The report of the Human Rights Watch entitled "Return to War - Human Rights under Siege" is largely tendentious, and is replete with generalizations. It refers to issues that have been largely resolved. These largely unconfirmed and unsubstantiated allegations and outdated information do not justify the demand for a special UN Observer Mission on Human Rights in Sri Lanka."
- the Presidential Secretariat. August 7, 2007.
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"Human Rights Watch regularly produces fabricated information that fails to reflect the real situation in Vietnam. We totally reject the wrongful remarks by Human Rights Watch in its press release on March 9, 2007," said .
-Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Dung, Nhan Dan . March 23, 2007.
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"The [Sri Lankan] government has repeatedly denied having any part in the Karuna group's activities. It reiterated its position Tuesday, calling the Human Rights Watch report 'baseless and very vile.'"
- Sri Lankan government spokesperson, International Herald Tribune. January 24, 2007.
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"'Regretfully, in spite of their observations, their eyesight has always had problems,' a ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said. 'Maybe they are wearing tinted glasses, or only squinting.'"
- Liu Jianchao, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, responding to the World Report 2007, International Herald Tribune. January 12, 2007.
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"Now for the top story tonight, reaction from Human Rights Watch. With us now, Kenneth Roth, the executive director of that group and a stand up guy--who always comes in to debate the issues."
-Bill O'Reilly, of "The O'Reilly Factor" on the FOX News Channel, interviewing Kenneth Roth (read transcript). November 17, 2004.
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"The accusation by Human Rights Watch is a fabrication and is somewhat akin to a fish completely out of water."
-Nguyen Dinh Thiet, director of the Children's Department of the National Committee for Population, Family and Children, responding to a Human Rights Watch report that street children in Hanoi are arbitrarily rounded up and sent to abusive detention centers. Cited in VietNamNet Bridge, November 16, 2006.
"I have to admit being a bit confused when I was told about the presentation of the new 'Human Rights Swatch'. I thought people were talking about that admirable NGO we all know -- and which played a significant part in the effort to bring about the creation of the Human Rights Council. I'm obviously referring to Human Rights Watch."
- Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, speaking in Geneva Switzerland June 19, 2006 HRW reports on the Human Rights Council
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"In Latin America today, Human Rights Watch is in many circumstances more powerful than the Pentagon, though the Pentagon has regained some relevance in recent times. These are the facts of life, although rarely stated this way."
- Abraham F. Lowenthal, Professor of International Relations, USC, and President Emeritus, Pacific Council on International Policy, speaking at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), Santiago, Chile, May 23, 2006 HRW reports on the Americas