What They Say About Human Rights Watch

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

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

"constructive and non-confrontational but doesn't compromise on principles."
—Brian Whitaker, The Guardian, January 14, 2008

"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

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

"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.

"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.

" 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 These largely unconfirmed and unsubstantiated allegations and outdated information do not justify the demand for a special UN Observer Mission on Human Rights in Sri Lanka."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.

"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.

"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.

"'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.

"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.

"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

“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

"This report is highly politicised. ... This report is ridiculous, it is baseless, it depends on the propaganda and the campaigns of the rebel groups."
–Mutrif Siddig, Sudanese Senior Foreign Ministry official, responding to a Human Rights Watch report on December 12, 2005.HRW's report on Sudan

“Few outside Sudan cared or indeed noticed until Human Rights Watch issued the first of two terrible reports in April (available on www.hrw.org for readers with a strong stomach). Steve Crawshaw, its London director, told me how he had to hammer away at the doors of newspapers, television stations and government departments before he could get them to take notice—which, to their credit, a few eventually did. ”
— Nick Cohen, writing in a commentary on the crisis in Darfur for London’s Observer on May 16, 2004
HRW reports on Sudan

"Even while some of Kosovo's quasi-patriots were in business partnerships with Belgrade and elements of the Serb regime, HRW reporters were wandering in Kosovo to prove the massacres, violence and crimes of the Serb state....It is the weight of this credibility that makes HRW's report [on anti-minority violence in Kosovo in 2004] even more important, but more valuable too. Now we should make Kosovo a place [that] will not need HRW reports."
—Agron Bajrami, deputy editor of Pristina's Koha Ditore, writing on July 27, 2004.

�The reports of the New York�based Human Rights Watch (HRW) have become extremely important. On a shoestring budget and with no permanent Western experts or large office in Kabul, frequently harassed and criticized by the U.S., the UN, and the warlords, HRW has documented practically every aspect of the growing crisis in a series of detailed reports which have offered sensible recommendations. Cogent and eminently practical, these reports have gone far beyond an account of human rights abuses in the country.�
—Ahmed Rashid, writing in the New York Review of Books, February 12, 2004
HRW reports on Afghanistan

“There exists no ‘human rights issue’ in the DPRK [North Korea] as all its people form a big family and live in harmony helping and leading one another forward under the man-centred socialist system. It is quite ridiculous for such pseudo NGO organization as Human Rights Watch to display such enthusiasm and bravery in anti-DPRK smear campaign under the manipulation of the US ruling circles. This is, however, as foolish an act as trying to sweep the sea with a broom.”
— Korea Central News Agency, North Korea�s official news agency, commenting on April 5, 2003 on Human Rights Watch�s submission of a report on North Korea to the 59th session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.
HRW reports on North Korea

�The Republic of Angola cannot be held responsible for estimates about its revenues based on sources that lack credibility; [The Human Rights Watch report is] a campaign of slander based on pure fantasy and imagination.�
—Angolan Government statement about Human Rights Watch�s report on the disappearance of Angolan oil revenues from state coffers, on January 13, 2004
HRW reports on Angola

�A wonderful report. An attempt to bring rationality where emotion tends to dominate.�
—Simon Jenkins, former editor of The Times of London, speaking on BBC Radio 4: Start the Week, on January 26, 2004, about the 2004 World Report
HRW World Report 2004


�The US-based Human Rights Watch ... has deliberately slandered and maliciously attacked the human rights situation in China by means of fabrication and distortion of the facts.�
—Chinese Foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue, at a December 12, 2000 news briefing, about Human Rights Watch�s report criticizing its crackdown on members of the Falungong spiritual movement and cyber dissidents
HRW reports on China

�I have had no better crash course in the problems facing the world today than the Human Rights Watch Film Festival at London's Ritzy cinema... The Human Rights Watch Film Festival was a chance to see the best, as well as the worst, of humanity.�
—Johann Hari, The Independent, March 26, 2004

�The only organisation fighting really hard against Russian brutality in Chechnya is Human Rights Watch.�
—Oleg Gordievsky, the highest ranking KGB officer ever to work for MI6, writing in the Sunday Telegraph on November 16, 2003
HRW reports on Chechnya

�Why did I trust Africa Watch? Because it was part of Human Rights Watch. And I already knew the track record of Human Rights Watch in its work in my own country. I had every reason to believe that the organisation was equally meticulous and well-informed on Rwanda.�
Karel Kovanda, Czech ambassador to the United Nations during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, referring to Human Rights Watch�s work on Rwanda on March 31, 2004
HRW reports on Rwanda

�Rubbish born of a fevered imagination.�
—John Nagenda, adviser to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, speaking on March 28, 2004 about a Human Rights watch report on torture in Uganda


�The [Ugandan] government has, not unexpectedly, rejected the contents of the latest Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, which pin the state security apparatus of condoning, abetting and engaging in acts of torture. HRW is an American-based organisation with considerable credibility built over years of hardnosed investigations into rights abuses across the globe. Its findings cannot simply be swept under the carpet with dismissive statements.�
—Editorial in The Monitor (Kampala, Uganda) on March 31, 2004
HRW reports on Uganda