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Iraq

UN: Tell US to End Illegal Detention Practices in Iraq
US-Led Force Holds Thousands Without Due Process
The United Nations Security Council should address serious concerns about the detention practices of the US-led Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF) in its debate on Iraq, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to council members. The United States invokes Security Council resolutions to justify holding thousands of Iraqis for indefinite periods, without judicial review, and under military processes that do not meet international standards.
April 28, 2008    Press Release
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Letter to the Security Council on MNF Detention Practices in Iraq
Human Rights Watch is writing in advance of your debate on Iraq and briefing on the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) and the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF). We urge you to take this occasion to address serious concerns regarding MNF detention practices, particularly respect for the rights of persons deprived of their liberty under international human rights law. As the MNF has invoked Security Council resolutions as the basis for its detention practices, we believe the Security Council must scrutinize those practices and do its utmost to assure that they conform to internationally recognized norms.
April 25, 2008    Letter
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US: Release Iraqi News Photographer
Court Ruling Ends Case Against Bilal Hussein
US forces should immediately release Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein – detained nearly two years ago – in accordance with an Iraqi judicial ruling ordering a halt to legal proceedings against him, Human Rights Watch said today.
April 11, 2008    Press Release
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Letter to the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference
Urging the Organisation to Improve and Strengthen the 1999 OIC Convention on Combating International Terrorism
Human Rights Watch writes to urge Dr. Ihsanoglu to use his position as Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to support measures at the upcoming Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference in Dakar, Senegal on March 13-14 that would improve and strengthen the 1999 OIC Convention on Combating International Terrorism. In particular, we urge the OIC to consider two amendments to the Convention in order to narrow its overbroad definition of terrorism and to make absolutely clear that there is no sanction in Islam for deliberately attacking civilians, whatever the circumstances or justifications.
March 11, 2008    Letter
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Human Rights Watch Letter to General Siham Harake
Human Rights Watch wrote a letter to General Siham Harake highlighting a few areas of concern related to the protection of Iraqis in Lebanon.
March 7, 2008    Letter
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Arab League: Reject Proposal to Restrict Satellite Broadcasts
Information Ministers’ New ‘Principles’ Would Extend Repression of Free Speech
Arab governments should publicly reject those elements of a proposed regional policy on satellite television broadcasting that would seriously restrict freedom of expression and information, Human Rights Watch said today.
February 26, 2008    Press Release
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Letter to President Talabani on the Law for the Supreme National Commission for Accountability and Justice
We are writing to the Presidency Council with regard to the Law for the Supreme National Commission for Accountability and Justice, which was approved on February 3, 2008. Having investigated and documented atrocities committed under Ba’ath Party rule, we support Iraq’s efforts to hold accountable those responsible for these crimes and bar them from public employment.
February 21, 2008    Letter
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Iraq: Fix Flaws in Reconciliation Law
Expand Fairness Guarantees, Prevent Politicized Dismissals
Iraqi political leaders should revise the new Accountability and Justice Law to assure basic guarantees of fairness, focus on individual acts rather than group affiliation, and limit the scope for politicized abuse, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Iraq’s Presidency Council. Human Rights Watch urged the council’s three leaders to follow through on their pledge to seek needed amendments to the law.
February 21, 2008    Press Release
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US: Supreme Court to Review Habeas Challenges of US Dual Citizens Held in Military Custody in Iraq
Geren v. Omar and Munaf v. Geren amicus brief
On March 25, 2008, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case of two US citizens currently detained by the US military in Iraq, and whom the US wants to turn over to Iraqi authorities for further detention and proseuction. At issue is the jurisdiction of US courts to hear challenges brought by US citizens held in US custody overseas and to intervene to protect likely transfer to torture. Human Rights Watch, along with other human rights and civil rights organizations, warn of the likelihood that these men could be subjected to torture if transferred to the Iraqis and urge the Supreme Court to allow their court challenge of the transfer to go forward.
February 20, 2008    Amicus Briefs
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Iraq: Pass New Law Ending Immunity for Contractors
Parliament Approval Key to Ending Culture of Impunity for Serious Abuses
Iraq’s parliament should approve legislation to end immunity for foreign private security contractors, Human Rights Watch said today. The legislation would effectively rescind Order 17 of the now-defunct, US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which grants foreign contractors and their non-Iraqi employees immunity from Iraqi criminal prosecution.
January 9, 2008    Press Release
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Blackwater in Baghdad: "It was a horror movie"
New testimony from witnesses and victims provides the most in-depth, harrowing account to date of the US security firm's deadly rampage in Iraq
By Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel
Published in salon.com
Interviews with victims and witnesses to the Sept. 16 shooting in Nissour Square bring to light more information about the problems caused by private contractors, which have effectively operated with impunity as they've brought violence and widespread ill will to US operations in Iraq.
December 14, 2007    Commentary
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Rot Here or Die There
By Tom Porteous, London director
Published in New Statesman Online
Together with the US, the UK government should acknowledge its responsibility toward Iraqi refugees because of its military intervention in Iraq. But until now it has not even taken elementary steps to assist Iraq’s neighbours to deal with the crisis, nor to convince them to keep their doors open to refugees whose lives are in danger in Iraq.
December 7, 2007    Commentary
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Lebanon: Refugees Coerced to Return to Iraq
Lebanese authorities arrest Iraqi refugees without valid visas and detain them indefinitely to coerce them to return to Iraq, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
December 4, 2007    Press Release
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Rot Here or Die There
Bleak Choices for Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon
This 66-page report documents the Lebanese government’s failure to provide a legal status for Iraqi refugees in Lebanon and details the impact of this policy on the refugees’ lives.

HRW Index No.: E1908
December 4, 2007    Report
Also available in  arabic 
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Rot or Die: Iraqi refugees in Lebanon
By Bill Frelick
Published in Al-Akhbar
Choosing between one terrible fate and another terrible fate is no choice at all. But it is precisely the choice Lebanon has presented to 580 Iraqi refugees, who have been told to choose between rotting in jail with no end in sight, or return to Iraq and face the possibility of death.
December 4, 2007    Commentary
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Human Rights Watch’s Statement to the IOM Council
27-30 November 2007 (94th Session)
Human Rights Watch delivered a statement at the 2007 Council meeting (94th Session) of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its Member States expressing its continued committment to working with the Council and IOM to ensure that migrants' rights are protected and promoted in all IOM operations.
November 29, 2007    Written Statement
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The Human Cost of War: The Iraqi Refugee Crisis
Testimony of Bill Frelick before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus
Bill Frelick delivered testimony at the November 15, 2007, member briefing of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. The briefing updated Caucus members on the situation of the estimated 4.4 million Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons in the region.
November 15, 2007    Testimony
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Letter to UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband
UK must do more to help Iraqi refugees
Human Rights Watch joins with partner organizations in writing to UK Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband, urging the UK Government to do much more to protect Iraqi refugees. Human Rights Watch also called on the UK Government to provide more information in regards to assistance plans for its former employees in Iraq.
November 14, 2007    Letter
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We do believe that former heads of state deserve a fair trial
Bringing their tormentors to book is an important way for victims to recover their dignity, says Reed Brody
John Laughland suggests that human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch, are more concerned about the conviction of former heads of state than about them getting fair trials. Nothing could be further from the truth.
October 25, 2007    Commentary
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Talk to Syria for the Sake of Iraqi Refugees
By Bill Frelick
Published in The Huffington Post
This week, the last door slammed shut on Iraqi refugees desperate to flee for their lives. Syria, which had kept its border open long after Jordan and other neighbors had closed theirs to all but a lucky few, has now also imposed a strict visa regime for Iraqis, and the latest reports from the border indicate that the refugee flow has stopped.
October 16, 2007    Commentary
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Overview of human rights issues in Iraq

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Investigation in Iraq, April-May 2003

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2002: Jiyan

2002: Marooned in Iraq

2000: Good Kurds, Bad Kurds: No Friends but the Mountains


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