• Barack Obama: Dump These 8 Unsavory Allies
    Commentary
    Jan 2, 2013
    If Obama wants to bolster his legacy in his second term, he can and should get tough on some of the United States' most unsavory friends and allies. Here are eight leaders to start with.
  • Long road ahead for Afghan women
    Commentary
    Dec 21, 2012

     

    The murders of Sediqi and Safi are more than just a measure of Afghanistan’s ongoing slide toward lawlessness and violence that is likely to accelerate as the international community draws down its support in concert with the departure of international combat troops by the end of 2014. They are also highly symbolic attacks on the tentative progress toward women’s rights, embodied by the Department of Women’s Affairs offices, since the U.S. invasion toppled the repressive Taliban regime in 2001.

  • Kabul Execution Spree Bodes Ill for Human Rights
    Commentary
    Dec 17, 2012
    When the executions came, they happened so quickly that they were over almost before the world noticed. On November 19, Afghanistan's presidential palace announced that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had signed execution orders for 16 prisoners previously sentenced to death.
  • Afghanistan: No Amnesty for Taliban Crimes
    Press release
    Nov 25, 2012

    The Afghan government should not grant Taliban representatives amnesty from prosecution for serious crimes as part of talks with the insurgent group, Human Rights Watch said today. On November 17, 2012, the chairman of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, Salahuddin Rabbani, told journalists that Taliban officials who join peace negotiations with the Afghan government will receive immunity from prosecution and will have their names removed from the United Nations sanctions.

  • A year of progress in eliminating violence against women
    Commentary
    Nov 24, 2012
    On November 25 every year, a grim accounting takes place: the world takes stock of violence against women, the toll it takes, and progress toward eliminating it. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women has been commemorated on November 25 for more than three decades. It’s a day each year when my colleagues and I focus on the courageous women we have met, the injustices they’ve suffered, and the hope they inspire.
  • Afghanistan: Karzai Should Halt Executions
    Press release
    Nov 20, 2012

    The Afghan government should end its sudden surge of executions and institute a moratorium on further executions.

  • Keep Soldiers Out of Schools and Universities
    Press release
    Nov 20, 2012
    The use of schools and other education institutions for military purposes by armed forces and non-state armed groups during wartime endangers students and their education around the world, said the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack in a study released today.
  • Afghanistan: US Should Articulate Women’s Rights Strategy
    Press release
    Oct 19, 2012
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should publicly announce a strategy to protect women's rights in Afghanistan before she leaves office in 2013, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Clinton today. Women's rights are increasingly at risk in the run-up to the scheduled drawdown of international troops at the end of 2014 and decreasing funding and attention to Afghanistan.
  • Letter to Secretary Clinton on US Strategy for Supporting Women's Rights in Afghanistan
    Letter
    Oct 19, 2012

    Dear Secretary Clinton,

    We write to ask you to take the lead in formulating a clear and public US strategy for promotion and protection of women’s rights in Afghanistan, and to urge other countries to join in this effort.

  • UN: Mark Day of Girl By Fighting Child Marriage
    Press release
    Oct 10, 2012
    As the world celebrates the first International Day of the Girl Child on October 11, 2012, eliminating child marriages should be a key political priority for governments to protect the rights of girls and women.