• US: House Vote a Step Backward for Women’s Rights
    Press release
    May 17, 2012
    The US Congress should move forward with a Senate bill to renew the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and reject the dangerous alternative passed by the House of Representatives.
  • Gay in America: Left Out of Family Leave
    Commentary
    May 11, 2012
    If the love of your life had major surgery or a serious illness, you would want to be by their side. You'd want to take some time off work without losing your job, and give them the care they need. But if you're gay in America, you have no such right under federal law.
  • US: White House is 'puzzling' on racial profiling
    Commentary
    May 1, 2012
    The Obama administration has displayed a lack of interest in changing Justice Department rules on religious profiling or in supporting legislation like the End Racial Profiling Act, which would impede the government’s ability to monitor Muslim communities without cause.
  • Addressing violence against all women
    Commentary
    Apr 20, 2012
    The bill to renew the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) faces a likely vote in the Senate next week, but its provisions that would assist immigrant women who are victims of violence have drawn some inexplicable opposition. The country’s single most important law for addressing domestic abuse, sexual violence, and stalking has offered life-saving protections to immigrant women since it first passed in 1994.
  • US: End Discriminatory Profiling by Police
    Written statement
    Apr 17, 2012
    Human Rights Watch submitted a written statment to the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights, for the record of their April 17, 2012 hearing entitled "Ending Racial Profiling in America."
  • Alabama: Repeal Unjust Immigrant Law
    Press release
    Apr 10, 2012
    A bill before the Alabama legislature to amend the state’s law restricting immigrant rights does little to remedy the severe harm caused by the law. The Alabama House of Representatives Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security will hold a public hearing on the amendments, contained in House Bill (HB) 658, on April 11, 2012.
  • US: Statement to the House of Representatives on the Department of Homeland Security’s New Immigration Detention Standards
    Written statement
    Mar 28, 2012
    Immigration detention is no holiday. 129 detainees have died in ICE custody since 2003, and there is credible evidence that poor medical care in detention contributed to a number of those deaths. The 2011 Performance Based National Detention Standards published by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) represent an important step toward ensuring the safety of immigrants in detention.
  • US: Investigate New York Police Surveillance of Muslims
    Press release
    Mar 20, 2012
    The US Justice Department should immediately investigate the New York City police for alleged religion-based discrimination in their surveillance of Muslim communities, and make its findings public.
  • Letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder: Investigate NYPD's Religious Profiling of Muslims
    Letter
    Mar 20, 2012
    Human Rights Watch wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder urging the Department of Justice to open an investigation into the New York City Police Department's surveillance and profiling of Muslims based solely on religion and ethnic origin.
  • New York: Investigate Police Surveillance of Muslims
    Press release
    Feb 27, 2012
    New York authorities should fully investigate New York City police for violating religious freedom in their surveillance of Muslim “communities of interest.” The New York State Attorney General’s office announced on February 24, 2012, that it would not investigate the police surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods because of unexplained “legal and investigative obstacles.”