• Deadly Delays for Nigerian Children
    Commentary
    Dec 7, 2012
    In June, two weeks after I returned from Nigeria, I got a message that another child had died from lead poisoning -the 11th in the same family. I could picture the scene: the child starts convulsing; his parents rush him two hours over barely passable terrain on the back of a motorbike to the nearest town for medical treatment. By the time they reach the clinic, a temporary ward specifically for lead poisoning set up in the wake of the epidemic, it is too late, and another young life has been taken by this preventable tragedy.
  • Nigeria: Death Stalking Lead-Poisoned Children
    Press release
    Dec 6, 2012

    The Nigerian government’s failure to produce promised funding to address the worst lead poisoning outbreak in modern history is leaving thousands of children to die or face lifelong disability, the Nigerian Youth Climate Action Network (NYCAN) and Human Rights Watch said today. The organizations opened a social media campaign on December 6, 2012, urging people to post comments to President Goodluck Jonathan’s official Facebook page, asking him why he has broken his promise to release funding for the cleanup of lead-contaminated areas in Zamfara State.

  • Ask Nigeria’s President What Happened to $4 Million
    Advocacy/impact
    Dec 6, 2012
  • The ethics of research in compulsory drug detention centres in Asia
    Journal Article
    Dec 5, 2012
    Throughout China and southeast Asia, people who use drugs are compulsorily detained in government centers in the name of “treatment” or “rehabilitation.” While involuntary research is clearly unethical, there has been little discussion of the ethical considerations of research on individuals in extra-judicial compulsory drug detention centers.
  • The disabled often are denied information about sex and HIV
    Commentary
    Dec 1, 2012
    Over a billion people — 15 percent of the world’s population — live with a disability. These numbers should confer power and authority in decision making about all aspects of their lives, including to HIV and AIDS. Yet people with disabilities have been largely ignored in the global response to HIV.
  • US: Prison Officials Thwart Compassionate Release
    Press release
    Nov 30, 2012
    The Federal Bureau of Prisons blocks all but a few federal prisoners from compassionate release, Human Rights Watch and Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) said in a report released today. The 128-page report is the first comprehensive examination of how compassionate release in the federal system works.
  • Kyrgyzstan: Letter to Kenjebek Bokoyev, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Rule of Law, Order and Fighting Crime
    Letter
    Nov 18, 2012
  • Ireland: Death of Woman Denied Abortion Should Spur Reform
    Press release
    Nov 16, 2012
    The tragic death of a woman denied an abortion in Ireland should catalyze the Irish government to fulfill its international human rights obligation to ensure access to safe and legal abortions. Savita Halappanavar, 31, who was 17 weeks pregnant, died from septicemia on October 28, 2012 at a hospital in Galway after she was refused an abortion and miscarried.
  • Colombia: Obstacles to Care for Abused, Displaced Women
    Press release
    Nov 14, 2012
    Colombia’s laws on violence against women are not adequately protecting victims displaced by the armed conflict. Approximately two million internally displaced women and girls face high rates of rape and domestic violence. Daunting obstacles impede displaced victims’ access to healthcare, justice, and protection services.
  • Zimbabwe: Police Raid Threatens Broader Crackdown
    Press release
    Nov 9, 2012
    The Zimbabwe government’s raid on a civil society group raises fears of a broader crackdown on perceived opposition activists ahead of elections due in 2013.