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  • UN Human Rights Council: General Debate on the OHCHR report on South Sudan
    Oral statement
    Jun 12, 2013
    Human Rights Watch welcomes the conclusions of reports of the High Commissioner for Human Rights presented to the Human Rights Council at its 21st and 23rd session and shares her view that in the area of human rights, actual implementation remains extremely weak in South Sudan. The government took noteworthy steps to develop its legal and institutional structure, but South Sudan continues to face enormous challenges.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on Côte d'Ivoire
    Oral statement
    Jun 11, 2013
    Human Rights Watch welcomes the willingness of the government of Côte d’Ivoire to renew the Independent Expert’s mandate, demonstrating its commitment to improve the country’s human rights situation and to implement the Independent Expert’s recommendations. The Independent Expert has repeatedly stressed that impartial justice is essential to end the country’s decade-long human rights crisis.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of the UPR of the United Arab Emirates
    Oral statement
    Jun 7, 2013
    The Human Rights Council’s review of the United Arab Emirates comes at a time of serious concern about the rights situation in the country. Human Rights Watch has described the mass trial of 94 Emirati dissidents as “fundamentally unfair” and has documented numerous violations of fair trial rights and credible allegations of torture at UAE state security facilities.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of the UPR of France
    Oral statement
    Jun 6, 2013
    The Universal Periodic Review of France addressed a range of concerns, including on the issues of discrimination in particular with regards to identity checks and religious symbols, forced evictions and expulsions of Roma and counterterrorism laws.
  • France: Government Promises UN to End Ethnic Profiling
    Press release
    Jun 6, 2013
    France should act on its promise to prohibit and prevent ethnic profiling and provide effective remedies to victims.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of the UPR of Burundi
    Oral statement
    Jun 6, 2013
    Human Rights Watch deeply regrets that Burundi rejected all recommendations to fight impunity for extra-judicial killings. HRW remains particularly concerned at the lack of progress in bringing to justice perpetrators of extrajudicial killings and other acts of political violence since 2010.
  • UN Human Rights Council: US Should Stop Detaining Individuals Without Charge or Trial at Guantanamo and Bagram
    Oral statement
    Jun 5, 2013
    The United States continues to detain individuals for indefinite periods without charge or trial at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan in violation of its obligations under international human rights law.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Report of the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea Confirms Patterns of Abuses
    Oral statement
    Jun 5, 2013
    The Eritrean government remains among the worst human rights violators in the world. The report of the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea confirms the patterns of abuses that Human Rights Watch and other independent observers have documented over the past 15 years. As the Rapporteur noted, there is a “blatant disrespect for human rights in Eritrea” that requires “fundamental reform.”
  • UN Human Rights Council: Human Rights Remain "Systemically and Systematically" Restricted in Belarus
    Oral statement
    Jun 4, 2013
    HRW shares the Special Rapporteur on Belarus’ view that “human rights remain systemically and systematically restricted” in Belarus. Governmental harassment of human rights defenders, independent media, and defense lawyers continues, including through arbitrary bans on foreign travel.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Extreme Concern due to Increased Restrictions Affecting NGO Activities
    Oral statement
    Jun 4, 2013
    Human Rights Watch is extremely concerned by increased restrictions affecting NGO activities in many countries, in particular restrictions to access to funding as highlighted in the report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on Syria
    Oral statement
    Jun 4, 2013
    Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned by the escalating level of violence in Syria.In particular, we express grave concern for the safety of the remaining civilian population in al-Qusayr as well as wounded and captured fighters on all sides. Local opposition activists told Human Rights Watch that recent government attacks on fleeing civilians, including a reported attack on May 31, have made it difficult to escape and put remaining civilians, including many wounded, at great risk.
  • Eritrea: Letter Regarding the Renewal of the Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Eritrea
    Letter
    May 31, 2013
    We are writing to call on members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) to take action during the current 23rdsession of the HRC to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, in response to the continued appalling situation of widespread and systematic human rights violations in Eritrea and the lack of cooperation demonstrated by the Eritrean government towards international and regional human rights mechanisms.
  • Burma: Failing to Demobilize Child Soldiers
    Press release
    May 28, 2013
    (New York, May 29, 2013) – Burma has failed to make progress in ending its use of child soldiers nearly one year after signing an agreement with the United Nations (UN) to do so, Human Rights Watch said in a new paper released today.
  • Briefing for the Security Council working group on children and armed conflict regarding the recruitment and use of child soldiers in Burma (Myanmar) and implementation of the joint action plan
    Written statement
    May 28, 2013
  • US: Take Lead Against Lethal Robotic Weapons
    Press release
    May 28, 2013

    The United States should endorse the call by a United Nations (UN) special rapporteur to halt fully autonomous robotic weapons.

  • Universal Periodic Review: Joint HRW Submission on Turkmenistan with Freedom Now and the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights - Submitted in October 2012
    Written statement
    Apr 19, 2013
  • Universal Periodic Review: HRW Submission on Uzbekistan - Submitted in October 2012
    Written statement
    Apr 19, 2013
  • Universal Periodic Review: HRW Submission on Bangladesh
    Written statement
    Apr 18, 2013
    Bangladesh’s human rights situation has seen little improvement since its first UPR review in 2009. A key undertaking in the 2009 UPRwas to take a “zero tolerance” stand against abuses by security forces, and bring an end to impunity. Yet extrajudicial killings by the country’s security forces continue with impunity.
  • Universal Periodic Review: HRW Submission on Azerbaijan
    Written statement
    Apr 18, 2013
    Azerbaijan’s human rights record has been on a continual decline since the previous UPR in 2009, casting serious doubt on the government’s willingness to abide by its commitments and to reform. The long-repressive atmosphere for independent journalists, political activists, and human rights defenders has grown acutely hostile, with authorities using imprisonment as a tool for political retribution and clamping down on freedom of assembly, breaking up peaceful demonstrations, often violently.
  • Universal Periodic Review: Joint HRW submission on Cameroon with Affirmative Action, Alternatives Cameroun, ADEFHO, Camfaids, Evolve, Humanity First, IGLHRC
    Written statement
    Apr 18, 2013
    This submission, by Affirmative Action, Alternatives-Cameroun, the Association for the Defense of Gay and Lesbian Rights (ADEFHO), Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS (CAMFAIDS), Evolve, Human Rights Watch, Humanity First Cameroon, and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), highlights shortcomings in Cameroon’s human rights record related to its treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. It is based on research conducted in Cameroon in 2009 and 2010 by ADEFHO, Alternatives-Cameroun, Human Rights Watch, and IGLHRC and published in our 2010 report Criminalizing Identities: Rights Abuses in Cameroon based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, and on follow-up investigations conducted between 2010 and 2012.
  • Universal Periodic Review: HRW Submission on Cuba
    Written statement
    Apr 18, 2013
    Cuba remains the only country in Latin America that represses virtually all forms of political dissent. In 2012 the government of Raúl Castro continued to enforce political conformity using short-term detentions, beatings, public acts of repudiation, travel restrictions, and forced exile. During its first UPR review, Cuba rejected all recommendations addressing the arbitrary detentions of political prisoners, the lack of protection of human rights defenders, and restrictions on freedom of expression. Since then, Human Rights Watch has continued documenting cases of serious abuses of these rights.
  • Universal Periodic Review: HRW Submission on Russia
    Backgrounder Briefing
    Apr 18, 2013
    Starting in June 2012, the Russian government reversed small, positive steps taken since the previous UPR, which had slightly loosened excessive government control over civil society organizations and aimed to improve pluralism in the political system. It launched a broad crackdown on freedom of assembly, association, and expression. Abuses in the counterinsurgency campaign in the North Caucasus continue. Several Russian regions have adopted homophobic laws, and preparations for the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi have been tainted by abuses.
  • Universal Periodic Review: Joint HRW Submission on Germany, with Forum Menschenrechte
    Written statement
    Apr 18, 2013
    Germany is State party to most of the core international human rights standards with the exception of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The German Government continues to refuse ratification. This submission further explores the respect of human rights law by the Federal Republic of Germany, ahead of its UPR.
  • UN/Western Sahara: Give Peacekeepers a Human Rights Mandate
    Press release
    Apr 17, 2013
    United Nations Security Council members should task the United Nations with monitoring human rights violations in Western Sahara and in the refugee camps around Tindouf, in Algeria, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to all 15 Security Council member countries.
  • Letter to UN Security Council on Western Sahara
    Letter
    Apr 17, 2013

    Human Rights Watch urges the Security Council, when it votes on renewing the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) this month, to extend the mandate to incorporate human rights monitoring in Western Sahara and in the Polisario Front-run refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria.

  • Denying Genocide Won't Promote Reconciliation
    Commentary
    Apr 10, 2013

    A public debate at the UN on April 10 will serve up a revisionist denial of the worst killings in Europe since the end of World War II: the ethnic slaughter in the former Yugoslavia that horrified the world in the 1990s. While the session's ostensible purpose is to take "a closer look at the long-term impact of international criminal justice, in particular as it relates to reconciliation..." it is unlikely much thoughtful discussion will occur. 

  • UN Rights Body Forms Landmark Investigation Into North Korea
    Press release
    Mar 21, 2013
    The United Nations Human Rights Council took a landmark step by establishing a commission of inquiry for North Korea.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Statement on the Human Rights Situation in Sri Lanka
    Oral statement
    Mar 20, 2013
    Since the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution at its March 2012 session calling for action, the Sri Lankan government has taken no significant steps to provide justice for victims of abuse and accountability for those responsible for war crimes and violations of human rights in the country. Instead, over the last year, the Sri Lankan government has continued its assault on civil society, human rights defenders and media. Rather than making substantive moves toward ending impunity and supporting rule of law, the Sri Lankan government has opted for cynical gestures designed to keep the international community at bay.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Report of the Fact Finding Mission on Israeli settlements should prompt Israel to respect human rights obligations
    Oral statement
    Mar 18, 2013
    The Report of the Fact Finding Mission on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories should prompt the Israeli government to respect its human rights obligations to Palestinians in the West Bank, where Israel is the occupying power. In particular, Israel should end policies that not only transfer its civilians into the occupied territory, in violation of the laws of war, but that harshly discriminate against Palestinians with no legitimate security or other justification.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of Ghana's UPR
    Oral statement
    Mar 14, 2013
    Human Rights Watch welcomes the recommendations in the UPR report and Ghana’s commitment to implementing reforms to protect the rights of people with disabilities. But our research in Ghana found a significant number of serious human rights abuses that must be addressed immediately.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of Sri Lanka's UPR
    Oral statement
    Mar 14, 2013
    During the UPR process in November 2012, Sri Lanka rejected 100 recommendations – nearly half of those proposed by United Nations member states, including many related to accountability and justice issues. Among the rejected recommendations was one to implement the government’s own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations. Instead the government committed only to implement its National Action Plan on the LLRC – which ignores nearly 50 percent of the recommendations made by the LLRC.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of Pakistan's UPR
    Oral statement
    Mar 14, 2013
    HRW appreciates that Pakistan accepted the recommendations to take measures against religious hatred, prevent violence against religious minorities, and hold to account those responsible for such violence. However, Pakistan still faces a range of concerning issues. For example, the government has been unable or unwilling to break the links of Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies with extremist groups. HRW also deeply regrets that Pakistan rejected a number of recommendations to revise discriminatory blasphemy laws.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of Ukraine's UPR
    Oral statement
    Mar 14, 2013
  • UN Human Rights Council: Statement under Item 4 General Debate, addressing Guantanamo
    Oral statement
    Mar 13, 2013
  • Letter to UN HRC on Renewal of Mandate of Special Rapporteur on Iran
    Letter
    Mar 12, 2013
    On 21 or 22 March 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) will vote on the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The situation has continued to deteriorate since the adoption of the last resolution by the Council in March 2012. Yet the government of Iran has refused to cooperate with the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran. It remains critical that the Human Rights Council affirm that the abuses in Iran should end and continue to mandate an in-depth monitoring of the situation in the country, in particular ahead of the presidential election scheduled for June 2013.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar
    Oral statement
    Mar 11, 2013
  • UN Human Rights Council: Interactive Dialogue with Marzuki Darusman, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
    Oral statement
    Mar 11, 2013
  • UN Human Rights Council: General Debate on Somalia
    Oral statement
    Mar 8, 2013
  • Involuntary Treatment: The Invisible Health Care Crisis
    Commentary
    Mar 5, 2013
    In his new report, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez, the UN’s leading expert on torture, has drawn attention to severe abuses, such as neglect, mental and physical abuse and sexual violence, against people with mental or intellectual disabilities in health-care settings.
  • HRW submission on Angola to UN Human Rights Committee
    Written statement
    Feb 15, 2013
    This memorandum provides an overview of Human Rights Watch’s main concerns with respect to the human rights situation in Angola. We hope it will inform the Committee’s preparation for its review of the Angolan government’s compliance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“the Covenant”).
  • Joint NGO Letter to the Member States of the United Nations: Supporting Human Rights Accountability and Reform in Bahrain at the UN Human Rights Council
    Letter
    Feb 14, 2013
    The Council should explicitly address the ongoing human rights violations taking place in the country and the lack of sufficient implementation by the government of Bahrain of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry’s (BICI) recommendations, especially those calling for accountability. We also urge the Council members to call for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to monitor and report on the human rights situation within the country.
  • Syria: Authorize Cross-Border Humanitarian Aid
    Press release
    Feb 11, 2013
    Syria should urgently agree that humanitarian aid may be brought into the country across all of its borders, including from Turkey.Syria’s allies, including Russia, should press Syria to consent to such transfers. Donors should not wait for Syria’s go-ahead, but instead should immediately expand support to non-governmental organizations already able to deliver aid from Turkey into opposition-held areas of Syria.
  • North Korea: Activists Welcome Japan’s Support for Inquiry
    Press release
    Feb 5, 2013

    The International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), consisting of over 40 leading human rights organizations and activists, today welcomes Japan’s strong position in favor of the establishment of a new United Nations commission of inquiry on serious human rights violations committed by the North Korean Government at home and abroad.

  • Holding the Security Council to Account on Syria
    Commentary
    Jan 29, 2013

    Unusual currents have been swirling around the United Nations Security Council’s shameful paralysis on Syria, a product of repeated vetoes by Russia and China. On January 14, a group of 58 governments urged the council to ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute those responsible for the egregious crimes in Syria. In the face of the spiraling carnage on the ground, these governments, in an unprecedented act of “justice diplomacy,” insisted that the time for Security Council silence is long past.

  • Letter to the UN Security Council on human rights concerns in Yemen
    Letter
    Jan 27, 2013
    We write to highlight key human rights concerns we hope you will address during your forthcoming visit to Yemen. We welcome the Security Council’s decision to visit Yemen as it continues its transition toward democracy and rule of law.
  • North Korea: Japan’s Backing of UN Inquiry Gives Hope
    Press release
    Jan 25, 2013
    Japan’s official decision to support the establishment of a new United Nations inquiry mechanism on human rights violations in North Korea is an important step toward the establishment of an in-depth investigation into human rights violations committed by the North Korean Government at home and abroad.
  • The Central Role of Japan in Addressing Human Rights Abuses in North Korea
    Letter
    Jan 21, 2013
  • North Korea: Launch a UN Commission of Inquiry
    Press release
    Jan 21, 2013
    Members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) should vote to establish a commission of inquiry into human rights abuses in North Korea when the matter comes up before the February-March session of the council, said Human Rights Watch today. A detailed memo released by Human Rights Watch, Q&A on a United Nations Commission of Inquiry on North Korea, explains why a commission is urgently needed, how it could be established, what it should examine, and how it will support the efforts of the UNHRC to press for Pyongyang’s compliance with international human rights standards.
  • UN Security Council: Heed Call for Justice in Syria
    Press release
    Jan 14, 2013

    A letter sent to the United Nations Security Council on behalf of 57 states calling for a referral of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) gives momentum to international efforts to stop grave abuses committed there. More countries should join the call and impress on reluctant Council members the urgency of taking up the issue of accountability.

     

  • US: Human Rights Watch Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee
    Written statement
    Jan 4, 2013
    Human Rights Watch submitted this statement to inform the Human Rights Committee’s understanding of the US government’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).