• Rwanda’s Rampaging Rebel Force
    Commentary
    Dec 28, 2012

    Despite supporting a brutal rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda is about to take a seat on the U.N. Security Council. Few countries dare challenge the Security Council the way Rwanda does; even fewer get away with it. Yet on Tuesday, despite backing an abusive rebel group that has attacked U.N. peacekeepers in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda will take a two-year seat on the council.  

  • South Sudan: Heed Global Call to End Death Penalty
    Press release
    Dec 20, 2012
    South Sudan should carry out its commitment for a moratorium on the death penalty. On December 20, 2012, South Sudan, along with 110 other nations, voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling on countries that use capital punishment to place a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
  • Mali: Rising Ethnic Tensions Threaten New Violence
    Press release
    Dec 20, 2012
    Mali’s newly appointed prime minister, Diango Sissoko, should take urgent measures to end rights abuses by the security forces and address rising ethnic tensions linked to the occupied northern provinces, Human Rights Watch said today. Sissoko was appointed prime minister of the country’s transitional government on December 11, 2012, a day after the military forced Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra – in office since April – to resign.
  • Ethiopia: 4 Journalists Win Free Speech Prize
    Press release
    Dec 20, 2012
    Four Ethiopian journalists have received the prestigious Hellman/Hammett award for 2012 in recognition of their efforts to promote free expression in Ethiopia, one of the world’s most restricted media environments.
  • Senegal: Proceedings Against Hissène Habré Draw Near
    Press release
    Dec 19, 2012

    The adoption by the Senegalese National Assembly on December 19, 2012,of laws establishing special chambers within the existing Senegalese court structure heralds the start of criminal proceedings against the former president of Chad, Hissène Habré.

  • ICC: Congolese Rebel Leader Acquitted in Court’s Second Case
    Press release
    Dec 18, 2012

    The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) acquittal on December 18, 2012, of a Congolese rebel leader on all charges should re-energize efforts to prosecute others for atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

  • Cameroon: Court Upholds Unjust ‘Homosexuality’ Conviction
    Press release
    Dec 18, 2012
    A Cameroonian appeals court decision on December 17, 2012, upholding a criminal conviction for homosexuality demonstrates that basic human rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are under assault in Cameroon. The court upheld the conviction and three-year prison sentence for Roger Jean-Claude Mbede, a university student charged with homosexuality, and ordered his arrest.
  • Sudan: Civilians Describe Toll of Attacks
    Press release
    Dec 11, 2012
    The Sudanese government’s indiscriminate aerial bombardment and shelling in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states has killed and injured scores of civilians since the conflict began more than a year ago, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Government forces have raided villages, burned and looted civilian property, arbitrarily detained people, and assaulted and raped women and girls.
  • Fernando Moleres Wins Tim Hetherington Grant
    Press release
    Dec 10, 2012
    The photojournalist Fernando Moreles has been awarded the second Tim Hetherington Grant, an annual visual journalism award focusing on human rights, Human Rights Watch and World Press Photo announced today.
  • Sudan: Justice Needed for Student Deaths
    Press release
    Dec 10, 2012
    Sudanese authorities should immediately investigate the deaths of four student protesters and the disappearance of two others at the beginning of December 2012, in Madani, Jazeera state, and hold those responsible to account.