• Q & A on Hostilities between Israel and Hamas
    Nov 20, 2012
    The following questions and answers address issues relating to international humanitarian law (the laws of war) governing the current conflict between Israel and Hamas and armed groups in Gaza. Human Rights Watch has not yet been able to undertake a significant on-the-ground investigation in Gaza. The purpose here is to provide analytic guidance for those who are examining the fighting, as well as for the parties to the conflict and those with the capacity to influence them.
  • Q&A on the Human Rights Debate in the UK
    Sep 19, 2012
  • Q&A: The Case of Hissène Habré before the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal
    Sep 11, 2012

    On August 22, 2012, Senegal and the African Union (AU) signed an agreement to establish special chambers embedded in the Senegalese judicial system to prosecute the person or persons most responsible for international crimes committed in Chad between 1982 and 1990. It is expected that only the former dictator of Chad during those years, Hissène Habré, who is accused of thousands of political killings and systematic torture, will be prosecuted.

  • Q & A on Laws of War Issues in Syria
    Aug 9, 2012
    The following Questions and Answers (Q & A) address aspects of international humanitarian law (the laws of war) governing the armed conflict between the government of Syria and the Free Syrian Army and other opposition armed groups. The purpose is to provide legal guidance on the fighting, including to the parties to the conflict and those with the capacity to influence them. This Q & A does not address the justifications or the legitimacy of resorting to armed force by any party.
  • Tunisia: Q&A on the Trial of Ben Ali, Others for Killing Protesters
    Jun 11, 2012
    Verdicts are expected next week in the trial of former President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and his security chiefs, the first concerning the killing of protesters during Tunisia’s uprising in December 2010 and January 2011.
  • Egypt: Q&A on the Trial of Hosni Mubarak
    May 28, 2012
    Hosni Mubarak, his former minister of interior Habib al-Adly, and four assistant ministers of interior, were tried in connection with the killing of hundreds of peaceful anti-government demonstrators from January 25 to 31, 2011. The Q&A includes background on the Mubarak trial, the charges brought, applicable criminal laws and trial procedures, information about related trials, and the trial’s broader political context.
  • Charles Taylor: Q&A on The Case of Prosecutor v. Charles Ghankay Taylor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone
    Apr 16, 2012
    The Special Court indicted Taylor on March 7, 2003 on 17 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international law for his role in supporting Sierra Leonean rebel groups during that country’s armed conflict. The Taylor judgment will be a watershed moment for efforts to hold the highest-level leaders to account through a credible judicial process.
  • Habré Case: Q&A on “Belgium v. Senegal”
    Mar 29, 2012

    The International Court of Justice (ICJ) heard arguments from March 12 to 21, 2012 in “Questions relating to the Obligation to Prosecute or Extradite (Belgium v. Senegal)” over the fate of the former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré.

     

  • Q&A on Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army
    Mar 21, 2012
    Joseph Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group that originated in 1987 in northern Uganda among ethnic Acholi communities.
  • DR Congo: Q&A on the First Verdict at the International Criminal Court
    Feb 29, 2012

    The International Criminal Court (ICC) will issue its first verdict on March 14, 2012, in the case of Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Dyilo was the first person arrested and transferred to The Hague to be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He has been charged with the war crimes of enlisting and conscripting children under age 15 as soldiers and using them as active participants in hostilities in 2002-2003.