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United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Still at Risk Diplomatic Assurances No Safeguard Against Torture This 91-page report documents the growing practice among Western governments—including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands—of seeking assurances of humane treatment in order to transfer terrorism suspects to states with well-established records of torture. The report details a dozen cases involving actual or attempted transfers to countries where torture is commonplace. HRW Index No.: D1703 April 15, 2005 Download PDF, 563 KB, 94 pgs Purchase online Empty Promises Diplomatic Assurances No Safeguard Against Torture Individuals suspected of terrorism should never be returned to a country where they risk torture and ill-treatment. Promises of fair treatment by states with well-known records of torture are inherently unreliable, and governments that justify returns through such promises, known as “diplomatic assurances,” are violating the absolute prohibition against torture and eroding a fundamental principle of international law. The death penalty, however reprehensible, is legal and usually carried out publicly. But torture is illegal and practiced in secret. Governments routinely lie about whether they’re torturing people or not, and in some situations they may not even have adequate control to guarantee security. This 39-page report documents cases where governments returned or considered returning suspects on the basis of such formal guarantees, and raises concern that in some cases, those returned were, in fact, tortured or ill-treated. HRW Index No.: D1604 April 15, 2004 Download PDF, 360 KB, 39 pgs Purchase online Off Target The Conduct of the War and Civilian Casualties in Iraq Hundreds of civilian deaths in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq could have been prevented by abandoning two misguided military tactics. The use of cluster munitions in populated areas caused more civilian casualties than any other factor in the coalition´s conduct of major military operations in March and April. U.S. and British forces used almost 13,000 cluster munitions, containing nearly 2 million submunitions, that killed or wounded more than 1,000 civilians. International humanitarian law, or the laws of war, does not outlaw all civilian casualties in wartime. But armed forces are obliged to take all feasible precautions for avoiding civilian losses, and to refrain from attacks that are indiscriminate or where the expected civilian harm exceeds the military gain. The term “casualty” refers to both dead and wounded. This 147-page report also examines violations of international humanitarian law by Iraqi forces, including use of human shields, abuse of the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems, use of antipersonnel landmines, and placement of military objects in mosques and hospitals. The Iraqi military´s practice of wearing civilian clothes also eroded the distinction between combatants and civilians. Printer Friendly PDF Download: Summary and Recommendations (12 pages, 328 Kb) Complete Report (including maps, photos etc: 147 pages, 16.2 Mbytes) HRW Index No.: 1564322939 December 12, 2003 Also available in 
Purchase online Basra: Crime and Insecurity under British Occupation This report, based on four weeks of field research by Human Rights Watch researchers in southern Iraq, shows that more than six weeks after the fall of Basra, the security situation remained poorly addressed by coalition forces. Despite efforts by the British military to deploy their relatively small number of troops to improve security conditions in the city, the population continued to live in fear of violent crimes and with growing concerns about the failure of the coalition forces to provide them with greater security. HRW Index No.: E1506 June 3, 2003 Download PDF Purchase online The Mass Graves of al-Mahawil: The Truth Uncovered This report attempts to tell the story of the mass graves around al-Hilla. It identifies the victims, the circumstances of their arrest, and their ultimate execution and mass burial. The conclusion is inescapable: those whose bodies were recovered from these mass graves were the victims of a coordinated campaign of repression, arrests, and executions carried out by the Iraqi government in the aftermath of the failed Shi`a uprising in 1991. The report demonstrates the importance of the evidence that can be gathered from the mass graves that are being discovered all around Iraq?all of which have their own individual history, but which together testify to decades of mass murder by the Iraqi government. HRW Index No.: E1505 May 29, 2003 Download PDF Purchase online United Kingdom: Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 From the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers The United Kingdom has persistently objected to raising the international minimum age for voluntary recruitment and participation in hostilities to 18. Within Europe the UK has the (equal) lowest minimum age for recruitment, the highest recruitment of under-18s into the regular armed forces and the lowest deployment age. The UK is also the only European country to send minors routinely into battle. There are currently 6,000-7,000 under-18s in the armed forces. Deaths, injury and ill-treatment of young recruits has been reported. While the UK has signed the Optional Protocol, an ‘interpretative declaration’ on deployment runs counter to its spirit and purpose. There have been recent reports of under-18s being recruited by armed groups and paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. June 12, 2001 United Kingdom: Landmine Monitor Report 2000 Key developments since March 1999: The UK completed destruction of its antipersonnel mine stockpile in October 1999. It contributed $25.7 million to mine action in 1999/2000. The UK has served as co-chair of the SCE on Mine Clearance, and has played an important role in promoting universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. In May 2000, the UK acknowledged participating in fifteen joint military operations involving use of AP mines over the last three years, while stressing that in no instances were UK armed forces responsible for their use. Attempts were made by Romanian and Pakistani companies to sell AP mines in the UK. August 1, 2000 Northern Ireland A New Beginning to Policing Human Rights Watch has prepared this assessment of the Patten Commission report-issued on September 9, 1999-as a means of following up on its participation in the commission's consultation process and as a contribution to the government's three month post-report consultation period. Human Rights Watch views the Report as a positive contribution to the work of reforming the police force but feels strongly that measures in addition to the report's recommendations must be taken to bring law enforcement in Northern Ireland into conformity with international human rights standards. HRW Index No.: D1115 November 1, 1999 Purchase online Northern Ireland An Analysis of the Human Rights Provisions Human Rights Watch, the largest U.S.-based international nongovernmental human rights organization, welcome the presentation of an historic peace accord to the people of Ireland, north and south. HRW Index No.: D1003 April 1, 1998 Purchase online To Serve Without Favor Policing, Human Rights, and Accountability in Northern Ireland Police conduct throughout the long conflict in Northern Ireland has given rise to serious allegations of human rights abuses. The emergency regime imposed on Northern Ireland by the British government invests the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) with expansive police powers to stop, question, search, arrest, detain, and interrogate persons merely suspected of terrorist activity. Human Rights Watch charges that the emergency legislation itself gives rise to substantial violations of human rights and urges its repeal. HRW Index No.: 1-56432-216-5 May 1, 1997 Purchase online Racist Violence in the United Kingdom The level of racist incidents reported to the police in the U.K. has increased dramatically over recent years. Between 1989 and 1996 the number rose more than 275 percent, from 4,383 to 12,199. HRW Index No.: 1-56432-202-5 April 1, 1997 Purchase online Continued Abuses By All Sides In Northern Ireland While paramilitary groups carry out punishment shootings and beatings, the government is responsible for the failure to ensure that police officers and soldiers are held accountable for the use of lethal force, unfair trials, and ill-treatment in detention, among other violations. HRW Index No.: D604 March 1, 1994 Threats to Press Freedom A Report Prepared for the Free Media Seminar Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe The Free Media Seminar of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe is taking place at a critical time. First, because developments throughout the region suggest that protection for media freedoms fall well short of international standards. Second, because there are disturbing signs of erosion for universal free expression protections on the part of international and continental bodies that should be insisting on bedrock protections for freedom of the press. Helsinki Watch, which since 1978 has monitored the state of human rights in many of the nations that signed the Helsinki Final Act, has in recent months published reports or conducted investigations in the countries listed above. We summarize our findings in the sections that follow. We do not claim that this is a comprehensive or exhaustive listing of curbs on media freedom in CSCE countries, or even in the countries we have included in this report. November 1, 1993 Download PDF, 275 KB, 39 pgs Printer friendly version Northern Ireland: Human Rights Abuses By All Sides Continuing human rights abuses in Northern Ireland include killings by paramilitary groups and security forces, street harassment by security forces, ill-treatment in detention, problems in obtaining a fair trial, the abandonment of normal policing in some troubled areas and harassment by paramilitary organizations. HRW Index No.: D506 May 1, 1993 Freedom of Expression in the U.K. Britain has historically been a society with great respect for the tradition of freedom of the press. In recent years, however, there has been a significant increase in restrictions on liberty. Not only have press freedoms been threatened with greater restrictions, but broadcasting has faced similar challenges, and the right to protest has been limited. HRW Index No.: D503 February 1, 1993 Prison Conditions in the United Kingdom Prisoners in the U.K., which has the highest per capita rate of imprisonment in Western Europe, suffer from unsanitary conditions, extremely poor conditions for remand prisoners, and the lack of useful educational or work activities. HRW Index No.: 1-56432-066-9 June 1, 1992 Human Rights in Northern Ireland Human rights abuses are persistent and chronic in Northern Ireland, affecting Protestants and Catholics alike, and are committed by both security forces and paramilitary groups in violation of international standards. HRW Index No.: ISBN 1-56432-020-0 October 1, 1991
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