France's system of detaining and deporting unaccompanied migrant children who arrive in Paris by air puts them at serious risk.

The release of the report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict puts to the test the stated commitment of the European Union and its 27 member states to promote an international order where no state is above the law. The report presents overwhelming evidence that both Israel and Hamas committed violations of the laws of war - some amounting to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity - and that neither side has taken serious steps to hold perpetrators to account.

Human Rights Watch writes to Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Rt Hon David Miliband, on the consequences of the UK and Ethiopian governments signing the Memorandum of Understanding which would do little to curb acts of torture in Ethiopia.

The European Union and South Africa should take steps to enhance cooperation on international human rights issues when they meet this week. The second EU-South Africa summit meeting is scheduled for September 11, 2009, in Kleinmond, South Africa.

Human Rights Watch writes to Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South African minister of international relations and cooperation, and Fredrik Reinfeldt, Swedish foreign minister, concerning the September 11, 2009 European Union-South Africa summit.

The Kenyan government has reneged on commitments to deliver justice for the victims of post-election violence. On July 30, 2009, the cabinet announced that, contrary to previous agreements, it would not establish a special tribunal, but would rely instead on a "reformed" national judicial system to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators.

The Syrian government should treat all murders alike and not make exceptions for so-called “honor killings,” Human Rights Watch said today. On July 1, 2009, President Bashar al-Assad abolished Article 548 of the Penal Code, which had waived punishment for a man found to have killed a female family member in a case “provoked” by “illegitimate sex acts,” as well as for a husband who killed his wife because of an extramarital affair.

To help establish the rule of law, the EU should support and fund a mechanism to try those most responsible for the crimes suffered by the Congolese people, such as a separate chamber on war crimes in Congo's courts, with the involvement of international judges and prosecutors.

This follow-up letter to the European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers, in advance of the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) meeting, addresses the need for the EU to adopt strong GAERC conclusions so that accountability and reform may be met in Kenya.

A Turkmen political prisoner, Mukhametkuli Aymuradov, was freed on May 2, 2009 after serving 14 years in prison on trumped-up charges.

European countries should help the Obama administration close the Guantanamo Bay prison by offering to resettle some detainees who face torture at home. US Attorney General Eric Holder is in Europe this week to discuss Guantanamo resettlement and other issues.

Donor governments meeting in Brussels this week should ensure that pledges of assistance to Somali security forces and African Union troops in Somalia will not contribute to human rights abuses.

We are writing to urge you to adopt conclusions at the upcoming meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) or an EU Declaration expressing support for the establishment of a special tribunal in Kenya to try those most responsible for last year's post-election violence and calling on Kenyan authorities to immediately renew their efforts to revise and enact bills to create the tribunal.

The arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan is an important test of the European Union's long-standing commitment to justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.

The EU should have condemned one of world's worst laws on NGOs. Instead, it gave Ethiopia €250 million.

Human Rights Watch writes to express profound disappointment with the European Union's January 30 Presidential Declaration responding to the Ethiopian government's adoption of the Charities and Societies Proclamation. The Ethiopian Charities and Societies Proclamation is a direct and deliberate attack on independent civil society activity and violates the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and association. 

The European Union should urgently send a “bridging” force to eastern Congo to help UN peacekeepers stop further attacks on civilians.

We write to urge that you and your colleagues from other European Union member states use this week's EU Summit to urgently heed the call from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and decide to deploy an EU "bridging" force to North Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Human Rights Watch is writing to urge you to adopt conclusions at next week’s General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) meeting emphasizing that Belgrade’s full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) remains a necessary precondition for the ratification of the Stabilization Association Agreement (SAA) signed earlier this year with Serbia.

The UK foreign secretary, David Miliband, should use his visit to Syria to raise human rights concerns, Human Rights Watch said today. In particular, Miliband should urge the Syrian government to release activists detained solely for exercising freedom of expression and association.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other African and international leaders meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on November 8-9 should take immediate action to protect civilians who are at severe risk in eastern Congo

Asian and European governments meeting in China this week should press Burma to improve its human rights record.

The European Union observer mission scheduled to move into areas near South Ossetia must be given both a mandate and adequate resources to protect civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch researchers in Georgia in recent days have documented numerous attacks by Ossetians against civilians in villages in this area, which is effectively under Russian control.

As Russia withdraws its troops, the EU could help the ceasefire stick by deploying a vital civilian protection mission.

In its battle against rebels in eastern Ethiopia's Somali Region, Ethiopia's army has subjected civilians to executions, torture, and rape. The widespread violence, part of a vicious counterinsurgency campaign that amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, has contributed to a looming humanitarian crisis, threatening the survival of thousands of ethnic Somali nomads.

Before it is too late, the UK needs to start showing some humanitarian principles and some political backbone. As a close ally of the US and a major military player on the global stage, it is important that the UK remains on board the Oslo process. But it is also essential that the UK follow up on Brown's helpful statement this week and start standing for the interests of the victims - past, present and future - of these horrible weapons.

Justice isn’t simply a moral luxury. The EU made a pledge to the victims of Darfur; it is high time that the EU delivered—that it moved from empty threats to action.

European and African leaders should go beyond promises and act to end atrocities, hold abusers to account and combat corruption, Human Rights Watch said today. The first European Union-Africa summit for seven years will be held in Lisbon on December 8-9, 2007.

A genuine dialogue leading to political change in the country is unlikely unless the generals come under sustained economic pressure that they cannot withstand.

So far the UK government has responded to General Musharraf's crackdown in Pakistan with words but no action. In formulaic statements Gordon Brown and his ministers have called for the lifting of the state of emergency, the release of those arrested, an end to restrictions on the media and the holding of elections next January. But there is little sign of any willingness to put serious pressure on Musharraf to do any of this.

Human Rights Watch joins with partner organizations in writing to UK Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband, urging the UK Government to do much more to protect Iraqi refugees. Human Rights Watch also called on the UK Government to provide more information in regards to assistance plans for its former employees in Iraq.

The European Union should firmly maintain its sanctions on Uzbekistan, making clear they will not be reconsidered until the Uzbek government delivers on key human rights demands.

Human Rights Watch is writing to urge you to maintain your principled approach towards Serbia as regards its cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY). The European Union (EU) should use the meetings with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica scheduled for September 12 to reiterate that full cooperation with the ICTY, including the arrest and transfer of Ratko Mladic, remains a non-negotiable precondition for the signing of a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between the EU and Serbia.

When EU leaders meet with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica this week, they should insist on Serbia’s full cooperation with the Yugoslav tribunal, Human Rights Watch said in a letter sent today. The EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), the Commissioner for Enlargement, and the President of the European Commission will meet Kostunica in Brussels on Wednesday, September 12, 2007.

EU governments should make human rights a priority in this "new era" of EU-Libya relations.

The French government should publicly pledge and actively ensure respect for international labor rights in the construction and maintenance of the Louvre’s planned branch in Abu Dhabi, Human Rights Watch said today.

The European Union’s attempts to engage with Burma by allowing the Burmese foreign minister to attend the annual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) has failed to bring any improvements in human rights in the country, Human Rights Watch said today.

The European Union shortsightedly undercut its own influence by announcing the resumption of talks with Serbia following the recent arrest of a war crimes suspect while his commander, Ratko Mladic, remains at large, Human Rights Watch said today.

The European Union should make the deteriorating human rights situation in Russia a focus of this weekend’s EU-Russia summit in Samara, where authorities have harassed and detained activists planning political protests, Human Rights Watch said today.

European officials, especially ones posted in China, don’t often utter the words “sovereign” and “Dalai Lama” in the same sentence. But on Wednesday Belgium’s ambassador to Beijing, Bernard Pierre, did just that when he characterized the Dalai Lama’s cancellation of his planned visit to Brussels as a “sovereign decision.”

We are writing in advance of the May 14-15 General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC), to convey our profound concern about the worsening human rights situation in Uzbekistan and the damaging effects of the EU’s weak approach to human rights. We urge you to ensure a shift in EU policy toward Tashkent as a matter of urgent priority – resulting in an EU policy that is guided by an accurate and credible assessment of the conditions on the ground, and that genuinely seeks to advance concrete improvements in human rights as a key component of the EU’s engagement with the Uzbek government.

The Council of Europe should require Serbia to turn over Ratko Mladic to the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal as it takes on the chair of the council’s Committee of Ministers, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to that committee released today.

On May 10-11, 2007, Serbia is scheduled to assume the chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. The Council of Europe is Europe’s pre-eminent human rights organization with the stated “core objective” of “preserving and promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law.” For these words to have any real meaning, it is imperative that Serbia, as the chair of the institution’s highest political decision-making body, be in full compliance with its membership commitments and its legal obligations to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Most immediately Serbia must turn over the remaining ICTY fugitives who continue to reside in Serbia, including Bosnian wartime general Ratko Mladic.

A geographically diverse group of NGOs unite in opposition to Belarus' bid for a Human Rights Council seat.

Germany should support Russian civil society by insisting that President Vladimir Putin take concrete steps to improve human rights in Russia, three leaders of Russian nongovernmental organizations said today in Berlin.

Full Transcript

Human Rights Watch welcomes the initiative of the EU and the German presidency to embark upon a Central Asia strategy, following years of neglect of this important region by the EU. A central thrust of this strategy should be securing greater compliance by the governments of Central Asian countries with their international human rights obligations. Currently, it is not. This paper explains why the strategy needs to incorporate human rights through identifying specific human rights concerns and benchmarks for progress. It also provides a brief summary of human rights concerns in several Central Asian countries and suggests key actions and benchmarks to address them.

With repressive governments ruling over Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and their neighbors, the European Union should make respect for human rights an integral part of its new Central Asia strategy, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. EU foreign ministers are scheduled to review a first-ever Central Asia strategy at the General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting in Brussels on April 23-24.

Uzbek authorities denied work accreditation to the Tashkent office director of Human Rights Watch, and announced that the trial of Human Rights Watch’s translator Umida Niazova would start this week, Human Rights Watch said today.

On March 23, 2007 Iranian forces detained 15 British sailors and marines in the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which runs between Iranian and Iraqi territory.

Comments by EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn suggest that the European Union may be prepared to resume negotiations with Serbia over closer EU ties, even without Belgrade’s full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Human Rights Watch said today.

As European leaders gather in Berlin to celebrate the European Union’s golden jubilee, Human Rights Watch urged that they finally agree to take concrete actions against those responsible for on-going war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

According to the police report, Kamaleddine Mohammad was gathering wood near the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp outside Tyre in Lebanon last month when he stepped on an unexploded submunition from a cluster bomb. Mohammad was yet another victim of Israel's cluster bombing campaign at the end of last summer's war between Israel and Hizbollah. He is one of the tens of thousands of civilians killed or injured by cluster munitions in war zones throughout the world in recent decades.

A report by the UK's Foreign Affairs Select Committee overlooks crucial problems with the US government's detention of hundreds of detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights Watch said today.

Prosecutors in Europe are using the concept of universal jurisdiction to pursue foreign war criminals in national courts, a strategy that is gaining momentum across the continent and should be expanded.

The British government’s decision today to offer detention facilities for Charles Taylor if he is convicted removes the main obstacle to relocating the former Liberian president’s trial to The Hague.

As the transfer of Liberia's former president to face trial in The Hague remains stalled, the EU ministerial meeting this week with the Economic Community of West African States could not be more timely.

When European Union foreign ministers meet in Brussels on May 15, an EU member state should offer to take former Liberian president Charles Taylor if he is convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

The transfer of former Liberian President Charles Taylor to face trial in The Hague remains stalled unless a third country steps up to take Taylor if he is convicted.

Human Rights Watch writes to foreign ministers of E.U. member states subsequent to the violence in Andijan, eastern Uzbekistan, where possibly hundreds of demonstrators were killed by Uzbek security forces on May 13, to urge the European Union to suspend the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with Uzbekistan should the Uzbek government not agree to allow an independent, international inquiry into events surrounding the recent violence.

The Uzbek authorities must permit an independent international investigation into the killing of possibly hundreds of civilians in Andijan and surrounding cities last week, Human Rights Watch said today. Such an investigation is essential to establish the truth and ensure justice for the victims.

The European Union and its member states should press for Nigeria to hand over former Liberian president Charles Taylor to the U.N.-backed court for war crimes in Sierra Leone.

The EU Troika should send a clear message to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the Security Council must refer Darfur to the International Criminal Court at the February 10 EU-USA Ministerial Meeting in Luxembourg. The first visit of Secretary of State Rice to Europe is a timely opportunity for the EU to raise the importance of accountability for crimes committed in Darfur.

By adopting a revised Common Position on the International Criminal Court (ICC), the European Union (EU) reinforced its support for international justice.

Today Human Rights Watch expressed deep dissatisfaction with the European Union's collective response to Bush administration demands against the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The European Union's long-standing commitment to the International Criminal Court (ICC) must resist Washington's pressure to exempt U.S. nationals from the court.

In advance of the upcoming Informal Meeting of European Union (E.U.) Foreign Ministers on August 30-31, we are writing you about the most recent Bush Administration attack on the International Criminal Court (ICC). As you know, Washington is applying intense pressure on European Union Member States as well as E.U. Candidate States to sign what it claims are "Article 98 agreements." These bilateral agreements, referring to Article 98(2) of the ICC Treaty, would require a signatory European Union Member State to send any American national sought by the Court to the United States instead of surrendering him or her to the ICC.

Human Rights Watch writes to E.U. foreign ministers urging them to incorporate measures to improve arms trade controls across Europe into the E.U.'s anti-terrorism strategy and assess arms trade practices, together with other political and security issues, when evaluating the progress of candidate countries toward E.U. accession.

As European Union foreign ministers finalized plans for a June 29, 2001 donor conference for Yugoslavia, Human Rights Watch urged them to keep pressure on Belgrade to cooperate with the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

The United States and the European Union should postpone the donors' conference for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, scheduled to take place in Brussels June 29.

As European Union officials prepared to travel to Belgrade, Human Rights Watch urged that the E.U. insist on Yugoslav cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal.