Greek authorities are arresting large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers in the country's cities and islands and moving many of them to the north, raising fears of illegal expulsions to Turkey.

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

The European Union should press the newly elected Greek government to end the abusive detention and summary expulsions of migrants, including unaccompanied children, and to reform the country's broken asylum system.

The return of one man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing to Libya, where he got a hero's welcome, has caused an international outcry while the return of hundreds of boat migrants to Libya, where they face certain detention and probable brutal mistreatment, causes nary a peep.

African immigrants who attempt the dangerous boat journey across the Mediterranean to Italy face a double dose of hardship. Since May, if their vessels are intercepted by the Italian authorities, they have been summarily returned to Libya, where migrants typically suffer widespread mistreatment.

Italy intercepts African boat migrants and asylum seekers, fails to screen them for refugee status or other vulnerabilities, and forcibly returns them to Libya, where many are detained in inhuman and degrading conditions and abused.

This submission outlines Human Rights Watch’s concerns with the laws enacted by eight German states (Länder) restricting teachers and other civil servants from wearing visible religious symbols or clothing. The preliminary findings of our ongoing research in this area indicate that these laws and policies contravene Germany’s international obligations to guarantee individuals the right to freedom of religion and equality before the law.

I am writing to express Human Rights Watch's profound concern at the German government's intention to endorse formally the use of diplomatic assurances in the regulations governing the Residence Act.

With the visit of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to Rome this week, Italy and Libya are celebrating their recently ratified Friendship Treaty. But this pact, which has already resulted in joint naval patrols that run roughshod over refugee and migrant rights - as Tana de Zulueta commented - is hardly cause for celebration.

This submission sets out Human Rights Watch’s concerns with provisions in the Coroners and Justice Bill 2009 giving the Secretary of State broad scope to declare an inquest closed to public scrutiny.

A BBC investigation has revealed powerful evidence that the separatist ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) maintained a network of detention facilities in Kosovo and Albania, where it held both ethnic Serbs, Roma, Albanian and other captives. The investigation follows credible allegations in the book The Hunt, by Carla del Ponte, former chief prosecutor of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, about the abduction and cross-border transfer of around 400 ethnic Serbs and other captives from Kosovo to northern Albania after the withdrawal of Serbian forces on June 1999. Read More >>

Throughout Europe, over the past decade, there has been a loud - and at times openly xenophobic - debate about whether a Muslim woman should be allowed to wear a headscarf while on duty in a government job.

We write in advance of Parliament’s debate on the renewal of the control order regime under sections 1 through 9 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.

The United Kingdom’s system of “control orders” to restrict the day-to-day activities of terrorism suspects should be amended to comply with international human rights standards.

The ruling today by the European Court of Human Rights on the United Kingdom’s detention policy for foreign terrorism suspects confirms that indefinite detention violates basic rights, Human Rights Watch said.

The Labour government has every reason to be proud of the Human Rights Act. In 1997, Jack Straw, then Home Secretary, described the Act's passage through Parliament as "an historic day" for rights in Britain. Yet, last December, Straw, now Justice Secretary, declared in an interview that he was "frustrated" by the way that the courts had interpreted the Human Rights Act, encouraging a perception that it is "a villain's charter".

Greece is on the European Union frontline, and needs closer co-operation with the EU to protect the union's external borders. But rather than co-operation based on high standards and mutual respect, it appears that other EU member states are all too willing to look the other way as Greece performs their dirty work of keeping migrants out.

Some 1,000 unaccompanied migrant children who have entered Greece in 2008 without parents or caregivers struggle to survive without any state assistance.

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 Dublin system fails to consider the legitimate interest asylum seekers have in choosing where to apply and unfairly allocates the burden of processing claims to the states on the EU's external frontiers.

The European Union should ensure that measures aimed at integrating migrants also respect their human rights. EU integration ministers will meet in Vichy, France, on November 3 and 4, 2008 to discuss common approaches to integration in Europe. 

The British government should immediately halt plans to deport foreign terrorism suspects to countries that offer unreliable promises not to torture them.

The European Union should resist British government efforts to gain acceptance for the use of diplomatic assurances against torture in national security deportations and extraditions.

The counterterrorism bill being debated in the House of Lords still contains provisions that would undermine human rights, and they should be defeated.

Spain's accelerating effort to send back unaccompanied children who enter the country illegally might subject them to danger, ill-treatment and detention.

We are writing in advance of the October 15 discussion in Geneva on the conflict over South Ossetia to urge the EU to prioritize the protection of civilians during the discussions and through the work of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia.

The United Kingdom should heed calls in a critical UN report to drop proposals to detain terrorism suspects for 42 days without charge.

We are writing to call your attention to the conclusions of two recent reviews of the United Kingdom's human rights record by authoritative international human rights bodies.

France should urgently carry out recommendations from a top United Nations human rights body critical of its approach to counterterrorism, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the French government. 

We are writing to call your attention to the conclusions of two recent reviews of France's human rights record by authoritative international human rights bodies. In July, the United Nations Human Rights Committee conducted a comprehensive review of France's compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

This Wednesday, unless the UK foreign secretary takes rapid action, Britain’s High Court will hold a hearing to assess whether the UK government should be ordered to hand over secret documents to lawyers for a Guantanamo detainee. The detainee in question, Binyam Mohamed, faces possible charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism before a military commission at Guantanamo.

On August 21, 2008, Binyam Mohamed, a former UK resident detained at Guantanamo who is slated for trial before the military commissions, won the first stage in a battle for access to evidence showing he was tortured. The British government, which previously refused to turn over evidence that may back up Mohamed’s claims, was given one week by a UK court to reconsider its refusal, concluding that the information is essential for Mohamed to adequately defend himself. In a letter sent today, Human Rights Watch urges the British government to disclose to Mohamed’s lawyers any and all evidence it has about his interrogation and detention.

It is not just in the United States that aggressive counterterrorism measures have raised serious human rights concerns. This month, the UK House of Lords began debating a draft counterterrorism law that would institute a number of harmful proposals, including granting police the power to detain terrorism suspects for up to six weeks without charge.

The Dutch government should suspend its discriminatory “integration test abroad” – an exam on Dutch language and society – that is required for family migrants from some non-Western countries following a July 15 court ruling that the test is unlawful, Human Rights Watch said today.

We are writing in reaction to two letters, sent in your name and the name of the State Secretary of Justice to the Chairperson of the Lower Chamber on June 17, 2008. The letters were prompted by questions to the government from members of parliament Boris van der Ham (D66) and Sadet Karabulut (SP) regarding our recent briefing paper on the Netherlands—“Discrimination in the Name of Integration,” requesting an official response to the paper.

European Union governments should vote in favor of a proposed directive providing protection from discrimination on a broad range of grounds including sexual orientation, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to leaders of all 27 member states. European Union law presently bans discrimination based on sexual orientation, disability, age or religion, in employment only.

We are writing to express our profound concern about the possible eviction of Roma inhabitants in the Batalova Vodenitsa neighborhood of Sofia. We have learned from a colleague organization that approximately 180 inhabitants from this area risk imminent eviction, and the demolition of their homes. We understand that eviction orders issued by your office in 2005 were upheld by the Supreme Administrative Court in 2006.

A draft terror law giving British authorities the power to detain terrorism suspects for up to six weeks without charge violates the fundamental right to liberty and risks undermining counterterrorism efforts, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today.

The British government today regrettably allowed an abusive former Tamil Tiger leader who had been in its custody to return to Sri Lanka as a free man, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the Sri Lankan government to investigate and prosecute Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, known as Colonel Karuna Amman, for war crimes committed as a commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and later as head of an anti-LTTE armed group.

In its effort to fight terrorism, France routinely arrests and prosecutes people for being associated with possible terror suspects, undermining international fair trial standards, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

In a June 18 joint letter to the government of Denmark, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International Commission of Jurists, and Redress Trust urge the Danish Minister of Justice to uphold the absolute ban on sending national security suspects to places where they are at risk of torture and to reject "diplomatic assurances" against such abuse from governments with poor records on torture and ill-treatment.

The power to detain terrorism suspects for up to six weeks without charge violates the fundamental right to liberty and risks undermining counterterrorism efforts, Human Rights Watch said today. On June 11, 2008, the House of Commons narrowly approved a provision in a counterterrorism bill that allows for 42-day pre-charge detention.

Tomorrow, the House of Commons will vote on a counter-terrorism bill which the government claims offers significant "practical safeguards" to ensure the protection of the rights of those accused of terrorism. It doesn't. Despite all the consultations and concessions, the government's proposals remain unnecessary, disproportionate and counterproductive.

The UK government’s bid to detain terrorism suspects for up to six weeks without charge violates the fundamental right to liberty and risks undermining counterterrorism efforts, Human Rights Watch said today. On June 11, the House of Commons will vote on a counterterrorism bill that includes 42-day pre-charge detention and other harmful proposals.

An investigation by the Spanish Ombudsman has revealed serious shortcomings in two Canary Islands emergency care centers housing up to 200 unaccompanied migrant children, Human Rights Watch said today.

I am writing to express Human Rights Watch’s deep concern over the expulsion of Sami Ben Khemais Essid to Tunisia. Essid was expelled on the evening of June 3, 2008, from Fiumicino airport, under an expedited procedure for national security removals. Essid had been scheduled to appear in a Milan courtroom that day for a preliminary hearing on terrorism charges. It is our understanding he is now in Mornaguia prison pending retrial for a series of absentia convictions in Tunisia. At this writing we do not have information about his physical well-being.

Italy should immediately halt all efforts to expel Essid Sami Ben Khemais to Tunisia, because of its established record of torture, Human Rights Watch said today. At the time of writing on June 3, 2008, Ben Khemais, a Tunisian national facing terrorism charges in Italy, was being held at Fiumicino airport outside Rome and could be put on a plane to Tunis at any time.

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.

We’ve gathered at the home of the Gaelic Games to write a major new piece of international law. Here in the massive Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, nearly 1,000 diplomats and campaigners are thronging the chilly halls to hammer out the final text of a treaty banning cluster munitions. The United Kingdom is one of the lynchpin nations here, but they are clinging to their last cluster munitions and have thoroughly isolated themselves.

The Netherlands should abolish the overseas “integration test” that discriminatorily targets only migrants of certain nationalities trying to join their families, while citizens from other, “western” countries are exempt, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. People of Moroccan and Turkish origin – two of the three largest “non-western” migrant communities in the Netherlands – have been especially affected.

France’s human rights record will come under scrutiny today at the United Nations Human Rights Council in a new country assessment mechanism called the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). With France poised to take up the presidency of the European Union in July, this is a perfect time for some straight talk on human rights in the country.

In a May 7, 2008 letter to the Spanish government, Human Rights Watch expressed its deep concern that the government of Spain is considering the extradition to Russia of Murat Ajmedovich Gasayev, in reliance on diplomatic assurances against torture and ill-treatment proffered by the Russian authorities. Murat Gasayev, an ethnic Chechen, was arrested and detained in August 2004 by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in Ingushetia and claims that during his interrogation he was tortured and ill-treated, before being released without charge. Human Rights Watch has reason to believe that, if extradited to Russia, Gasayev would again face a real risk of torture and ill-treatment, as well as the denial of a fair trial due to the potential use of evidence extracted from other detainees under torture, and respectfully requests that the Spanish government reject as unreliable and insufficient Russia’s diplomatic assurances in the Gasayev case, halt its efforts to extradite him, and refuse to seek such assurances in any future case where there is a real risk of torture or ill-treatment on return.

This submission will focus only on Human Rights Watch’s key concerns regarding Romania’s compliance with international human rights law in its treatment of children and youth living with HIV. It draws on research and recommendations presented in greater detail in our August 2006 report, Life Doesn’t Wait: Romania’s Failure to Protect and Support Children and Youth Living with HIV

The European Court of Human Rights decision to order France to suspend the deportation of an Algerian is a reminder that France’s expulsion policy may put people in harm’s way, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 23, 2008, the court ordered France to halt Kamel Daoudi’s deportation until it could review the case and issue a final decision on whether or not he could face torture or ill-treatment in Algeria.

The UK government should abandon its insistence on exempting certain weapons from the new cluster munitions treaty whose text is being finalized next month, Human Rights Watch said today. The government is seeking to weaken the treaty in other ways as well, Human Rights Watch said.

The alleged kidnappers of an Egyptian cleric in 2003 will go on trial in Milan on April 16 in what is the first ever legal challenge to the CIA’s controversial rendition program, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged the newly-elected Italian government to seek the extradition of 26 American CIA agents implicated in the abduction.

A British appeals court has dealt a serious blow to the government’s plan to deport national security suspects in reliance on assurances of humane treatment and fair trial on return.

This submission summarizes Human Rights Watch’s key concerns with the United Kingdom’s compliance with international human rights law in the context of the fight against terrorism.

When talking about Iranian asylum seekers, activists should be careful not to play the Home Office's game

The European Court of Human Rights today reaffirmed that the ban on deporting people to countries where they are at risk of torture or ill-treatment is absolute and unconditional.

On behalf of Human Rights Watch, I urge you to reject the proposed amendment to the definition of the family in Romania’s family code, a legislative initiative that would write discriminatory treatment of families into law.

Romanian legislators should reject a change to the Family Code that would narrow the definition of marriage to one exclusively between a man and woman, Human Rights Watch said in a letter sent today to government officials. The measure would deprive many Romanian families of basic civil rights and introduce inequality into law.

A proposed French law to further detain offenders after serving their sentences would violate the right to liberty and undermine the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said today. The French senate is due to debate a government-sponsored bill introducing the measure on January 30.

A group of nongovernmental organizations write in support of the application of Adel Abdul Hakim for a residence permit on humanitarian grounds in Sweden. The organizations respectfully request that the Swedish Migration Board evaluate the totality of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Hakim’s claim for resettlement and consider that the rights of recognized refugees, the right to family reunification, and the prohibition against torture so clearly implicated in his case strongly favor a positive decision on his application.

The European Court of Human Rights’ ruling that a lesbian woman can embark on the process of adopting a child means European states should ensure equality in the right to found a family, Human Rights Watch said today.

The British government’s plan to detain terrorism suspects for up to six weeks without charge violates the fundamental right to liberty and risks alienating British Muslims, Human Rights Watch said today. A new counterterrorism bill containing the proposals was presented to Parliament today.

Together with the US, the UK government should acknowledge its responsibility toward Iraqi refugees because of its military intervention in Iraq. But until now it has not even taken elementary steps to assist Iraq’s neighbours to deal with the crisis, nor to convince them to keep their doors open to refugees whose lives are in danger in Iraq.

Gordon Brown’s Government should recognize that sacrificing liberties in the fight against terrorism serves only to constitute a victory for the terrorists

(London, November 14, 2007) – The European Court of Human Rights ruling that the Czech government engaged in indirect discrimination against Roma children is a major step forward in implementing the European Convention on Human Rights, Human Rights Watch and INTERIGHTS said today.

The Italian government’s targeting of Romanians, and particularly those of Roma origin, for expulsion violates Italy’s international human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said today.

A decision by Britain’s highest court on the use of secret evidence against terrorism suspects sets an important precedent, Human Rights Watch said today.

The British government should abandon its effort to extend pre-charge detention in terrorism cases beyond the current 28-day limit, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. The home secretary is due to give evidence on Monday to the Parliamentary Home Affairs Committee on proposed counterterrorism legislation, including extended detention.

Eighty-seven percent of the French public believes France should play a more active role on the European scene to protect human rights worldwide, Human Rights Watch said today. At a news conference to open its’ Paris office, held at Sciences-Po Paris, Human Rights Watch released the results of an opinion poll conducted by the French institute, Opinion Way. This poll showed the public wanted France to increase its commitment to human rights.

The Italian government should halt its efforts to deport a national security suspect back to Tunisia, where he faces the risk of torture and abuse despite the Tunisian government’s unreliable promises of humane treatment, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the Italian government.

Human Rights Watch is disturbed by the Italian authorities’ reliance upon diplomatic assurances from Tunisia to justify Saadi’s deportation as being consistent with its human rights obligations. Our research strongly indicates that assurances against torture and ill-treatment do not provide an effective safeguard for persons at risk of such abuse upon return. Such assurances are inherently unreliable and practically unenforceable. Their growing use in the Council of Europe region and elsewhere threatens to undermine the ban on torture and the nonrefoulement obligation.

The French parliament should improve the safeguards in the new immigration bill for those at risk of return to persecution and torture, Human Rights Watch urged in a letter to deputies and senators released today.

We are writing to express our concern about elements of the draft bill concerning “Immigration control, integration and asylum.” As currently drafted, the procedural safeguards in the bill are inadequate to protect against return to the risk of persecution under the Refugee Convention.

The British authorities should not use terrorism powers against protesters at London’s Heathrow airport, Human Rights Watch said today. In a demonstration against global warming, hundreds of protesters have set up a tent camp next to the airport to pressure the government to halt the airport’s planned expansion.

The UK government’s decision to reconsider its refusal to grant special asylum arrangements for Iraqi interpreters serving with British forces in Iraq is welcome, but does not go far enough, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the UK’s Refugee Council said today.

Mr Brown says that the relationship between Britain and America is "built on the things we share, the same enduring values about the importance of liberty, opportunity, the dignity of the individual". Just add justice and human rights, and that accurately sums up my own relationship with my American colleagues. These are the values - universal values - that Human Rights Watch was established to promote and protect. Human Rights Watch has shown how US and UK approaches to terrorism have, in defiance of international standards, led to the watering down of exactly the values of liberty, justice and human dignity of which Mr Brown and his ministers speak.

The UK government’s proposals to extend from 28 days to almost two months the time suspects can be detained without charge will violate the right to liberty, Human Rights Watch said today. It is also likely to be deeply counterproductive in the fight against terrorism.

We write to express our profound concern about the detention by Czech authorities of Omonillo Maksudov and Zohid Mirzaev, both recognized refugees from Uzbekistan residing in Germany. We understand that Czech border police arrested Maksudov and Mirzaev pursuant to an Interpol warrant based on an extradition request posted by the Uzbek government, following their entry into the Czech Republic on July 2.

Germany should immediately stop revoking the refugee status of Iraqi refugees and should reconsider the cases of more than 18,000 Iraqis who have been stripped of their refugee status, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to German authorities.

Herrn
Dr. Albert Schmid
Präsident des Bundesamtes für Migration und Flüchtlinge
90343 Nürnberg

Dear Dr. Schmid:

In his response to the attempted terrorist bombings in London and the attack in Glasgow, Gordon Brown may have revealed a change of approach to counterterrorism. There was no overreaction, despite the seriousness of the threat, and no rush to introduce new security measures that flout human rights.

Gordon Brown should revive the UK’s dormant championship of human rights and push the EU to fill the leadership void so that at least one strong global player stands up to the worst abusers and speaks up for the abused. That’s how to win the ‘struggle of ideas and ideals’.

Portugal should use its presidency of the European Union to step up the defense of rights worldwide, Human Rights Watch said today. Portugal takes over the rotating EU Presidency from Germany for six months beginning on July 1.

When Gordon Brown takes over as British prime minister later this month, his government should revamp UK counterterrorism policies that have undermined human rights and alienated communities whose cooperation is vital to combat terrorism, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today.

It is essential that the new prime minister adopt an approach to terrorism that supports rather than undermines the government's efforts to prevent the radicalisation and recruitment of violent extremists. He can only do that by reviving the UK's leadership on human rights.

The Human Rights Act is one of the Labour Government’s most enlightened achievements. Its purpose, according to Tony Blair, was to “bring rights home,” allowing people to assert their rights in the UK rather than taking the arduous path to European Court in Strasbourg. The adoption of the Act reflected Britain’s long-standing British commitment to promoting human rights around the world, and the leading role that the UK played in establishing the international human rights system.

The Central Intelligence Agency secretly operated illegal prisons for terrorism suspects in multiple locations in Poland and Romania from 2003 to 2005, according to a report released today by the Council of Europe, a European intergovernmental human rights body.