April 17, 2013

(New York) – The Bangladesh government should ensure a thorough and swift investigation, and publicly report on the progress made into the disappearance, torture, and killing of prominent labor rights activist Aminul Islam, Human Rights Watch said today in a public

March 28, 2013

(Washington, DC) – In June 2013, the US Supreme Court will decide two cases on the right of same-sex couples to civil marriage. Human Rights Watch has long advocated the right of same-sex couples to marry based on the international human rights principles of nondiscrimination and equal protection of the law.

How Iran's Crackdown on Rights Compelled One Man to Leave His Home
December 13, 2012
How Iran's Crackdown on Rights Compelled One Man to Leave His Home

The Iranian activist Kaveh Kermanshahi was free on bail in 2010 when an Iranian court sentenced him to four years in prison for his work on Kurdish and women’s rights. Kermanshahi, who was 26 at the time, decided he couldn’t return to prison, where he had been tortured, interrogated, and held in solitary confinement for four months after he was arrested earlier that year.

October 1, 2012

When Namrata, a Bangladeshi Hindu, asked for a glass of water, her husband instead gave her a glass of acid. Today, with her mouth and throat destroyed, she eats through a feeding tube. Having already spent her life savings, her husband disappeared after the attack.

Yet Namrata cannot legally divorce her husband due to Bangladesh’s archaic Hindu family laws.

The Role the Judge Believes Feminism Played
August 23, 2012
The Role the Judge Believes Feminism Played

by Rachel Denber

We stood on the steps inside the Moscow courthouse – the nearby courtroom was jam-packed -- listening as the judge read into a microphone her guilty verdict against three members of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot.

As Women Flee Violence in Rural Areas, Cities Offer No Safe Haven
July 24, 2012
As Women Flee Violence in Rural Areas, Cities Offer No Safe Haven

I sat down with Mercedes on a sleepy afternoon in Medellin, Colombia. She was nervous. I was exhausted. Mercedes was my 60th interview with women and girls in Colombia – all of whom survived sexual or family violence, and all of whom had fled their close-knit rural communities for large, anonymous cities because of serious threats to them or their family.

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May 22, 2012

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has fully implemented its new directive, announced in January, on immigration detainee transfers. The directive limits ICE’s ability to transfer detainees with nearby immediate family or attorneys of record to other detention facilities.

March 9, 2012

More than 50 million viewers of the Kony 2012 viral video now know that Joseph Kony, founder and leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, is a wanted man with the blood of many on his hands.

La hermana Consuelo Morales recibe el Premio Alison Des Forges al Activismo Extraordinario
November 1, 2011
La hermana Consuelo Morales recibe el Premio Alison Des Forges al Activismo Extraordinario

La hermana Consuelo Morales ha visto un incremento dramático en el número de personas en Monterrey que son torturadas, asesinadas o "desaparecidas" en los cuatro años desde que el Presidente de México envió a las fuerzas armadas para combatir los cárteles de las drogas.

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Sister Consuelo Morales Receives the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism
October 31, 2011
Sister Consuelo Morales Receives the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism

Sister Consuelo Morales has seen the number of people in Monterrey who are tortured, killed, or “disappeared” skyrocket in the four years since Mexico’s president unleashed the military to combat drug cartels.

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