• Human Rights and International Justice

    Human Rights Watch considers international justice—accountability for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity—to be an essential element of building respect for human rights. We actively engage with the work of the International Criminal Court and other international tribunals as well as the efforts of national courts, including in Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Bosnia, to bring perpetrators of the worst crimes to justice. Human Rights Watch also supports the efforts of national courts to use their domestic laws to try those charged with serious crimes in violation of international law, regardless of where the crimes occurred.

  • Bosco Ntaganda poses for a photograph in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on October 5, 2010.
    © 2010 Reuters
    DR Congo: Congolese Warlord Should Face Justice
    The Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs today announced that Bosco Ntaganda, a Congolese rebel leader wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity, surrendered himself to the United States embassy in Kigali, Rwanda.
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    • Remembering Srebrenica and Reacting to Mladic's Arrest
      May 26 2011 - 18:06

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    The Economist's Online Debate on Peace and Justice
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International Justice

  • Why So Many Syrians Wish For Rain
    Apr 16, 2013
    Life in Aleppo is not easy. People here have suffered from shortages of food, electricity and running water, and there has been little humanitarian assistance. The long, cold winter months were particularly rough. The only possible consolation was that there were fewer air strikes because of the cloudy, rainy weather. The government’s jets only seem to fly – and drop bombs – when the sky is blue.
  • Will Kenya's new president respect international court?
    Apr 12, 2013
    Kenya's new president missed the opportunity on day one to declare unequivocal commitment to the International Criminal Court and his administration should do so as soon as possible, says campaign group
  • Côte d’Ivoire: Soldiers on Trial for Abuses
    Apr 11, 2013

    The opening in Côte d’Ivoire on April 11, 2013, of trials against soldiers allegedly implicated in crimes against civilians is a positive development, but little progress has been made in investigating the most politically sensitive cases involving government forces.

  • Syria: Aerial Attacks Strike Civilians
    Apr 10, 2013
    The Syrian Air Force has repeatedly carried out indiscriminate, and in some cases deliberate, air strikes against civilians. These attacks are serious violations of international humanitarian law (the laws of war), and people who commit such violations with criminal intent are responsible for war crimes.
  • Denying Genocide Won't Promote Reconciliation
    Apr 10, 2013

    A public debate at the UN on April 10 will serve up a revisionist denial of the worst killings in Europe since the end of World War II: the ethnic slaughter in the former Yugoslavia that horrified the world in the 1990s. While the session's ostensible purpose is to take "a closer look at the long-term impact of international criminal justice, in particular as it relates to reconciliation..." it is unlikely much thoughtful discussion will occur. 

  • Chad: Don’t Welcome Back Al-Bashir
    Apr 9, 2013
    The government of Chad should arrest President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan or bar him entry to the country.
  • Kenya: Q&A on Recent Developments on the International Criminal Court
    Apr 8, 2013

    On April 9, 2013, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta was sworn in as Kenya’s president, following a Supreme Court decision rejecting challenges to the March 2013 election. Kenyatta, along with the deputy president-elect, William Samoei Ruto, both face trial (in two separate cases) before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of committing crimes against humanity during Kenya’s 2007-2008 post-election violence.

  • Kenya: New Leadership Should Uphold Rights and Obligations
    Apr 8, 2013

    President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, who are being sworn in April 9, 2013, should ensure full cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC), Human Rights Watch said today. Their new government should also uphold and protect the bill of rights in Kenya’s constitution, Human Rights Watch said.

     

  • Is justice gaining a foothold?
    Apr 8, 2013
    Former Guatemalan strongman Efraín Ríos Montt went on trial in Guatemala City late last month on charges of genocide relating to the massacres of indigenous Mayan people during his rule.
  • Côte d’Ivoire: Unrealized Promises for Impartial Justice
    Apr 3, 2013
    The Ivorian government has not yet delivered on its promises of impartial accountability for the serious international crimes from the 2010-2011 post-election crisis, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The government should step up support to judges and prosecutors handling these cases so that victims from both sides can finally see justice.
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