• Iraq: Halt Execution of Yemeni Juvenile
    Dec 9, 2012
    Iraqi authorities should immediately stay the execution of a Yemeni national who was 16 at the time of his alleged offense.
  • Egypt: A Year of Abuses Against Detained Children
    Nov 19, 2012
    Egyptian police and military officers have arrested and detained over 300 children during protests in Cairo over the past year, in some cases beating or torturing them, Human Rights Watch said today. Frequently, these children were illegally jailed with adult prisoners, tried in adult courts, and denied their rights to counsel and notification of their families, Human Rights Watch found.
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Juvenile Justice

  • Iraq: Halt Execution of Yemeni Juvenile
    Dec 9, 2012
    Iraqi authorities should immediately stay the execution of a Yemeni national who was 16 at the time of his alleged offense.
  • Egypt: A Year of Abuses Against Detained Children
    Nov 19, 2012
    Egyptian police and military officers have arrested and detained over 300 children during protests in Cairo over the past year, in some cases beating or torturing them, Human Rights Watch said today. Frequently, these children were illegally jailed with adult prisoners, tried in adult courts, and denied their rights to counsel and notification of their families, Human Rights Watch found.
  • Ban Solitary Confinement of Children
    Nov 7, 2012
    Solitary confinement is a bad idea for prisoners of any age. It is costly, does nothing to rehabilitate prisoners and exacerbates mental health problems. All of that is never more evident than when young people are isolated in tiny cells. This practice should be banned.
  • US/Pennsylvania: Don't Codify Excessive Sentences for Children
    Oct 19, 2012
    Human Rights Watch writes to urge Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett to veto Senate Bill 850, which would maintain life without parole sentences as an option for child offenders. The bill would codify excessive sentences for children that are inconsistent with international human rights law to which all US states are bound.
  • How Not to Rehabilitate Young Prisoners
    Oct 18, 2012
    Prisons across the country rely too much on solitary confinement for prisoners young and old. It costs too much, does nothing to rehabilitate prisoners and exacerbates mental health problems. All of that is never more evident than when young people are locked away in solitary. It is time to ban the practice.
  • US: Teens in Solitary Confinement
    Oct 10, 2012

    Young people are held in solitary confinement in jails and prisons across the United States, often for weeks or months at a time.

  • Giving California’s Youth a Second Chance
    Oct 4, 2012
    Our research has shown that laws sentencing juveniles to life without parole are unjust. We estimate that across the nation, 59 percent of youth sentenced to life without parole are first-time offenders, without even a shoplifting record. In California, where the more than 300 youth serving life without parole constitute more than 10 percent of the nation’s total, African American youth receive this sentence at 18 times the rate for white youth.
  • US/California: New Hope for Youth Offenders
    Sep 30, 2012

    The law on youth sentencing signed by Governor Jerry Brown of California on September 30, 2012, provides hope for nearly 300 youth offenders sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Human Rights Watch said today. The new law, Senate Bill 9, will allow people who were under age 18 at the time of their crime to ask the sentencing court to review their case and consider a new sentence permitting parole after serving 25 years in prison.

  • Help Give California's Youth a Second Chance
    Sep 7, 2012
    In California, “life without parole” means just that – it is a sentence to die in prison. The United States is the only country in the world to impose this sentence on youth 17-years-old or younger, ignoring the ability of young people to grow and change.
  • US/California: Chance for Justice for Youth
    Aug 16, 2012
    The California State Assembly’s approval on August 16, 2012, of a bill to allow review of life without parole sentences for youth offenders is a step toward justice.
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