• An undated aerial handout photo shows the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters building in Fort Meade, Maryland.
    Handout via Reuters
    US: Urgent Need for Surveillance Reforms
    Recent revelations about the scope of US national security surveillance highlight how dramatic increases in private digital communications and government computing power are fueling surveillance practices that impinge on privacy in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. There is an urgent need for the US Congress to reevaluate and rewrite surveillance laws in light of those technological developments and put in place better safeguards against security agency overreach.
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Internet Freedom

  • US: Protect National Security Whistleblowers
    Jun 18, 2013
    The United States should protect people who use classified or other sensitive government information to expose what appear to be serious human rights violations and other government wrongdoing, Human Rights Watch said in a statement released today.
  • US: Statement on Protection of Whistleblowers in Security Sector
    Jun 18, 2013
    The recent public disclosures of US National Security Agency (NSA) dragnet surveillance have given new urgency to an important global debate on what controls are needed to ensure that the rights of people everywhere to privacy, expression, information and association are adequately protected.
  • US/Germany: End Mass Surveillance
    Jun 18, 2013
    On Tuesday (18 June), the German chancellor and the US president will embrace each other. Eyes will be shining as both sides praise the German-American friendship. After all, this visit from Washington is an election campaign present for Angela Merkel, and the president can hope for symbolic pictures to build his own legend.
  • US: Urgent Need for Surveillance Reforms
    Jun 11, 2013
    Recent revelations about the scope of US national security surveillance highlight how dramatic increases in private digital communications and government computing power are fueling surveillance practices that impinge on privacy in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. There is an urgent need for the US Congress to reevaluate and rewrite surveillance laws in light of those technological developments and put in place better safeguards against security agency overreach.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of the UPR of the United Arab Emirates
    Jun 7, 2013
    The Human Rights Council’s review of the United Arab Emirates comes at a time of serious concern about the rights situation in the country. Human Rights Watch has described the mass trial of 94 Emirati dissidents as “fundamentally unfair” and has documented numerous violations of fair trial rights and credible allegations of torture at UAE state security facilities.
  • Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 7 June 2013
    Jun 7, 2013
    The news at the moment is dominated by the PRISM scandal...
  • Singapore: Licensing Regime Chills News Climate
    Jun 7, 2013
    The Singaporean government should withdraw an onerous new licensing requirement for online news sites. The new rules will further discourage independent commentary and reporting on the Internet in Singapore.
  • India: New Monitoring System Threatens Rights
    Jun 7, 2013
    The Indian government should enact clear laws to ensure that increased surveillance of phones and the Internet does not undermine rights to privacy and free expression, Human Rights Watch said today.
  • Jordan: Rescind Order to Block Websites
    Jun 4, 2013
    Jordanian authorities should immediately rescind an order to censor 263 unlicensed local news websites.The government should also scrap recent legislation that allows it to encroach on online media freedom. The attempts to regulate online speech violate Jordan’s constitutional free expression guarantees.
  • Burundi: Online Newspaper Forum Suspended
    Jun 3, 2013

    The decision by the National Communication Council to suspend the readers’ forum of the Burundian newspaper Iwacu infringes on the right to freedom of expression. The government should lift the suspension and allow the newspaper to resume publication of its readers’ comments page.

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