Screening of "Bitter Seeds" Film
Thursday, Sept. 13 at the Evanston Library from 630-9pm

Attend this free screening and discussion of Bitter Seeds, a film about the impact of GMOs and the "New Green Revolution," at the Evanston Library on Thursday, Sept. 13, from 630-9pm.  Learn more about the film here.  

US Should Stop Funding Governments That Use Child Soldiers
July 9, 2012
Referenced content (HRW): 
U.S. Must Enforce Ban on Child Soldiers
Annotations: 
The Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008--authored by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D)--prohibits military aid to governments that use child soldiers. Several of these countries, however, continue to receive US military assistance, despite exploiting children as young as 11. The Obama administration cannot tolerate such behavior, and it must make clear to these nations that US aid will be withheld should they fail to cease their use of child soldiers.
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See the original legislation here
  • Children recruited by the armed Islamist group al-Shabaab, at a training camp in the Afgooye Corridor, west of Mogadishu, southern Somalia, in February 2011.
    © 2011 Private
California Passes Bill to Allow Review of Juvenile Life Without Parole Sentences: Illinois Should Follow Suit
June 28, 2012
Referenced content (HRW): 
US/California: Chance for Justice for Youth
Annotations: 
Only weeks after the Supreme Court of the United States struck down statutes in 29 states, including Illinois, that provided for mandatory life-without-parole sentences for children, the California State Assembly and California State Senate have passed a bill that allows the review of life without parole sentences for youth offenders. Illinois should recognize children's capacity for change and follow suit.
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Read the bill here
  • The Ryan Correctional Facility in Detroit. Michigan is among the states that sentence offenders under age 18 to life without the possibility of parole.
    © 2007 Associated Press
Update: Governor Quinn Announces Closure of Tamms Correctional Facility
April 19, 2012
Referenced content (HRW): 
Illinois: Proposed Closure of Tamms Supermax a Step in the Right Direction
Annotations: 
Tamms Correctional Facility, Illinois' only supermaximum security prison, is slated to be closed as part of an effort by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to reduce the state's spending. The facility's closure also represents an advance for human rights. Long term solitary confinement is tantamount to torture and fails to meet international human rights standards. Tamms is scheduled to close by August 31, 2012.
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SUPPORT TAMMS' CLOSURE
  • Tamms Year Ten is a coalition of prisoners, ex-prisoners, families, attorneys and other concerned citizens who came together, after ten years of misguided and inhumane policies, to call for legislative oversight at Tamms. They organized this rally in Chicago in 2012.
    ( William DeShazer, Chicago Tribune / April 4, 2012 )
NATO Summit in Chicago: "Dereliction of Duty"
April 19, 2012
Referenced content (HRW): 
“I Had To Run Away”
Annotations: 
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held meetings in Chicago from May 20-21. As the announced departure of US and NATO forces in 2014 draws closer, many Afghan women look to the future with fear. They worry that the troop pullout signals the end of interest in Afghanistan, and with it the international commitment to push the Afghan government to promote and protect women's rights. Stay informed about the situation in Afghanistan and help us keep women's rights at the top of the agenda.
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READ MORE
  • A prisoner covers her face while sitting outside a room that she shares with 15 other women prisoners in March 2010. Women in Afghanistan face serious barriers to obtaining custody of their children in the event of a divorce. Several women told Human Rights Watch that when they left prison they would have to choose between returning to an abusive husband with custody of their children or never seeing their children again. Most planned to return to their husbands.
    © 2010 Farzana Wahidy
Fair Sentencing for Illinois Youth?
August 23, 2010
Referenced content (HRW): 
US: The Young Are Different, Justices Rule
Annotations: 
The Chicago Committee of Human Rights Watch is a member of the Illinois Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Children, a project of the Northwestern Children and Family Justice Clinic. Learn more about how you can get involved to address mandatory life sentences for youth. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the young are indeed different, but what needs to be done at the state level to address the issue?
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JOIN THE FAIR SENTENCING COALITION

  • These photos are of youth who were sentenced to life in prison without parole. Each photo was taken within one year of the time of the crime. In the majority of the United States and under federal law, people are serving sentences of life without parole for crimes committed before their eighteenth birthday.

    © 2005 Private
Voices for Justice
Human Rights Watch Annual Dinner SAVE THE DATE

Please join us in honoring Sister Conseulo Morales, a human rights defender from Mexico, for her leadership, tenacity, and courage to speak out in the face of repression. For her commitment and courage in the defense of human rights, we will honor her with our highest award, The Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism.

» Contact Us

Jobi Petersen Cates, Director
Renée Mechanic, Senior Coordinator
Claire Gaiefsky, Associate

The Chicago Committee, formed in 2004, is part of a network of support committees composed of opinion leaders from a variety of backgrounds in North America and Europe.

Youth Producing Change: Call for Submissions:
Human Rights Watch and Adobe Youth Voices Seek Films Made by Young People
October 29, 2009
Human Rights Watch and Adobe Youth Voices Seek Films Made by Young People
Author(s): 
Deadline: December 10, 2009

The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival in partnership with Adobe Youth Voices seeks youth-produced film, video and animated works on human rights issues made by youth ages 19 and under for its third annual YOUTH PRODUCING CHANGE program.

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