• US: Transfer CIA Drone Strikes to Military
    Apr 20, 2012
    Remarks by a US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official suggesting the agency is not legally bound by the laws of war underscore the urgent need for the Obama administration to transfer command of all aerial drone strikes to the armed forces.
  • ‘Friends of Syria’: Push to End Indiscriminate Shelling
    Feb 24, 2012

    Governments at the “Friends of Syria” meeting in Tunis on February 24, 2012, should enlist the support of Russia and China to push Syria to stop its indiscriminate shelling of residential neighborhoods in the city of Homs. They should also press Syria to allow delivery of humanitarian aid and permit safe passage for all civilians who wish to leave.

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  • US: ‘Targeted Killing’ Policy Disregards Human Rights Law
    May 1, 2012
    Human Rights Watch responded to a statement made by chief US counterterrorism advisor John Brennan on April 30, 2012, that sought to clarify and justify the US use of aerial drones in targeted killings in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere.
  • Statement on Explosive Remnants of War in Libya and the Implementation of Convention on Conventional Weapons Protocol V
    Apr 25, 2012

    Mark Hiznay, senior researcher in the Arms division, delivered a statement on explosive remnants of war in Libya and the implementation of CCW Protocol V.

  • US: Transfer CIA Drone Strikes to Military
    Apr 20, 2012
    Remarks by a US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official suggesting the agency is not legally bound by the laws of war underscore the urgent need for the Obama administration to transfer command of all aerial drone strikes to the armed forces.
  • ‘Friends of Syria’: Push to End Indiscriminate Shelling
    Feb 24, 2012

    Governments at the “Friends of Syria” meeting in Tunis on February 24, 2012, should enlist the support of Russia and China to push Syria to stop its indiscriminate shelling of residential neighborhoods in the city of Homs. They should also press Syria to allow delivery of humanitarian aid and permit safe passage for all civilians who wish to leave.

  • Q & A: US Targeted Killings and International Law
    Dec 19, 2011
    This Q&A focuses on legal and policy issues related to targeted killings, primarily attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles, known as drones, conducted by the US Armed Forces and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Human Rights Watch raised many of the issues addressed here in a December 2010 letter to President Obama.
  • US: End CIA Drone Attacks
    Dec 19, 2011
    The US government should transfer Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) command of aerial drone strikes to the armed forces and clarify its legal rationale for targeted killings, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Barack Obama and in a questions and answers document. A dramatic increase in the use of CIA drone strikes underscores the need for the US to demonstrate that the CIA adheres to international legal requirements for accountability, Human Rights Watch said.
  • Letter to President Obama: Targeted Killings by the US Government
    Dec 16, 2011
    The Obama administration has taken few steps to provide greater transparency and accountability in conducting targeted killings, intensifying concerns both in the US and abroad about the lawfulness of these attacks.
  • Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas
    Nov 4, 2011

    This short paper, co-authored by Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic, illuminates the humanitarian problems associated with explosive weapons in populated areas through selected documentation by Human Rights Watch.

  • Libya: Secure Unguarded Arms Depots
    Sep 9, 2011

    The National Transitional Council (NTC), the de facto authority that controls most of Libya, should take immediate steps to secure and guard weapons storage facilities in the areas under its control.

  • Germany/Saudi Arabia: Don’t Sell Out on Human Rights
    Jul 8, 2011
    Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany should consider the political signals her government is sending to Saudi Arabia before approving a deal to sell 200 German-made tanks to the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has a dismal human rights record and has deployed forces to Bahrain to help suppress pro-democracy protests there.
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