• US: New Prison Rape Standards Offer Landmark Protection
    May 17, 2012
    The long awaited national prison rape elimination standards issued on May 17, 2012 by the Justice Department, if fully implemented, may end widespread prison rape in the United States. The standards provide detailed guidance to federal, state, and local officials on how to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse in their confinement facilities.
  • Iraq: Mass Arrests, Incommunicado Detentions
    May 15, 2012

    Iraq’s government has been carrying out mass arrests and unlawfully detaining people in the notorious Camp Honor prison facility in Baghdad’s Green Zone, based on numerous interviews with victims, witnesses, family members, and government officials. The government had claimed a year ago that it had closed the prison, where Human Rights Watch had documented rampant torture.

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Prison and Jail Conditions

  • US: New Prison Rape Standards Offer Landmark Protection
    May 17, 2012
    The long awaited national prison rape elimination standards issued on May 17, 2012 by the Justice Department, if fully implemented, may end widespread prison rape in the United States. The standards provide detailed guidance to federal, state, and local officials on how to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse in their confinement facilities.
  • Iraq: Mass Arrests, Incommunicado Detentions
    May 15, 2012

    Iraq’s government has been carrying out mass arrests and unlawfully detaining people in the notorious Camp Honor prison facility in Baghdad’s Green Zone, based on numerous interviews with victims, witnesses, family members, and government officials. The government had claimed a year ago that it had closed the prison, where Human Rights Watch had documented rampant torture.

  • Syria: Activists Arrested, Held Despite Pledge to Annan
    May 13, 2012

    Syrian security forces are arbitrarily arresting and holding peaceful activists incommunicado, despite the government’s commitment under Kofi Annan’s six point plan to release everyone who has been arbitrarily detained. People being arrested include peaceful protesters and activists involved in organizing, filming, and reporting on protests and humanitarian assistance providers and doctors, Human Rights Watch said after interviewing dozens of activists, witnesses, and family members.

  • Yemen: Detained, Tortured, and Disappeared
    May 7, 2012
    Yemeni security forces have arbitrarily detained dozens of demonstrators and other perceived opponents of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh since anti-government protests began in February 2011. Human Rights Watch documented 37 cases in which security forces have held people for days, weeks, or months without charge, including 20 who were picked up or remained behind bars after the November 2011 power transfer.
  • Israel: Stop Jailing People Without Charge or Trial
    May 2, 2012

    Israel should immediately charge or release people jailed without charge or trial under so-called administrative detention.

  • Letter to Permanent Representatives of HRC Member States on the Upcoming UPR Session on Bahrain
    Apr 24, 2012
    Bahrain’s second UPR review also takes place following an extensive independent investigation into alleged serious human rights violations by the government in suppressing large anti-government protests that began in mid-February 2011. The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), comprising a team of five renowned international jurists, concluded, in its 489-page report released in late November, that a lack of accountability had led to what the Commissioners called a “culture of impunity” for widespread and systematic violations of international human rights law as well as Bahraini law.
  • The Human Rights Paradigm: The Foundation for a Criminal Justice System We Can Be Proud Of
    Mar 21, 2012
    Human rights are unmatched as guideposts toward a truly just criminal justice system. Advocates can look to them for a dignity-affirming template for progress.
  • Statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a mandate extension for the Special Rapporteur on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
    Mar 12, 2012

    Recently there was a leadership change in Pyongyang which saw the ascension of Kim Jong Un. Yet human rights abuses continue to be systematic and pervasive, making North Korea one of the worst rights abusing governments in the world.   

  • Illinois: Proposed Closure of Tamms Supermax a Step in the Right Direction
    Mar 8, 2012
    Human Rights Watch wrote to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to express support for his proposal to close the Tamms Correctional Center. We also sent similar letters to Illinois state legislators on the relevant appropriations committees and the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.
  • Honduras: Overhaul Prison Conditions
    Feb 15, 2012
    Honduras should urgently overhaul its prison system to end overcrowding and improve prison conditions.
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