• Haiti: Duvalier Ruling Disappoints Justice
    Jan 31, 2012
    A Haitian judge’s decision to dismiss the case against former president-for-life Jean-Claude Duvalier for grave human rights violations ignores Haiti’s international obligation to prosecute such crimes.
  • US: Number of Aging Prisoners Soaring
    Jan 27, 2012
    Aging men and women are the most rapidly growing group in US prisons, and prison officials are hard-pressed to provide them appropriate housing and medical care. Because of their higher rates of illness and impairments, older prisoners incur medical costs that are three to nine times as high as those for younger prisoners.
More news »

Reports

Prisons

  • Haiti: Duvalier Ruling Disappoints Justice
    Jan 31, 2012
    A Haitian judge’s decision to dismiss the case against former president-for-life Jean-Claude Duvalier for grave human rights violations ignores Haiti’s international obligation to prosecute such crimes.
  • US: Number of Aging Prisoners Soaring
    Jan 27, 2012
    Aging men and women are the most rapidly growing group in US prisons, and prison officials are hard-pressed to provide them appropriate housing and medical care. Because of their higher rates of illness and impairments, older prisoners incur medical costs that are three to nine times as high as those for younger prisoners.
  • Ending Forced Labor in Vietnam’s Drug Detention Centers
    Nov 16, 2011

    Since its September release, our report on the drug detention centers in southern Vietnam has already compelled two major multinational companies to cut ties with these facilities—US-based Columbia Sportswear Co. and Swiss-based Verstergaard Frandsen.

  • 30 Years into the HIV Epidemic, Still Locked Up and Left Out
    Aug 4, 2011
    Worldwide, funding for HIV programs decreased last year, and UNAIDS estimates that there is a $6 billion annual gap between what is needed and what donors are prepared to provide. Until more funding is available, demanding more funds to address HIV in prisons risks robbing Peter to pay Paul. But there is a better approach.
  • HIV and TB Spread Unchecked in Uganda's Prisons
    Jul 25, 2011
    Uganda remains a darling of international health donors, though its incoherent approach to targeting HIV is now notable for leaving out people at risk of infection, such as sex workers, migrants, men who have sex with men, people with disabilities, and prisoners.
  • Hard Life in Ugandan Prisons
    Jul 14, 2011

    “Help us, we’ll die,” read a note from 10 prisoners at Muinaina Farm Prison in Uganda to Human Rights Watch. They were right to worry. There is hardly any medical care available at Muinaina, yet many of its prisoners are sick. Why are these people being sent to places like Muinaina? To work.

  • Bahrain: An Unfolding Human Rights Crisis
    Jul 5, 2011
    The Bahrain government, since March 2011, has been carrying out a punitive and vindictive campaign of violent repression against its own citizens.
  • Health and human rights of women imprisoned in Zambia
    Jun 22, 2011
    The healthcare needs and general experience of women in detention in sub-Saharan Africa are rarely studied and poorly understood. A mixed-methods study was conducted including in-depth interviews with 38 adult female prisoners and 21 prison officers in four Zambian prisons to assess the health and human rights concerns of female detainees. Key informant interviews with 46 officials from government and non-governmental organizations and a legal and policy review were also conducted.
  • Cuba: Stop Imprisoning Peaceful Dissidents
    Jun 1, 2011
    The conviction of six dissidents in summary trials for doing no more than exercising their fundamental rights highlights the continuing abuse of the criminal justice system to repress dissent in Cuba. Raúl Castro's government should immediately release the prisoners, who were given sentences ranging from two to five years in prison, and cease all politically motivated repression against Cubans who exercise their fundamental freedoms.
  • Uganda: Languishing Behind Bars
    Apr 28, 2011
    The Ugandan justice minister should immediately issue orders to release 11 prisoners with psychosocial or mental disabilities who have languished in prison for years without resolution of their cases, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the minister. All 11 have been found not guilty by reason of insanity but returned by the courts to prison, where they are placed on "minister's orders" status indefinitely until the minister decides on a course of action.
more documents on this topic »