• Uzbekistan: US Decision Vindicates Forced Labor Victims
    Jun 20, 2013
    The United States government’s decision to downgrade Uzbekistan in a human trafficking ranking based on its use of forced and child labor sends a powerful message of support to the millions of Uzbeks forced to pick the country’s cotton crop. Moving Uzbekistan to the lowest category is one of the strongest efforts in years to hold Uzbekistan accountable for its atrocious record on forced labor
  • Qatar: Promises, Little Action on Migrant Workers’ Rights
    Feb 7, 2013
    Qatar has not delivered on its pledges to improve migrant workers’ rights, Human Rights Watch said today at a news conference in Doha about its World Report 2013. More than two years after it won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, It is high time for Qatar to deliver on its promises for reforms to prevent the trafficking and forced labor of migrant workers, Human Rights Watch said. The Qatar Supreme Committee for Qatar 2022 – the tournament’s quasi-governmental delivery committee – has made encouraging pledges on workers’ rights, but these lack detail. Nor do they mask the failure of the Qatari authorities either to reform exploitative laws, such as the kafala system of sponsorship-based employment and the prohibition on trade unions, or to enforce the prohibition on illegal recruitment fees and the confiscation of passports.
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Exploitation, Forced Labor & Trafficking

  • Uzbekistan: US Decision Vindicates Forced Labor Victims
    Jun 20, 2013
    The United States government’s decision to downgrade Uzbekistan in a human trafficking ranking based on its use of forced and child labor sends a powerful message of support to the millions of Uzbeks forced to pick the country’s cotton crop. Moving Uzbekistan to the lowest category is one of the strongest efforts in years to hold Uzbekistan accountable for its atrocious record on forced labor
  • US/New York: Increase Protections for Farmworkers
    Jun 17, 2013
    With the New York State legislative session scheduled to end on June 20, 2013, Human Rights Watch urges Republican Senate Leader Dean Skelos to schedule a vote on the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, and further urges the New York State Legislature to pass this important bill.
  • 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.
  • Universal Periodic Review: HRW Submission on Russia
    Apr 18, 2013
    Starting in June 2012, the Russian government reversed small, positive steps taken since the previous UPR, which had slightly loosened excessive government control over civil society organizations and aimed to improve pluralism in the political system. It launched a broad crackdown on freedom of assembly, association, and expression. Abuses in the counterinsurgency campaign in the North Caucasus continue. Several Russian regions have adopted homophobic laws, and preparations for the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi have been tainted by abuses.
  • Qatar: Promises, Little Action on Migrant Workers’ Rights
    Feb 7, 2013
    Qatar has not delivered on its pledges to improve migrant workers’ rights, Human Rights Watch said today at a news conference in Doha about its World Report 2013. More than two years after it won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, It is high time for Qatar to deliver on its promises for reforms to prevent the trafficking and forced labor of migrant workers, Human Rights Watch said. The Qatar Supreme Committee for Qatar 2022 – the tournament’s quasi-governmental delivery committee – has made encouraging pledges on workers’ rights, but these lack detail. Nor do they mask the failure of the Qatari authorities either to reform exploitative laws, such as the kafala system of sponsorship-based employment and the prohibition on trade unions, or to enforce the prohibition on illegal recruitment fees and the confiscation of passports.
  • North Korea: Activists Welcome Japan’s Support for Inquiry
    Feb 5, 2013

    The International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), consisting of over 40 leading human rights organizations and activists, today welcomes Japan’s strong position in favor of the establishment of a new United Nations commission of inquiry on serious human rights violations committed by the North Korean Government at home and abroad.

  • UAE: Backsliding on Human Rights
    Jan 31, 2013
    The Human Rights situation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) deteriorated rapidly during 2012, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013.
  • Uzbekistan: Forced Labor Widespread in Cotton Harvest
    Jan 25, 2013
    Uzbek authorities have increased the use of forced labor by adults and older children in the cotton sector during the past year. The move was apparently made to shift the burden away from younger children in response to public scrutiny and international pressure.
  • Tweets can't hide Uzbekistan's woeful record
    Jan 25, 2013
    Recent Twitter conversations between the wannabe-jet-set daughter of Uzbekistan’s authoritarian ruler and critics of the country’s atrocious human rights record may have been unusual and amusing. They may have even brought a rare blip of international media attention to a reclusive regime the world normally seems happy to ignore.
  • Q & A for Governments on a United Nations Commission of Inquiry on North Korea
    Jan 21, 2013
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