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Human Rights in the U.S. US: California Marriage Ruling a Victory for Human Rights Historic Decision Confers Equal Right to Marriage to Same-Sex Couples The California Supreme Court’s ruling today striking down state law that limits marriage to opposite-sex couples is a victory for equality that should set a national and international example, Human Rights Watch said today. May 15, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version Executive Summary: The Rest of Their Lives Life without Parole for Youth Offenders in the United States in 2008 In this update to Human Rights Watch’s work on eliminating the sentence of life without parole for juvenile offenders, a number of findings are presented that illustrate the troublesome nature of the sentence and how it is applied to youthful offenders. Among those findings are that the United States is alone in the world in applying this harsh sentence to juveniles, that an estimated 59 percent of youth who receive the sentence had no prior adjudications or convictions, and that there are currently nearly 2,500 offenders who are serving life without parole for crimes committed while they were a juvenile. Additionally, data reveal that there are stark racial disparities in the imposition of the sentence, with black youth serving life without parole at a per capita rate that is 10 times the rate of white youth. May 13, 2008 Background Briefing Osama bin Laden's Media Director Puts on a Show at Guantanamo By Stacy Sullivan, counterterrorism advisor Published in The Huffington Post Human Rights Watch reports on the hearings for Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul before the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. Bahlul, who is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and terrorism, is alleged to have been Osama bin Laden's media director and reportedly prepared the videotaped will of 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta. May 12, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version Targeting Blacks Drug Law Enforcement and Race in the United States
HRW Index No.: 1-56432-315-3 May 5, 2008 Report Download PDF, 445 KB, 69 pgs Purchase online Read Press Release After Guantánamo By Kenneth Roth, executive director Published in The Huffington Post The US detention facility at Guantánamo Bay has become a stain on the United States' reputation. Shutting it down will cause new problems. Rather than hold terrorism suspects in preventive detention, the United States should turn them over to its criminal justice system. May 5, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version The Guantanamo Hearings In November 2001, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration announced that it planned to try foreign terrorism suspects by special military commissions. Now, more than six years after the commissions were first announced, no case has gone to trial, and only one person -- Australian David Hicks -- has been convicted. Despite widespread concerns about the commissions raised in the United States and abroad, commission hearings are proceeding. To date, the US government has announced charges against 15 men, including six cases in which the US is seeking the death penalty. May 4, 2008 Special Focus Printer friendly version Lawless in Guantanamo Even an Air Force colonel who once prosecuted detainees here is condemning military commissions at the prison as politicized and unjust. By Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel Published in salon.com "Everyone tells me the law. But where is the law?" asked Salim Hamdan, at his latest appearance this week in front of a military commission in Guantanamo Bay, nearly two years after he was first heard by a military commission there. In this commentary, Jennifer Daskal discusses the history of Hamdan's case, the military commissions system, and this week's events in Guantanamo's courtroom. May 2, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version Written Testimony to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the Human Rights Concerns of Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs Accurate and objective sexual education is critical to advancing public health and promoting human rights. This fact is widely accepted within the international community and is supported by the provisions of fundamental human rights instruments. Indeed, the current federal policy of funding abstinence-only programs while failing to fund comprehensive sexuality education raises serious human rights concerns. Federal abstinence-only programs threaten a number of basic human rights, including the rights to health, information, and nondiscrimination. April 30, 2008 Written Statement Printer friendly version US Department of Homeland Security: Release Report on Maher Arar Previous Information Released on the Canadian Transferred to Syria Fails to Address Concerns about Legality of Procedures Human Rights Watch joins partner organizations in writing to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and the Office of the Inspector General regarding the case of Maher Arar, the Canadian transferred from New York to Syria where he was reportedly tortured. The letter urges the immediate and entire release of the Inspector General's report on Arar, OIG-08-18, “The Removal of a Canadian Citizen to Syria.” April 24, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version Calling the Kettle Black By Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director Published in FindLaw In this commentary, Joanne Mariner discusses Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA), a law under which more than 70 men are currently held in preventive detention. Back in the pre-"war on terror" days, the United States would occasionally criticize Malaysia's reliance on the ISA. Now, Malaysian authorities have a ready response to US criticism: Guantanamo. But detainees in both places face secret evidence, an overall lack of due process, and, as a result, arbitrary detention. April 23, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version In Support of the "Prison Abuse Remedies Act of 2007"; Hearing in the House Judiciary Subcommittee Statement submitted by David Fathi, US Program director H.R. 4109, the Prison Abuse Remedies Act of 2007, would amend various provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), in particular what is known as the "physical injury requirement." In this written statement, Human Rights Watch supports the repeal of this provision, asserting that it is inconsistent with US obligations under international human rights treaties including the Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. April 22, 2008 Written Statement Printer friendly version US: Don’t Resume Lethal Injections Supreme Court Decision Not a Green Light for Executions The United States should not resume execution by lethal injection, despite a US Supreme Court decision that upheld its constitutionality, Human Rights Watch said today. April 16, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version "We'll make you see death" A harrowing account from a man the CIA handed over to Jordan – smuggled from prison on tiny paper – exposes U.S. complicity in torture. By Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director Published in salon.com During a recent visit to the home of someone who had been detained by the Jordanian intelligence service in 2002, Joanne Mariner was given two very thin strips of paper covered with Arabic writing and marked with a thumbprint. The message's author was a Yemeni terrorism suspect named Ali al-Hajj al-Sharqawi, who was arrested in Pakistan in February 2002. In this commentary, Joanne Mariner discusses the issue and the evidence of extraordinary renditions by the Central Intelligence Agency to Jordan, where detainees faced torture. April 10, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version What Happens When the Gloves Come Off By Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director Published in FindLaw "Why Jordan?" The question puzzled Abu Hamza al-Tabuki, a Saudi citizen who claims that US agents arrested him in Afghanistan in December 2001 and, after interrogating him in Pakistan, flew him in a private jet to Jordan. Al-Tabuki is one of more than a dozen terrorism suspects delivered to Jordan from US custody as part of the Central Intelligence Agency's secret rendition program. In Jordan, nearly all were subject to interrogation using torture. April 9, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version US/Jordan: Stop Renditions to Torture CIA Transfer of Suspects to Jordan for Interrogation Violates International Law The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) transferred at least 14 terrorist suspects to Jordanian custody for interrogation and torture since the September 11, 2001 attacks, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. April 8, 2008 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version Double Jeopardy CIA Renditions to Jordan
HRW Index No.: 1-56432-300-5 April 8, 2008 Report Also available in
Download PDF, 195 KB, 39 pgs Purchase online Read Press Release US: California May End ‘Life Without Parole’ for Youth Committee Approves Bill to Reform Sentencing of Young Offenders The California Senate’s Public Safety Committee has taken a historic step toward ending the practice of sentencing youth to die in prison by voting 3 to 2 in favor of the Juvenile Life Without Parole Reform Act (Senate Bill 1199), which would eliminate life-without-parole sentences for offenders under age 18. April 8, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version Human Rights Watch Calls on Congress to Support the “Youth PROMISE Act,” H.R. 3846 Letter to the US House of Representatives Human Rights Watch, an independent, nongovernmental organization dedicated to protecting human rights around the world, submits this letter in support of H.R. 3846, the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education Act (“Youth PROMISE Act”), and in opposition to H.R. 3547, the Gang Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression Act. Human Rights Watch supports the Youth PROMISE Act because it makes sense, comports with scientific research on prevention, intervention, and adolescent brain development, and is consistent with US treaty obligations under international law. In contrast, we oppose H.R. 3547 because its excessive emphasis on overly punitive sanctions—including life without parole sentences for youth —rather than prevention and intervention is contrary to basic principles of juvenile and criminal justice, is inappropriate in light of adolescent brain development research, and violates US treaty obligations under international law. April 7, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version Do Not Reinstate Corporal Punishment in Schools Letter to the Jackson, MS Public School District Board of Trustees March 27, 2008 Delmer C. Stamps, President Jackson Public School District Board of Trustees PO Box 2338 Jackson, MS 39255 Dear President Stamps: April 3, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version Letter Opposing the Nomination of Steven Bradbury to Be Assistant Attorney General Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Policy Center write to Senators Leahy and Specter, chair and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, opposing the nomination of Steven Bradbury to be Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel. As effective head of the OLC since June 2005, Bradbury’s approval of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading techniques to interrogate detainees defies applicable law and precedent. It is an affront to fundamental American values and has done enormous damage to America’s authority and reputation in the world. March 26, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version |
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