HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH PUBLICATIONS CATALOGUE
Spring 2000

Each of the reports described here is our attempt to get at the truth. In that attempt we always begin by describing a problem-a human rights abuse-plaguing many people. The abuse may take the form of police brutality in Brazil, India, or the United States; the denial of political rights to citizens in Indonesia, Macedonia or Colombia; or violent acts committed purely because of the victims' ethnic background, as in Iraq, Rwanda or the Former Yugoslavia. We often send a member of our staff-a researcher-to talk with people who either experienced the abuse themselves or witnessed it. Our researchers try to meet local activists already working to solve the problem and together, we devise a plan of action. Our researcher then returns home, reviews the notes taken in the field, gathers more information from a variety of sources, consults with colleagues, and writes.

Since our founding, we have published more than a thousand reports on over one hundred countries worldwide. This catalog lists only those reports we currently have available. We sell the reports in an attempt to recoup some of the tremendous expenses accumulated during their research, production, and distribution.

Through field investigations and an extensive network of sources around the globe, Human Rights Watch recently examined the human rights violations associated with refugees in Sierra Leone, Caste Violence in India, child soldiers in Uganda, the famine in Sudan, the ongoing conflicts in Kosovo, Angola, Israel/Lebanon, Russia, and Rwanda.

Human Rights Watch conducts regular, systematic investigations of human rights abuses in more than 70 countries around the world. Our reputation for timely, reliable disclosures has made us an essential source of information for those concerned with human rights. We address the human rights practices of governments of all political stripes, of all geopolitical alignments, and of all ethnic and religious persuasions. Human Rights Watch defends freedom of thought and expression, due process and equal protection of the law, and a vigorous civil society; we document and denounce murders, disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, discrimination, and other abuses of internationally recognized human rights. Our goal is to hold governments accountable if they transgress the rights of their people.

With our experienced staff of regional experts, lawyers, and linguists, Human Rights Watch has the capacity to expose these abuses on a regular basis and a worldwide scale. This ongoing effort makes a difference-saving lives, stopping torture, freeing prisoners and helping to create the space for citizens to exercise their civil and political rights. Human Rights Watch reports are unique, up-to-date, firsthand sources of human rights information and are available individually or through convenient subscriptions.

Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of its European division, Helsinki Watch. Today, it includes seven divisions covering Africa, the Americas, Arms, Asia, Children, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Europe and Central Asia. It maintains offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Brussels, Moscow, Sarajevo, Tashkent, Tblisi, Hong Kong, Rwanda, and Rio de Janeiro. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly.

Who relies on our reporting?

Concerned Individuals: demand information on abuses around the world to ensure that human rights play a major role in government policy.

The Press: reporters, columnists, broadcasters and editors worldwide rely on these reports and frequently cite them in their work.

Citizens' Organizations: church groups, relief organizations and humanitarian agencies use and act upon the timely data and analysis in these reports.

Policymakers: receive a detailed briefing on conditions from the eyewitnesses, experts, local government officials, opposition leaders, scholars, church officials, lawyers and human rights monitors interviewed in these reports.

The Academic Community: increasingly focuses on the impact of human rights abuses on economic development, environmental degradation, famine, conflict and other global problems. These reports are a rich source of firsthand information for scholars and students.

Libraries: research, academic, special and public libraries subscribe to these reports, to meet the growing demand for their unique information and to preserve the record of human rights history.