Reports
“I Always Remember That Day”
Access to Services for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region
The 89-page report, “‘I Always Remember That Day’: Access to Services for Gender-Based Violence Survivors in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region,” documents the serious health impact, trauma, and stigma experienced by rape survivors ages 6 to 80 since the beginning of the armed conflict in Tigray in November 2020. Human Rights Watch highlighted the human cost of the Ethiopian government’s effective siege of the region, which has prevented an adequate and sustained response to survivors’ needs and the rehabilitation of the region’s shattered healthcare system.
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“It’s Not Normal”
Sexual Exploitation, Harassment and Abuse in Secondary Schools in SenegalThis report documents abuses against female students in secondary schools, primarily by teachers and school officials.
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“What Do We Get Out of It?”
The Human Rights Impact of Bauxite Mining in GuineaThis report focuses on two mining projects that were Guinea’s two largest bauxite producers in 2017: La Société Minière de Boké (SMB), a joint venture linked to the world’s largest aluminum producer, China Hongqiao Group, that has expanded extremely rapidly since it began in 2015; and la Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée
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“These Killings Can Be Stopped”
Abuses by Government and Separatist Groups in Cameroon’s Anglophone RegionsBased on research in the region, satellite imagery analysis and video analysis, this report found that both government forces and armed separatists have abused civilians in the western part of the country, displacing over 180,000 people since December 2017.
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“We are Like the Dead”
Torture and other Human Rights Abuses in Jail Ogaden, Somali Regional State, EthiopiaThis report describes a brutal and relentless pattern of abuse, torture, rape, and humiliation, with little access to medical care, family, lawyers, or even at times to food. The prison’s security forces, including the Somali Region’s notorious paramilitary force, the Liyu police, are implicated.
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Leave No Girl Behind in Africa
Discrimination in Education against Pregnant Girls and Adolescent MothersThis report draws on extensive Human Rights Watch research on the rights of girls in Africa. Human Rights Watch examined national laws, policies, and practices that block or support pregnant girls’ and adolescent mothers’ right to primary and secondary education in all African Union (AU) member countries.
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“By Day We Fear the Army, By Night the Jihadists”
Abuses by Armed Islamists and Security Forces in Burkina FasoThis report documents the killings and harassment of villagers in the Sahel region caught between Islamists’ threats to execute those who collaborated with the government, and the security forces, who expected them to provide intelligence about the presence of armed groups, and meted out collective punishment when they d
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“We Will Beat You to Correct You”
Abuses Ahead of Burundi’s Constitutional ReferendumThis report documents violations and abuses by state security forces, intelligence services, members of the ruling party’s youth league – the Imbonerakure – and others close to the ruling party, in the year and a half leading up to the referendum.
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“Looking for Justice”
The Special Criminal Court, a New Opportunity for Victims in the Central African RepublicThis report discusses the progress, obstacles, and challenges for the Special Criminal Court in its initial phases.
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A Bitter Harvest
Child Labor and Human Rights Abuses on Tobacco Farms in ZimbabweThis report documents how children work in hazardous conditions, performing tasks that threaten their health and safety or interfere with their education. Child workers are exposed to nicotine and toxic pesticides, and many suffer symptoms consistent with nicotine poisoning from handling tobacco leaves.
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“It’s Like We’re Always in a Prison”
Abuses Against Boys Accused of National Security Offenses in SomaliaThis report details due process violations and other abuses since 2015 against boys in government custody for suspected Al-Shabab-related offenses. Somalia’s federal government has promised to promptly hand over captured children to the United Nations child protection agency (UNICEF) for rehabilitation.
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“The Next One to Die”
State Security Force and Renamo Abuses in MozambiqueThis report documents violent abuses in the country’s central provinces between November 2015 and December 2016.
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“No Choice but to Deny Who I Am”
Violence and Discrimination against LGBT People in GhanaThis report shows how retention of section 104(1)(b) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, prohibiting and punishing “unnatural carnal knowledge,” and failure to actively address violence and discrimination, relegate LGBT Ghanaians to effective second-class citizenship.
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“They Were Men in Uniform”
Sexual Violence against Women and Girls in Kenya’s 2017 ElectionsThis report documents the devastating physical, mental, social, and economic impact of gender-based violence and serious human rights abuses surrounding the recent elections.
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“Special Mission”
Recruitment of M23 Rebels to Suppress Protests in the Democratic Republic of CongoThe 69-page report, “‘Special Mission’: Recruitment of M23 Rebels to Suppress Protests in the Democratic Republic of Congo ,” documents that Congolese security forces along with recruited M23 fighters from Uganda and Rwanda killed at least 62 people and arrested hundreds more during country-wide protests between December
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“Working Like a Robot”
Abuse of Tanzanian Domestic Workers in Oman and the United Arab EmiratesThis report documents how the Tanzanian, Omani, and UAE governments fail to protect Tanzanian migrant domestic workers. Oman and the UAE’s kafala – visa-sponsorship – rules tie workers to their employers, and the lack of labor law protections leaves workers exposed to a wide range of abuse.