Reports

Dismantling Detention

International Alternatives to Detaining Immigrants

The 94-page report “Dismantling Detention: International Alternatives to Detaining Immigrants,” examines alternatives to detention in six countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Human Rights Watch found that alternatives to detention such as case management services, can effectively address government interests in immigration enforcement while protecting migrants’ rights and often offering a range of other benefits.

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  • Cases Involving Diplomatic Assurances against Torture

    This document sets out developments in the use of diplomatic assurances in select individual cases since the publication of our April 2005 report “Still at Risk: Diplomatic Assurances No Safeguard Against Torture.

  • Dangerous Ambivalence

    UK Policy on Torture since 9/11

    This 45-page paper documents how the UK government is undermining the torture ban, even as it proclaims its efforts to combat torture worldwide. Torture, including returns to risk of torture, is prohibited by international law. No exceptions are allowed, even in time of war or national emergency.

  • Funding the "Final War"

    LTTE Intimidation and Extortion in the Tamil Diaspora

    This 45-page report details how representatives of the LTTE and pro-LTTE groups use unlawful pressure among Tamil communities in the West to secure financial pledges. People were told that if they did not pay the requested sum, they would not be able to return to Sri Lanka to visit family members.

  • Human Rights Watch Briefing On The Terrorism Bill 2005

    Second Reading in the House of Lords

    This briefing concerns problematic new measures on speech and detention contained in the draft terrorism legislation—the fifth major piece of counter-terrorism legislation in as many years—currently being debated in the British parliament.

  • Worldwide Production and Export of Cluster Munitions

    The potential future dangers of widespread production and continued proliferation of cluster munitions demand urgent action to bring the humanitarian threat under control. At least seventy countries stockpile cluster munitions and the aggregate number of submunitions in these stockpiles is staggering.

  • U.K.: Commentary on Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2005

    The control orders envisioned in the Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2005 (hereafter “the Bill”) offer a seriously flawed alternative to the disastrous policy of indefinite detention under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001, a policy ruled contrary to human rights law by the House of Lords Judicial Committee.

  • Neither Just Nor Effective

    Indefinite Detention Without Trial in the United Kingdom Under Part 4 of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001

    The U.K. government introduced emergency legislation in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the U.S. The resulting Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act became law on December 14, 2001.

  • Rwanda: Lessons Learned

    Ten Years After the Genocide

    In the ten years since the Rwandan genocide, leaders of national governments and international institutions have acknowledged the shame of having failed to stop the slaughter of the Tutsi population.

  • An Unjust “Vision” for Europe’s Refugees

    Commentary on the U.K.'s

    June 20, 2003 will mark international refugee day - a day when governments should reaffirm their obligations to protect some of the world's most vulnerable people. Instead, European governments will meet on June 20 to debate the United Kingdom's (U.K.) proposal that promises to undermine those obligations.

  • In the Name of Counter-Terrorism: Human Rights Abuses Worldwide

    A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper for the 59th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights

    This paper first surveys initiatives taken by U.N., regional, and other intergovernmental bodies in the context of the international campaign against terrorism.

  • No Safe Refuge

    The Impact of the September 11 Attacks on Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants in the Afghanistan Region and Worldwide

    The backlash against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants throughout the world is a serious side effect of the September 11 attacks. While governments have legitimate security concerns, there must be a balance with human rights and refugee protection standards.

  • Northern Ireland: A New Beginning to Policing

    Human Rights Watch has prepared this assessment of the Patten Commission report-issued on September 9, 1999-as a means of following up on its participation in the commission's consultation process and as a contribution to the government's three month post-report consultation period.