Reports
Deported to Danger
United States Deportation Policies Expose Salvadorans to Death and Abuse
The US government has deported people to face abuse and even death in El Salvador. The US is not solely responsible—Salvadoran gangs who prey on deportees and Salvadoran authorities who harm deportees or who do little or nothing to protect them bear direct responsibility—but in many cases the US is putting Salvadorans in harm’s way in circumstances where it knows or should know that harm is likely.
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“They’ve Shot Many Like This”
Abusive Night Raids by CIA-Backed Afghan Strike ForcesThis report documents 14 cases from late 2017 to mid-2019 in which CIA-backed Afghan strike forces committed serious abuses, some amounting to war crimes.
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“Maximum Pressure”
US Economic Sanctions Harm Iranians’ Right to HealthThis report documents how broad restrictions on financial transactions, coupled with aggressive rhetoric from US officials, have drastically constrained the ability of Iranian entities to finance humanitarian imports, including vital medicines and medical equipment.
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Following the Money
Lack of Transparency in Donor Funding for Syrian Refugee EducationThis report tracks pledges made at a conference in London in February 2016.
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Enabling a Dictator
The United States and Chad’s Hissène Habré 1982-1990This report describes how France, and especially the United States, were pivotal in bringing Habré to power, although signs of his brutality were already evident. The two countries saw Habré as a bulwark against the expansionist designs of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, whose forces were occupying northern Chad.
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No More Excuses
A Roadmap to Justice for CIA TortureThis 153-page report sets out evidence to support the main criminal charges that can be brought against those responsible for state-sanctioned torture, and challenges claims that prosecutions are not legally possible.
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With Liberty to Monitor All
How Large-Scale US Surveillance is Harming Journalism, Law, and American DemocracyThe 120-page report documents how national security journalists and lawyers are adopting elaborate steps or otherwise modifying their practices to keep communications, sources, and other confidential information secure in light of revelations of unprecedented US government surveillance of electronic communications and t
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Shaking the Foundations
The Human Rights Implications of Killer RobotsThe 26-page report is the first report to assess in detail the risks posed by these weapons during law enforcement operations, expanding the debate beyond the battlefield.
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A Wedding That Became a Funeral
US Drone Attack on Marriage Procession in YemenThis 28-page report calls on the US government to investigate the strike, publish its findings, and act in the event of wrongdoing. The December 12 attack killed 12 men and wounded at least 15 other people, including the bride.
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"Between a Drone and Al-Qaeda"
The Civilian Cost of US Targeted Killings in YemenThe 97-page report examines six US targeted killings in Yemen, one from 2009 and the rest from 2012-2013.
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Losing Humanity
The Case against Killer RobotsThis 50-page report outlines concerns about these fully autonomous weapons, which would inherently lack human qualities that provide legal and non-legal checks on the killing of civilians.
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Delivered Into Enemy Hands
US-Led Abuse and Rendition of Opponents to Gaddafi’s LibyaThis report is based on interviews conducted in Libya with 14 former detainees, most of whom belonged to an armed Islamist group that had worked to overthrow Gaddafi for 20 years. Many members of the group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), joined the NATO-backed anti-Gaddafi rebels in the 2011 conflict.
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No Direction Home
Returns from Guantanamo to YemenThis 52-page report criticizes US and Yemeni proposals to transfer the detainees to a detention center in Yemen where they could continue to be held indefinitely, ostensibly for rehabilitation.
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Fighting Terrorism Fairly and Effectively
Recommendations for President-Elect Barack ObamaOver the past seven years, the US government’s consistent disregard for human rights in fighting terrorism has diminished America’s moral authority, set a negative example for other governments, and undermined the goal of reducing anti-American militancy around the world.
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"Why Am I Still Here?"
The 2007 Horn of Africa Renditions and the Fate of Those Still MissingThis 54-page report examines the 2007 rendition operation, during which at least 90 men, women, and children fleeing the armed conflict in Somalia were unlawfully rendered from Kenya to Somalia, and then on to Ethiopia.
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Swept Under the Rug
Abuses against Domestic Workers Around the WorldThis 93-page report synthesizes Human Rights Watch research since 2001 on abuses against women and child domestic workers originating from or working in El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Togo, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
