Reports

The Persecution of Environmentalists and Indigenous Leaders in Indonesia

The 70-page report, “Grabbed Land, Silenced Justice: The Persecution of Environmentalists and Indigenous Leaders in Indonesia,” documents how Indonesian police have responded to complaints filed by company officials or politicians by silencing Indigenous villagers who demand their customary land rights and the activists who defend them. The authorities have targeted environmental and Indigenous community defenders using the criminal code and other laws to bring charges ranging from defamation to “spreading communism” to silence protest over environmental harm.

An Indigenous Dayak villager shows pictures of her rubber plantation destroyed by an industrial logging company
A man holds a flower and the message "Humanity for All" in front of a line of soldiers

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  • September 29, 2014

    Recommendations for Reform

    This 38-page report outlines the rollback of human rights and rule of law in Turkey, linked to mass anti-government protests in 2013 and corruption allegations that go to the very heart of the government of the ruling AKP.
  • September 25, 2014

    Politically Motivated Imprisonment in Uzbekistan

    This 121-page report presents disturbing new findings about the treatment of 34 of Uzbekistan’s most prominent people imprisoned on politically motivated charges. They include two of the world’s longest imprisoned journalists and others who have languished behind bars for more than two decades.

  • September 23, 2014

    Survivors of Nepal’s Conflict-Era Sexual Violence

    The 78-page report documents sexual violence by both government forces and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) combatants during the conflict, which ended with a peace agreement in 2006. Many of these crimes remain unreported, with survivors isolated and unable to find ways to access justice and redress.

  • September 16, 2014

    Lessons from Specialized War Crimes Units in France, Germany, and the Netherlands

    This 109-page report examines the inner workings of war crimes units in the three countries and highlights key lessons learned.

  • September 16, 2014

    Deaths in Custody and Police Brutality in Vietnam

    This 96-page report highlights cases of police brutality that resulted in deaths and serious injuries of people in custody between August 2010 and July 2014. Human Rights Watch documented abuses in 44 of Vietnam’s 58 provinces, throughout the country, and in all five of the country’s major cities.

  • September 15, 2014

    Violence, Neglect, and Isolation for Children with Disabilities in Russian Orphanages

    This 93-page report found that many children and young people with disabilities who have lived in state orphanages suffered serious abuse and neglect on the part of institution staff that impedes their development.

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  • September 9, 2014

    Israel’s Coercion of Eritrean and Sudanese Asylum Seekers to Leave Israel

    This 83-page report documents how Israel’s convoluted legal rules thwart Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers’ attempts to secure protection under Israeli and international law.

  • September 8, 2014

    Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by African Union Forces in Somalia

    This 71-page report documents the sexual exploitation and abuse of Somali women and girls on two AMISOM bases in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, since 2013. The AU soldiers, relying on Somali intermediaries, have used a range of tactics, including humanitarian aid, to coerce vulnerable women and girls into sexual activity.

  • September 3, 2014

    Key Components and Positive Precedent for Convention on Cluster Munitions Legislation

    This 73-page report urges countries to pass robust national legislation as soon as possible to carry out the provisions of the treaty. The report describes the elements of a comprehensive law and highlights exemplary provisions in existing laws. The report was jointly published with Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic.
  • September 1, 2014

    Immigration Detention of Children in Thailand

    This 67-page report details how Thailand’s use of immigration detention violates children’s rights, risks their health and wellbeing, and imperils their development. The Thai government should stop detaining children on immigration grounds, Human Rights Watch said.

  • August 25, 2014

    "Manual Scavenging," Caste, and Discrimination in India

    This 96-page report documents the coercive nature of manual scavenging. Across India, castes that work as “manual scavengers” collect human excrement on a daily basis, and carry it away in cane baskets for disposal. Women from this caste usually clean dry toilets in homes, while men do the more physically demanding cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
  • August 18, 2014

    Spotlight on Political Prisoners in One Iranian City

    The 59-page report is based on a review of 189 cases in three prisons in the city of Karaj, near the capital, Tehran, including the charges they faced, details of their trials before revolutionary courts, and information from lawyers, prisoners’ families, and others.
  • August 12, 2014

    The Rab’a Massacre and Mass Killings of Protesters in Egypt

    The 188-page report documents the way the Egyptian police and army methodically opened fire with live ammunition on crowds of demonstrators opposed to the military’s July 3 ouster of Mohamed Morsy, Egypt’s first elected civilian president, at six demonstrations between July 5 and August 17, 2013.

  • August 7, 2014

    Abuses by Government and Opposition Forces

    The 92-page report documents how widespread killings of civilians, often based on their ethnicity, and mass destruction and looting of civilian property, have defined the conflict.