Reports

US Civil Rights Enforcement Under the Trump Administration

The 112-page report, “Remedies Abandoned: US Civil Rights Enforcement Under the Trump Administration,” documents the administration’s efforts to unravel the work of four key agencies between January 2025 and the spring of 2026: the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which lost about 75 percent of its attorneys; the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, which moved to lay off nearly half its staff in one day and closed 7 of its 12 regional offices; the Housing and Urban Development Department’s Fair Housing Office, which shrank dramatically; and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which reached its lowest staffing levels in over 40 years.

A man in a wheelchair holds a protest sign at a demonstration
A man holds a flower and the message "Humanity for All" in front of a line of soldiers

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  • October 1, 1995

    During the late 1980s, Morocco’s human rights record came under intense scrutiny by the international community. After decades of repression, the government took a series of steps that were critical in creating a climate of greater freedom in Morocco. This wave of changes would make human rights rhetoric a permanent part of the national language and forever alter political realities in Morocco.
  • October 1, 1995

    In the year after Pres. Aristide returned to Haiti, there was marked, concrete improvement in respect for human rights and the government launched institutional reforms that should bring lasting change. In this report, however, we note several cases of improper use of force and other problems with the interim and new national police forces.
  • October 1, 1995

    While the Croatian government has taken steps to correct some of the abuses of human rights that had marked Croatia's first two years of independence, violations of civil and political rights by reason of ethnic identity and political dissent continue.
  • October 1, 1995

    To facilitate its full integration into the world community—and thus the world economy—the Cuban government is trying to improve its human rights image.
  • October 1, 1995

    In March and May 1995, the Human Rights Watch Children=s Rights Project conducted an investigation in Louisiana into the conditions in which children are confined in that state, examining the human rights aspects of their incarceration.We found that substantial numbers of children in the state training institutions are regularly physically abused by guards, are kept in isolation for long periods o

  • September 1, 1995

    Letter from Human Rights Watch and the New Cambodian Press Law

    Over the last year, the Royal Cambodian Government has waged a campaign to silence its critics, targeting independent newspapers and political figures for prosecution and harassment. On more than a dozen occasions, it has suspended, shut or confiscated newspapers or brought criminal complaints against journalists.
  • September 1, 1995

    Racists Attacks by Moscow Law Enforcement

    Russian society has been hit hard in recent years by destabilizing changes. An unprecedented wave of crime, population shifts, and crises related to economic transition raised the urgent need for a sense of control and for someone to blame. Increasingly, the scapegoat in both public perception and state policy is people of color.
  • September 1, 1995

    Slaves, Street Children and Child Soldiers

    The children of Sudan, north and south, have been denied their basic rights by all parties to the conflict, and by the government of Sudan even in areas such as Khartoum where there is no war. Many who are considered street children, mostly southerners and Nuba, are removed from their families without notice.
  • August 1, 1995

    The Bedoons of Kuwait

    Kuwait practices a system of institutionalized discrimination against its residents known as Bedoons, longtime inhabitants who have been denied Kuwaiti citizenship and are now being rendered stateless.
  • August 1, 1995

    Law and Dissent in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

    Vietnam has entered an era of rapid economic and social transformation, heralded by the opening of its economy, its entry into ASEAN and the resumption of diplomatic relations with the U.S. At the same time, the government and the Vietnam Communist Party have sought to maintain firm political control.
  • July 2, 1995

    The Croatian Army Offensive in Western Slavonia and its Aftermath

    On May 1, 1995, Croatian Army troops launched an offensive aimed at regaining control of Serb-held lands in western Slavonia, an area designated as a "United Nations Protected Area" (UNPA). By May 4, Croatian government troops had recaptured the area.
  • July 1, 1995

    Throughout Pakistan employers forcibly extract labor from adults and children, restrict their freedom of movement, and deny them the right to negotiate the terms of their employment. Employers coerce such workers into servitude through physical abuse, forced confinement, and debt-bondage.
  • July 1, 1995

    Human Rights Developments and the Need for Continued Pressure

    Since 1990 we have documented an ongoing pattern of abuse in Burma, including arbitrary detention, denial of the right of freedom of expression and association, forced labor, abuses of humanitarian law in the course of military operations against insurgents, and discrimination against ethnic minorities.