Reports

How Michigan’s Forced Parental Consent for Abortion Law Hurts Young People

The 36-page report, “In Harm’s Way: How Michigan’s Forced Parental Consent for Abortion Law Hurts Young People” examines the impact of a Michigan law that requires people under age 18 seeking an abortion to have a parent or legal guardian’s written consent or get approval from a judge in a process known as “judicial bypass.”

A girl stands in front of a judge in a courtroom

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  • January 1, 1996

    Throughout the world, thousands of children are used as soldiers in armed conflicts. Although international law forbids recruiting children under fifteen as soldiers, such young children may be found in government armies and, more commonly, in armed rebel groups.
  • December 1, 1995

    In the last two years, the Chinese government has issued new directives requiring all congregations to register with religious authorities, stepped up pressure on evangelists, and tightened control on contact with foreigners and distribution of religious materials. Those suspected of linking religion to political activity have been singled out for the harshest treatment.
  • November 1, 1995

    State Response to Domestic Violence and Rape

    The new South African government has pledged to ensure women a full and equal role in every aspect of the economy and society. Yet South African women continue to face extraordinarily high levels of violence which prevent them from enjoying the rights they are guaranteed under the new dispensation.
  • November 1, 1995

    Since 1984, the government of Turkey has waged an increasingly bitter war with insurgents of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). To date, the toll is estimated at over 19,000 deaths, including some 2,000 death-squad killings of suspected PKK sympathizers, two million internally displaced, and more than 2,200 villages destroyed mostly by Turkish security forces. In an effort to root out PKK fighters and sympathizers from southeast Turkey, the government has adopted increasingly brutal counterinsurgency measures, in clear violation of international law. The PKK, for its part, has also systematically engaged in violations such as summary executions and indiscriminate fire.This report documents the Turkish security forces’ violations of human rights, and their reliance on U.S. and NATO-supplied weapons in doing so. Drawing on investigations of some 30 incidents that occurred between 1992 and 1995, the report links specific weapons systems to individual incidents of Turkish violations. Supplemented by interviews with former Turkish soldiers, U.S. officials and defense experts, the report concludes that U.S. weapons, as well as those supplied by other NATO members, are regularly used.
  • November 1, 1995

    1995

    Covering the human rights situations in 11 of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries, the evidence presented here suggests that economic growth alone has not led to greater human rights protection. Yet human rights was the issue that would not go away for Asia in 1995 as it became an economic issue, a determinant of aid and an irritant to trade from Burma to Indonesia.
  • November 1, 1995

    Since the end of 30 years of military dictatorship and the election in 1992 of the country’s first civilian president in three decades, the Republic of Korea is a more open country with a government that pledges respect for international human rights. Nevertheless, it has not lived up to its pledges.
  • October 15, 1995

    Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Photo: A woman holds a photo of her missing son as Bosnian Muslim relatives of the victims and survivors of the Srebrenica massacre meet with Dutch former peacekeeping troops. © 2007 Reuters

  • 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

  • October 1, 1995

    The United Nations Operation in the Western Sahara

    In 1988, both Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed to a United Nations Settlement Plan. After sixteen years of war, a cease-fire formally took effect in the Western Sahara in September 1991. In August 1995, Human Rights Watch conducted a fact-finding mission to Tindouf, Algeria and to Laayoune, the capital of the Western Sahara.
  • 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.
  • 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.