Reports

Minnesota Communities Terrorized by the Federal Government

The 180-page report, “‘A Manufactured Crisis’: Minnesota Communities Terrorized by the Federal Government,” comprehensively documents how the US government’s “Operation Metro Surge” caused a human rights crisis in Minnesota, particularly in and around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The campaign included two unlawful killings, repeated instances of excessive force, racial profiling, unlawful detentions, and abusive detention conditions. These abuses and the terror they spread also led to less visible harm, forcing many people to stay at home out of fear, causing them to miss work, school, and even essential health care. The report calls for accountability at the highest levels of government, and names those with responsibility for overseeing the operation.

A protester sits on the street with his arms up in front of federal agents and Minneapolis Police
A man holds a flower and the message "Humanity for All" in front of a line of soldiers

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  • September 17, 1998

    President Mohammed Khatami of Iran is scheduled to visit the United Nations next week. On the occasion of this newsworthy trip, Human Rights Watch has prepared the following backgrounder on the domestic situation in Iran. We also attach a recent press release on the Shi'a minority in Afghanistan, which may draw Iran into armed conflict outside its borders.

  • September 1, 1998

    Retaliation Against Women in Michigan State Prisons

    This report documents how women inmates who have been raped by guards in Michigan prisons are suffering retaliation from their attackers."In Michigan, a woman risks being sexually assaulted if she's imprisoned, and being terrorized by guards if she dares report the assault," said Regan Ralph, executive director of theWomen's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch.
  • September 1, 1998

    Immigration Detainees in Jails in the United States

    Human Rights Watch charges that the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is now holding more than half of its detainees in jails where they are subjected to punitive treatment and may be mixed with criminal inmates.
  • September 1, 1998

    Immigration Detainees in Jails in the United States

    The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is currently housing more than 60 percent of its 15,000 detainees in local jails throughout the country.

  • September 1, 1998

    Reports that ethnic Chinese women were raped during riots in Jakarta in mid-May have generated an outpouring of rage from around the world and a furious debate inside Indonesia. Legislators in Taiwan and Hong Kong have threatened cut-offs of aid and expulsions of Indonesian migrant workers.
  • August 1, 1998

    Ethnic discrimination in the Russian Federation has persisted and perhaps even worsened since the break-up of the Soviet Union. The government has failed to combat discrimination and is in many ways responsible for perpetuating discriminatory practices.
  • August 1, 1998

    On July 20-21, 1998, an Algerian government delegation met with the United Nations Human Rights Committee to discuss Algeria's second periodic report regarding its implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
  • August 1, 1998

    Dismantling Soeharto-Era Barriers

    A nationwide student protest movement played an instrumental role in forcing the resignation of President Soeharto on May 21, 1998 and in opening the door to democratic reform in Indonesia.
  • August 1, 1998

    Violations of Civil and Political Rights

    On July 15 and 16, 1998 Israel presented its initial report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the U.N. body of independent experts responsible for monitoring implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its two Optional Protocols.
  • August 1, 1998

    Arms Transfers to all Sides in the Civil War in Sudan

    More than one million people may have died, with millions more forcibly displaced, since today's ongoing civil war broke out in Sudan in 1983. This conflict is spreading to other regions of the country and is linked to guerrilla wars in neighboring Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Uganda.
  • July 29, 1998

    Atrocities Against Civilians in Sierra Leone

    In a report released today, Human Rights Watch condemns the war of terror now underway against civilians in Sierra Leone, and calls on the international community to take emergency measures to end the killings, amputations, and abductions taking place in that civil war.
  • July 23, 1998

    Human Rights Watch background Paper On The 1998 Famine In Bahr El Ghazal

    Massive human rights abuses by muraheleen raiders in exactly the same locations were primary causes of the 1988 famine, in which an estimated 250,000 (mostly Dinka) perished.
  • July 1, 1998

    President Aleksandr Lukashenka continues to steer Belarus back toward Soviet-era repression by leading a government that is engaged in violations of a broad spectrum of basic civil and political rights. His four years in office have witnessed the reversal of modest improvements in respect for human rights that followed the perestroika period and the break-up of the Soviet Union.
  • July 1, 1998

    Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States

    Police brutality is one of the most serious, enduring and divisive human rights violations in the United States. Unjustified shootings by police, severe beatings, fatal chokings, and unnecessarily rough treatment of detainees occur in cities throughout the country.