War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Burkina Faso by All Sides
The 316-page report, “‘None Can Run Away’: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Burkina Faso by All Sides,” documents the devastating impact on civilians of an armed conflict that has received scant global attention. Researchers documented 57 incidents involving Burkinabè military forces and allied militias known as the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDPs), and the Islamist armed group Jama’at Nusrat al‑Islam wa al‑Muslimin (JNIM) since the current military junta seized power in September 2022. Human Rights Watch issued a question and answer document to explain the legal issues involved.
Increased Threats to Freedom of Expression in Uganda
This 60-page report documents multiple recent cases in which Ugandan journalists have faced increasing threats from government officials and NRM party members, intimidation, harassment, and in some instances, government-inspired criminal charges.
State Control and Civil Society in Burma after Cyclone Nargis
This 102-page report based on 135 interviews with cyclone survivors, aid workers, and other eyewitnesses, details the Burmese military government's response to Nargis and its implications for human rights and development in Burma today.
Protection of Migrant Domestic Workers in Asia and the Middle East
This 26-page report reviews conditions in eight countries with large numbers of migrant domestic workers: Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Singapore, and Malaysia.
This 135-page report documents the failure of the Zambian prison authority to provide basic nutrition, sanitation, and housing for prisoners, and of the criminal justice system to ensure speedy trials and appeals, and to make the fullest use of non-custodial alternatives.
Repression of the Media and the Illusion of Reform in Zimbabwe
This 26-page report says that the Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), the former sole ruling party, still holds the balance of power in the coalition government forged with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the former opposition movement, in February 2009.
Abuses by al-Shabaab, the Transitional Federal Government, and AMISOM in Somalia
This 62-page report finds that al-Shabaab forces have brought greater stability to many areas in southern Somalia, but at a high cost for the local population - especially women. Based on over 70 interviews with victims and witnesses, the report describes harsh punishments including amputations and floggings, which are meted out regularly and without due process.
Forced Begging and Other Abuses against Talibés in Senegal
This 114-page report documents the system of exploitation and abuse in which at least 50,000 boys known as talibés - the vast majority under age 12 and many as young as four - are forced to beg on Senegal's streets for long hours, seven days a week, by often brutally abusive teachers, known as marabouts.
Segregation of HIV-Positive Prisoners in Alabama and South Carolina
This 45-page report says that prisoners in the HIV units are forced to wear armbands or other indicators of their HIV status, are forced to eat and even worship separately, and are denied equal participation in prison jobs, programs, and re-entry opportunities that facilitate their transition back into society.
This 31-page report documents how the government took only limited steps to improve transparency after Human Rights Watch disclosed in a 2004 report that billions of dollars in oil revenue illegally bypassed the central bank and disappeared without explanation. The report details newly disclosed evidence of corruption and mismanagement and includes recommendations for reversing the pattern.
Impunity for Laws-of-War Violations during the Gaza War
This 62-page report details the steps both Israel and Hamas have taken over the past year to investigate alleged violations of the laws of war and possible war crimes, and how those investigations have fallen far short of international legal standards.
Uninvestigated Laws of War Violations in Yemen’s War with Huthi Rebels
This 54-page report documents how government forces may have indiscriminately bombed and shelled civilian areas, causing civilian casualties, and how Huthi forces may have committed summary executions and unlawfully deployed in populated areas.
This 67-page report is the first detailed documentation of the Makombo massacre and other atrocities by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Congo in 2009 and early 2010.
This 105-page report finds that authorities have at times been directly involved in public killings and beatings of suspected criminals, or have facilitated them by forming untrained "security committees" that operate at the margins of the law. In other cases, officials have stood by while mobs attacked alleged criminals.
Violations of Freedom of Expression and Association in Ethiopia
This 59-page report documents the myriad ways in which the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has systematically punished opposition supporters.