Reports

Cuban and Other Third-Country Nationals Deported from the US to Mexico

The 66-page report, “‘Casting Us Aside to Die:’ Cuban and Other Third-Country Nationals Deported from the US to Mexico,” documents US government abuses against Cubans and other third-country nationals deported to Mexico between January 2025 and March 2026. With no other recourse to obtain permanent residency in Mexico, many Cuban deportees, whose home government refuses to take them back, are trapped in a legal limbo. Since arriving in Mexico, they have received little if any government support, and many are without access to shelter, food, or health care.

A group of deported Cubans gather outside the Juan Graham Hospital in the city of Villahermosa, Mexico, March 2026.
A man holds a flower and the message "Humanity for All" in front of a line of soldiers

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  • December 8, 2008

    War Crimes and the Devastation of Somalia

    The 104-page report, "So Much to Fear: War Crimes and the Devastation of Somalia," describes how the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the Ethiopian forces that intervened in Somalia to support it and insurgent forces have committed widespread and serious violations of the laws of war.
  • December 5, 2008

    Barriers to Tackling Police Violence in Turkey

    This 80-page report documents 28 cases of police abuse against members of the public since the start of 2007, and examines official investigations of police conduct in those instances. The cases include fatal and non-fatal shootings by the police; ill-treatment and excessive use of force by police against demonstrators; and ill-treatment during or following identity checks.
  • December 1, 2008

    Freedom of Religion, Assembly and Expression in Kazakhstan

    The 55-page report is being released before the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting on December 4 and 5 in Helsinki. The report documents Kazakhstan's extensive restrictions on freedom of religion, expression, and assembly, which are inconsistent with its international obligations on human rights.

  • November 26, 2008

    Iraqis and Other Asylum Seekers and Migrants at the Greece/Turkey Entrance to the European Union

  • November 25, 2008

    The Restriction of Political Space in the Democratic Republic of Congo

    This 96-page report documents the Kabila government's use of violence and intimidation to eliminate political opponents. Human Rights Watch found that Kabila himself set the tone and direction by giving orders to "crush" or "neutralize" the "enemies of democracy," implying it was acceptable to use unlawful force against them.
  • November 19, 2008

    The Challenge of Humanitarian Access in Yemen’s Forgotten War

    This 50-page report documents how the Yemeni authorities have severely restricted humanitarian access to its northernmost governorate, Sa’da, ravaged by four years of armed conflict. As of October 2008, up to 70,000 people in remote areas and towns remained outside the reach of aid agencies.
  • November 18, 2008

    The Experience of Lesotho’s Universal HIV Counseling and Testing Campaign

    This 60-page report found that the Know Your Status (KYS) campaign, begun in 2005 with the goal of testing 1.3 million people, was underfunded and had tested only 25,000 people by August 2007, four months before the campaign ended. Ambitious goals to train and pay thousands of lay counselors and expand support groups for people living with HIV were largely sidelined.
  • November 16, 2008

    Recommendations for President-Elect Barack Obama

    Over the past seven years, the US government’s consistent disregard for human rights in fighting terrorism has diminished America’s moral authority, set a negative example for other governments, and undermined the goal of reducing anti-American militancy around the world.
  • November 12, 2008

    Risks to Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers in Egypt and Israel

    In this 90-page report, Human Rights Watch called on Egypt to halt the use of lethal force against border crossers and all deportations of persons to countries where they risk persecution or ill-treatment. Israel should halt forced returns of migrants to Egypt, where they face military court trials and possible unlawful deportation to their countries of origin.

  • November 8, 2008

    Erosion of the Rule of Law in Zimbabwe

    This 47-page report documents how ZANU-PF has compromised the independence and impartiality of judges, magistrates and prosecutors and transformed the police into an openly partisan and unaccountable arm of ZANU-PF. The report also documents how police routinely and arbitrarily arrest and detain MDC activists, using harassment and detention without charge as a form of persecution.
  • November 7, 2008

    This year's annual meeting of states parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) comes just a few months after two important anniversaries: ten years since the adoption of the ICC statute and five years since the start of the court's operations. This memorandum identifies a series of challenges the court now faces as it carries out its mandate to bring justice for the world's worst crimes.
  • November 3, 2008

    Intimidation and Harassment of Ethnic Albanians in Serbia after Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence

  • October 30, 2008

    Obstacles to Justice for Paramilitary Mafias in Colombia

  • October 24, 2008

    This 47-page report documents 62 cases of unlawful and arbitrary arrest in connection with the conflict in northern Yemen that since 2004 has periodically erupted into heavy clashes. Yemeni human rights groups have credibly documented hundreds of cases of unlawful arrests, and in August 2008 the government spoke of more than 1,200 political prisoners.
  • October 22, 2008

    The UK’s Dangerous Reliance on Diplomatic Assurances

    This 36-page report focuses on two important appeals in the House of Lords this month that will test the reliability of no-torture promises from the governments of Algeria and Jordan. In the pending appeals, Britain’s highest court will grapple for the first time with the government’s “deportation with assurances” policy, an important component of its counterterrorism strategy.