Reports

The 148-page report, “‘A Sense of Terror Stronger than a Bullet’: The Closing of North Korea 2018-2023,” documents the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK or North Korea) overbroad, excessive, and unnecessary measures during the Covid-19 pandemic, including quarantines and new restrictions on economic activity and freedom of movement. The government’s new measures have severely affected food security and the availability of products needed by North Koreans to survive that previously entered the country via formal or informal trade routes from China. United Nations Security Council sanctions from 2016 and 2017 limited most exports and some imports, harming the country’s economy as well as people’s ability to make a living and access food and essential goods.

Portraits of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung at the border

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  • June 14, 1991

    Administration's `Alien Terrorist Removal' Plan Puts U. S. in Company of Repressive Regimes

    The Bush Administration has proposed legislation in Congress that would authorize secret proceedings for the deportation of foreign nationals accused of terrorism. If enacted, this proposal would depart from two centuries of history and law in the U.S.

  • June 1, 1991

    The Medicolegal System and Human Rights in Guatemala

    Since the overthrow of a reformist democratic government in 1954, Guatemala has been known for astounding military violence inflicted on a defenseless civilian population. A new civilian government elected in 1986 first raised and then dashed hopes for an end to the torture, murder and disappearances carried out with impunity by the security forces.
  • June 1, 1991

    Civilian Casualties During the Air Campaign and Violations of the Laws of War

    This report applies the rules of war governing international armed conflicts to examine civilian casualties and damage to civilian objects from bomb and missile attacks carried out by the allied forces against Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, and from missile attacks by Iraq against Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar.
  • June 1, 1991

    Despite the political changes that have occurred in Bulgaria since Todor Zhivkov's resignation in November 1989, Gypsies continue to be the targets of discrimination, as they have been throughout the country's history. The disparate treatment they receive is reflected in housing, education and the work place.
  • May 1, 1991

    Since the partition of India in 1947, Kashmir, with a predominantly Muslim population, has been the site of militant unrest and a cause for war with Pakistan.
  • April 30, 1991

    Killings, Detentions, Forcible Conscription and Obstruction of Relief

    Ethiopia is in the midst of a massive political upheaval. Government forces have been defeated in recent rebel offensives, endangering the survival of the government of President Mengistu Haile Mariam.
  • April 10, 1991

    On April 8, 1991, Arswendo Atmowiloto, a young newspaper editor in Jakarta was sentenced to five years in prison. His arrest, trial and conviction on charges of insulting a religion raise questions about the relationship between freedom of expression, religious sensitivity, and political manipulation in an overwhelmingly Muslim society.
  • April 7, 1991

    Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

    The ouster of General Manuel Noriega in December 1989 and the installation of the democratically-elected coalition government of President Guillermo Endara brought high hopes in Panama that a long period of disrespect for law and the civil rights of the Panamanian people had come to an end.
  • April 1, 1991

    An Update

    For more than a decade, Argentina has commanded the attention of the international community for two widely divergent reasons: atrocious human rights violations, and subsequent efforts to punish those responsible.
  • April 1, 1991

    Human Rights in Romania

    Shortly after the December 1989 revolution in Romania, many of the most repressive practices of the Ceausescu era were abolished. As Romanians looked forward to 1990, there was much to celebrate. However, the initial euphoria was quickly followed by a bitter realization that, although Ceausescu was gone, he had left his mark on every institution and every citizen.
  • April 1, 1991

    In describing the conditions experienced by all major categories of inmates including criminal and security offenders, Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, and Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Middle East Watch investigates issues of overcrowding, food, hygiene, outdoor time, visiting rights, and treatment by staff, among others concerns.
  • April 1, 1991

    In advance of Albania’s first contested elections under Communist rule on March 31, we took part in a fact-finding mission from March 7 to March 12 as part of the first team of independent human rights investigators to have officially visited the country.
  • April 1, 1991

    Despite the checks and balances inherent in India’s democratic structure designed to curb government lawlessness, the institutional basis for the prison system has become grossly unfair.