Reports

The Ripple Effects of Incendiary Weapons and Increasing Calls for International Action

The 28-page report, “Beyond Burning: The Ripple Effects of Incendiary Weapons and Increasing Calls for International Action,” examines recent use of incendiary weapons in armed conflicts and their wide-ranging impacts. Human Rights Watch presents case studies of the Israeli military’s use of white phosphorous—a weapon with incendiary effects—in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon since October 2023, and the use in Ukraine and Syria of other types of incendiary weapons. Human Rights Watch also details the growing interest of many countries in addressing the multiple humanitarian concerns raised by incendiary weapons.

Artillery projectile containing white phosphorus bursts over a village

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  • October 16, 2024

    Doula Care for Justice in Maternal Health in Florida

    The 62-page report, “Witness, Ally, Advocate, Climate Worker: Doula Care for Justice in Maternal Health in Florida,” found that the state provides inadequate financial and programmatic support for doula care, including under state-based Medicaid plans on which almost half of all women who are pregnant or give birth in the state rely. Doulas are non-clinical health workers who provide expert support during birth and provide individualized information about health care options, rights, and resources. Academic and US government research suggests that doula services can help improve the availability, accessibility, and quality of health care services for pregnant people. One multi-country analysis of evidence found continuous labor support by doulas may reduce rates of cesarean delivery and improve Apgar scores (indications of good health in newborns) and women’s ratings of the experience.

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  • October 15, 2024

    The Need for Accountability for Torture in Rwanda

    The 22-page report, “‘They Threw Me in the Water and Beat Me’: The Need for Accountability for Torture in Rwanda,” documents torture and ill-treatment by prison officials and detainees in Nyarugenge prison in the capital, Kigali; in Rubavu prison, western Rwanda; and in an unofficial detention facility in Kigali known as Kwa Gacinya. Human Rights Watch found that judges ignored complaints from current and former detainees about the unlawful detention and ill-treatment, creating an environment of near-total impunity.

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  • October 10, 2024

    Abuses against Afghan Policewomen, Past and Present

    The 26-page report, “Double Betrayal: Abuses against Afghan Policewomen Past and Present,” documents threats from Taliban authorities since August 2021 that have forced many former policewomen to go into hiding out of fear of being identified.

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  • October 8, 2024

    Azerbaijan's Escalating Crackdown on Critics and Civil Society

    The 74-page report, “‘We Try to Stay Invisible’: Azerbaijan's Escalating Crackdown on Critics and Civil Society,” documents the government’s concerted efforts to decimate civil society and silence its critics. The authorities have arrested dozens of people on politically motivated, bogus criminal charges. They have also arbitrarily enforced repressive laws that push independent groups and media to the margins of the law, heightening their vulnerability to retaliatory criminal prosecution. The groups documented 33 prominent cases of criminal prosecution, detention, and harassment. They found that Azerbaijani authorities have deliberately misused laws regulating nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to deny certain groups registration and funding, exposing people affiliated with them to criminal charges.

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  • September 30, 2024

    Children with Disabilities Amid Israel’s Attacks on Gaza

    The 83-page report, “‘They Destroyed What Was Inside Us’: Children with Disabilities Amid Israel’s Attacks on Gaza,” documents that children who have acquired a disability and children who already had a disability in Gaza face a precarious security situation and additional difficulties as they struggle to comply with frequent Israeli army evacuation orders and a lack of effective advance warning of attacks. The ongoing siege of Gaza, the unlawful obstruction of humanitarian aid, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and damage and destruction of hospitals cause disproportionate harm to children with disabilities, who struggle to access desperately needed medical treatment and supplies, assistive devices, food, and water. They are at particular risk of lasting psychological harm.

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  • September 25, 2024

    Gaps in Support Systems for People with Disabilities in Uruguay

    The 50-page report, “I, Too, Wish to Enjoy the Summer”: Gaps in Support Systems for People with Disabilities in Uruguay, documents Uruguay’s shortcomings in meeting the support requirements under its National Integrated Care System for everyone with a disability. Many are ineligible for the care system’s Personal Assistants Program due to their age, income, or how “severe” their disability is. People with certain types of disabilities, like intellectual and sensory disabilities, and those with high-support requirements, are effectively excluded from the program because personal assistants are not trained to support them. Human Rights Watch found that Uruguay has not sufficiently involved organizations of people with disabilities in the design, administration, and monitoring of personal assistance under the care system, resulting in its failure to recognize users as rights-holders and its delivery of inadequate, limited services.

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  • September 24, 2024

    Academic Freedom in Hong Kong Under the National Security Law

    The 76-page report, “‘We Can’t Write the Truth Anymore’: Academic Freedom in Hong Kong Under the National Security Law,” documents that long-protected civil liberties, including the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association, have been under assault in Hong Kong’s eight publicly funded universities. As these universities have become increasingly repressive, students and faculty widely self-censor, fearful of being targeted for harassment, retribution, and even prosecution for what they say and do both in the classroom and on campus.

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  • September 18, 2024

    Discrimination and Other Abuses Against Papuans in Indonesia

    The 80-page report, “‘If It’s Not Racism, What Is It?’: Discrimination and Other Abuses Against Papuans in Indonesia,” finds that the protests, built around the Papuan Lives Matter social media campaign, were centered on human rights violations against Papuans, including denial of the rights to health and education, and peaceful calls for sovereignty for West Papua, where most Indigenous Papuans live. The report profiles cases of Papuan activists convicted for their role in the protests and the baseless charges brought against them.

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  • September 4, 2024

    Pushbacks and Pullbacks of Syrian Refugees from Cyprus and Lebanon

    The 90-page report, “‘I Can’t Go Home, Stay Here, or Leave’: Pushbacks and Pullbacks of Syrian Refugees from Cyprus and Lebanon,” documents why Syrian refugees in Lebanon are desperate to leave and try to reach Europe; and how the Lebanese army has intercepted, pulled them back, and summarily expelled them to Syria. In tandem, the Cypriot Coast Guard and other Cypriot security forces have sent Syrians whose boats reached Cyprus back to Lebanon, without regard to their refugee status or risk of being expelled to Syria. Many of those sent back to Lebanon by Cyprus were immediately expelled to Syria by the Lebanese army.

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  • August 27, 2024

    How Kazakhstan’s Financing Terrorism List Compounds Human Rights Harms

    The 29-page report, “Politically Targeted, Economically Isolated: How Kazakhstan’s Financing Terrorism List Compounds Human Rights Harms,” documents that people on Kazakhstan’s Financing Terrorism List face financial restrictions that cause them significant hardship. The restrictions lead to violations of rights guaranteed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) to which Kazakhstan is a state party, including the rights to an adequate standard of living and access to work and social security benefits. This is particularly egregious when the prosecutions are for alleged nonviolent “extremist” or “terrorist” crimes, that should not be considered crimes in the first place.

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  • August 21, 2024

    Insights From Health Workers in Oregon State

    The 78-page report, “Reproductive Rights in the US Wildfire Crisis: Insights from Health Workers in Oregon State,” finds that the US government needs to do more to address the growing threat wildfires pose to maternal and newborn health, particularly in marginalized communities. The organizations documented the impacts of recent wildfires on maternal and newborn health in the state of Oregon, drawing on the experiences of community health workers and maternal health providers, among others.

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  • August 14, 2024

    The Cruel and Ineffective Criminalization of Unhoused People in Los Angeles

    The 337-page report, “‘You Have to Move!’ The Cruel and Ineffective Criminalization of Unhoused People in Los Angeles,” documents the experiences of people living on the streets and in vehicles, temporary shelters, and parks in Los Angeles, as they struggle to survive while facing criminalization and governmental failures to prioritize eviction prevention or access to permanent housing. Law enforcement and sanitation “sweeps” force unhoused people out of public view, often wasting resources on temporary shelter and punishments that do not address the underlying needs. Tens of thousands of people are living in the streets of Los Angeles; death rates among the unhoused have skyrocketed.

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  • August 13, 2024

    Abortion Access in the State of Mexico

    The 44-page report, “Navigating Obstacles: Abortion Access in the State of Mexico,” found that the state’s abortion law does not guarantee access to this essential service, even for legally eligible cases. Barriers to access include healthcare providers denying or delaying services, withholding necessary information, questioning the veracity of sexual violence survivors' statements, subjecting women to mistreatment, and imposing arbitrary requirements for access that contradict existing law and regulations.

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  • August 7, 2024

    Tripwires for Civil Society since 2020

    The 205-page report, “Russia’s Legislative Minefield: Tripwires for Civil Society since 2020,” focuses on the wave of repressive legislation and policies that the Russian government of President Vladimir Putin has adopted since 2020 and how the Kremlin has used them to suppress internal dissent and incapacitate civil society. These laws severely restrict the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and impose state-enforced historical, social, and political narratives in public life.

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  • August 6, 2024

    Death and Torture at Chad’s Koro Toro Prison

    The 77-page report, “‘Worse Than Hell’: Death and Torture at Chad’s Koro Toro Prison,” documents in detail the detention of 72 people, several of whom were tortured or ill-treated at Koro Toro following the October 20 protests in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, and in several other towns, to protest the two years extension of the transitional government. Security forces fired live ammunition at protesters. Hundreds were then taken to Koro Toro, a high security prison about 600 kilometers away. The transition ended in May 2024 with the election of Gen. Mahamat Idriss Déby.

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