Reports

This report describes how France, and especially the United States, were pivotal in bringing Habré to power, although signs of his brutality were already evident. The two countries saw Habré as a bulwark against the expansionist designs of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, whose forces were occupying northern Chad. Human Rights Watch details how both the United States and France continued to provide Habré’s government with critical support, even as it committed widespread and systematic human rights violations.

The report, “‘We Feel We Are Cursed’: Life under ISIS in Sirte, Libya,” also finds that ISIS is inflicting severe hardship on the local population by diverting food, medicine, fuel, and cash, along with homes it seized from residents who fled, to fighters and functionaries it has amassed in the Mediterranean port city. As the de facto government in Sirte, ISIS has the duty to ensure that all residents are able to exercise their basic human rights, including the rights to food and health.

This report covers allegations of abuses during public security operations carried out nationwide, beginning in July 2015, as part of the “Operation to Liberate and Protect the People” (OLP), which was billed as an operation to combat criminal gangs. A common denominator in all the cases, and in other cases of government abuses PROVEA and Human Rights Watch have documented over past decade, is the extent to which the victims – or their families – have felt they have nowhere to turn for redress or for protection of their fundamental rights.

 

This report outlines critical areas requiring additional government support so that Ivorian courts can provide credible justice. It is based on more than 70 interviews with government officials, members of the judiciary, representatives of nongovernmental groups, international criminal justice experts, UN officials, diplomats, and donor officials.

This report documents the human rights abuses and social toll that stem from enforcement of the country’s draconian drug law, which sends thousands of Tunisians to prison each year merely for consuming or possessing small quantities of cannabis for personal use. 

This report lays out new evidence regarding the authenticity of what are known as the Caesar photographs, identifies a number of the victims, and highlights some of the key causes of death. Human Rights Watch located and interviewed 33 relatives and friends of 27 victims whose cases researchers verified; 37 former detainees who saw people die in detention; and four defectors who worked in Syrian government detention centers or the military hospitals where most of the photographs were taken. Using satellite imagery and geolocation techniques, Human Rights Watch confirmed that some of the photographs of the dead were taken in the courtyard of the 601 Military Hospital in Mezze.

The 77-page report, “‘To Consolidate This Peace of Ours’: A Human Rights Agenda for Côte d’Ivoire,” assesses the government’s progress in strengthening the rule of law and identifies the key human rights priorities for the next five years. Ouattara’s government has made progress in addressing the consequences of the devastating 2010-2011 post-election crisis. But it should do more to fight impunity, strengthen the rule of law, complete security sector reforms, and find a lasting and rights-based solution to the land disputes that are frequently at the root of local-level violence.

The 34-page report, “The Endless Wait: Long-Term Arbitrary Detentions and Torture in Western Libya,” documents long-term arbitrary detention and torture and other ill-treatment in four prisons in Tripoli and Misrata that are administered by the Judicial Police and controlled by the Justice Ministry of the Tripoli-based self-proclaimed government. The report is based on individual interviews by Human Rights Watch with 120 detainees. Since 2011, consecutive interim governments and authorities have detained thousands of people without presenting them to a judge or charging them with a crime. Judicial authorities have neither provided a legal basis for these long-term arbitrary detentions nor taken action to end the practice. 

This 88-page report draws on interviews with activists, journalists, and ICC staff in Abidjan and The Hague to assess whether the ICC has done what it can to ensure that its proceedings are relevant, meaningful, and accessible to Ivorians. Human Rights Watch found that the prosecution’s decision to limit its initial investigations to one side of the country’s 2010-2011 post-election crisis was a misstep, compounded when other court staff adopted the same narrow focus in their efforts to engage Ivorians in the court’s work. This lessened the court’s potential impact in the country. 

This 38-page report draws from interviews with South Sudanese judges, prosecutors, private lawyers, victims, government officials, nongovernmental groups, UN staff, and foreign diplomats in October 2014 to explain why justice is needed, and makes recommendations to ensure perpetrators are held to account.

This 109-page report examines the inner workings of war crimes units in the three countries and highlights key lessons learned.

The 111-page report details the grave economic consequences of land dispossession and the resulting risk for inter-communal violence in western Côte d’Ivoire. The report calls on the Ivorian government to take swift and effective action to resolve fairly all claims of land dispossession and to help people register their property.

This 153-page report describes the role of the Burmese government and local authorities in the forcible displacement of more than 125,000 Rohingya and other Muslims and the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

This 74-page report analyzes Côte d’Ivoire’s uneven efforts to hold to account those responsible for serious international crimes committed following the November 2010 presidential election. Since his May 2011 inauguration, President Alassane Ouattara has repeatedly declared his commitment to bring all of those responsible to account, regardless of political affiliation or military rank.

This 58-page report analyzes Guinea’s efforts to hold those responsible for the crimes to account. On that day, several hundred members of Guinea’s security forces burst into a stadium in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, and opened fire on tens of thousands of opposition supporters peacefully gathered there.