Listen, Run, Hide
Since the summer of 2024, Russian forces have increasingly armed quadcopter drones and used them to chase, injure, and kill residents living in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.
Reports
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June 3, 2025
Hunted From Above
Russia’s Use of Drones to Attack Civilians in Kherson, UkraineThe 93-page report, “Hunted From Above: Russia’s Use of Drones to Attack Civilians in Kherson, Ukraine” and an accompanying web feature, document how Russian forces appear to be deliberately or recklessly carrying out drone strikes against civilians and civilian objects with these mostly inexpensive commercially available drones. The attacks spread terror among the civilian population and cause them to fear leaving their homes, and have caused the depopulation of the two areas being targeted in Kherson.
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November 13, 2016
Marked With An "X"
Iraqi Kurdish Forces' Destruction of Villages, Homes in Conflict with ISISThis report looked at destruction of homes between September 2014 and May 2016 in disputed areas of Kirkuk and Nineveh governorates, areas nominally under Iraqi government jurisdiction but under Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) control. The destruction, which took place after KRG Peshmerga forces routed Islamic State (also known as ISIS) fighters, targeted Arab homes while leaving Kurdish homes intact. KRG leaders have maintained that these are historically Kurdish areas that they intend to incorporate into the Kurdistan region.
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July 24, 2007
Maiming the People
Guerrilla Use of Antipersonnel Landmines and other Indiscriminate Weapons in ColombiaThis 34–page report is accompanied by an extensive photo and audio slideshow, and documents the impact on civilian survivors of guerrillas’ use of antipersonnel landmines in Colombia, as well as the difficulties that such survivors face in obtaining needed assistance from the government.
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August 3, 2005
Back in Business?
U.S. Landmine Production and ExportsThe Bush administration appears poised to erase many of the positive steps the United States has taken in the past toward banning antipersonnel mines. The United States will decide in December 2005 whether it will begin the production of a new antipersonnel mine called Spider. According to a media report, which the Pentagon has yet to confirm or deny, in May 2005 the U.S. -
February 27, 2004
New U.S. Landmine Policy: Questions and Answers
What is new about this policy? The Bush Administration’s policy on landmines, announced February 27, 2004, reverses many of the positive steps the U.S. has made over the past decade to eradicate antipersonnel mines. The use of self-destructing mines is permitted indefinitely without any geographic restrictions. -
February 27, 2004
Human Rights Watch Position Paper on “Smart” (Self-Destructing) Landmines
The concept of smart (i.e., self-destructing) mines certainly has humanitarian allure. In theory, a mine that blows itself up in a relatively short period of time is preferable to a mine that lasts for decades, and should pose less danger to civilians.
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August 15, 2003
Struggling Through Peace
Return and Resettlement in AngolaThe Angolan government and the United Nations are failing to ensure the safe and voluntary return of millions of Angolans to their homes. This 29-page report documents several incidents of government authorities using violence, or the threat of violence, to drive people out of camps where they had been living sometimes for years. -
May 22, 2002
Recent Landmine Use By India And Pakistan
As part of the military buildup resulting from the December 13, 2001, attack on the Indian parliament, both India and Pakistan have emplaced large numbers of antipersonnel and antivehicle mines along their common border. -
February 25, 2002
Antivehicle Mines with Sensitive Fuzes or Antihandling Devices
The purpose of this backgrounder is to document the practice established by States Parties since entry-into-force of the treaty with respect to AVM with sensitive fuzes or AHD. It is regrettable that limited progress has been made in clarifying what specific types of AVM and AHD are permissible and which are prohibited under the treaty. -
October 12, 2001
Landmine Use in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. Landmines pose an ever-present danger to civilians now attempting to flee the country or areas of conflict. -
July 9, 2000
Clinton's Landmine Legacy
Human Rights Watch urged President Clinton to keep the promise he made in 1994 to ban antipersonnel landmines by joining the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. "Clinton's Landmine Legacy," the 42-page report from Human Rights Watch, details U.S. policy and practice on antipersonnel mines and recommends a dozen steps the president should take before leaving office. -
April 1, 2000
U.S. Programs to Develop Alternatives to Antipersonnel Mines
Nearly four years ago, in May 1996, the United States began a search for alternatives to antipersonnel landmines so that the U.S. military could completely eliminate their use "as soon as possible." A little more than a year later, a target date of 2006 was established for fielding alternatives, thus permitting the U.S. to join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty (Ottawa Convention) at that time. -
July 1, 1997
In Its Own Words
The U.S. Army and Antipersonnel Mines in the Korean and Vietnam WarsMost of the world is poised to ban antipersonnel landmines, the indiscriminate weapons that kill or maim an estimated 26,000 civilians each year. More than 100 governments have committed to negotiating a comprehensive ban treaty in Oslo, Norway in September, with the intention of signing the treaty in Ottawa, Canada in December. -
April 1, 1997
Exposing the Source
U.S Companies and the Production of Antipersonnel MinesDespite the Clinton Administration's attempts to lay claim to the mantle of global leadership in the effort to ban antipersonnel landmines, the United States has refused to ban or even formally suspend the production of antipersonnel mines. From 1985 through 1996, the U.S. produced more than four million new antipersonnel mines. -
March 1, 1995
Cambodia at War
Although the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Cambodia has been hailed as one of the mostsuccessful ever, the country was back at war even before the last of the peacekeepers left. The civilian population now faces a wide range of abuses from both the Khmer Rouge and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.