Reports

“No Forgiveness for People Like You”

Executions and Enforced Disappearances in Afghanistan under the Taliban

The 25-page report, “‘No Forgiveness for People Like You,’ Executions and Enforced Disappearances in Afghanistan under the Taliban,” documents the killing or disappearance of 47 former members of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) – military personnel, police, intelligence service members, and militia – who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban forces between August 15 and October 31. Human Rights Watch gathered credible information on more than 100 killings from Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, and Kunduz provinces alone.

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  • “Every Morning They Beat Me”

    Police Abuses in Burundi

    This 42-page report documents 21 cases of beatings and torture of civilians carried out in October 2007 by a special reserve unit known as Rapid Mobile Intervention Group (Groupement Mobile d’Intervention Rapide, GMIR) in Muramvya province.

  • The Torture of Tasneem Khalil

    How the Bangladesh Military Abuses Its Power under the State of Emergency

    This 39-page report graphically details Khalil’s 22-hour ordeal in May 2007 in Bangladesh’s clandestine detention and torture system – a setup well known to the government, ordinary Bangladeshis, Dhaka’s donors and diplomatic community.

  • Application No. 2947/06: Ismoilov and Others v. Russia

    Intervention Submitted by Human Rights Watch and AIRE Centre

    The third party intervention by Human Rights Watch and the AIRE Centre in the case of Ismoilov and Others v. Russia analyzes states’ reliance upon diplomatic assurances against torture and ill-treatment in extradition context.

  • The “Stamp of Guantanamo”

    The Story of Seven Men Betrayed by Russia’s Diplomatic Assurances to the United States

    This 43-page report reconstructs the experiences of the detainees after being returned to Russia in March 2004, based on interviews with three of the detainees, their family members, lawyers, and others.

  • Widespread Torture in the Chechen Republic

    Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper for the 37th Session UN Committee against Torture

    This 16-page briefing paper is addressed to the Committee against Torture. It documents ill-treatment and torture by pro-Moscow Chechen forces under the effective command of Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, as well as by federal police personnel.

  • Dangerous Ambivalence

    UK Policy on Torture since 9/11

    This 45-page paper documents how the UK government is undermining the torture ban, even as it proclaims its efforts to combat torture worldwide. Torture, including returns to risk of torture, is prohibited by international law. No exceptions are allowed, even in time of war or national emergency.

  • "No Blood, No Foul"

    Soldiers' Accounts of Detainee Abuse in Iraq

    Torture and other abuses against detainees in U.S. custody in Iraq were authorized and routine, even after the 2004 Abu Ghraib scandal, according to accounts from soldiers in this 53-page report.

  • Briefing Paper on U.S. Military Commissions

    On November 7, the Supreme Court agreed to review the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who is challenging the lawfulness of the U.S. government trying him for alleged war crimes before a military commission at Guantánamo Bay. The Court is expected to render a decision in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in late June, 2006.

  • By the Numbers

    Findings of the Detainee Abuse and Accountability Project

    This 27-page report presents findings of the Detainee Abuse and Accountability Project, a joint project of New York University’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First. The project is the first comprehensive accounting of credible allegations of torture and abuse in U.S.

  • Q & A on Military Instruction Number 10

    Will It Keep Evidence Obtained through Torture or Cruel Treatment out of Commission Trials?

    On March 24, 2006, the General Counsel of the Department of Defense issued Military Commission Instruction No. 10, “Certain Evidentiary Requirements,” in response to growing public concern that evidence acquired through torture might be admissible in military commission proceedings.

  • List of “Ghost Prisoners” Possibly in CIA Custody

    List of Detainees Published by Human Rights Watch

    Human Rights Watch has released a list of persons believed to be in U.S. custody as “ghost detainees” -- detainees who are not given any legal rights or access to counsel, and who are likely not reported to or seen by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

  • Leadership Failure

    Firsthand Accounts of Torture of Iraqi Detainees by the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division

    This report provides soldiers' accounts of abuses against detainees committed by troops of the 82nd Airborne stationed at Forward Operating Base Mercury (FOB Mercury), near Fallujah.

  • Uprooted and Forgotten

    Impunity and Human Rights Abuses in Northern Uganda

    This 76-page report documents how the ongoing lack of accountability and civilian protection in the north has fueled atrocities by both sides. In each of the displaced persons camps visited, Human Rights Watch found cases of abuse by Ugandan government forces as well as rebel combatants.