Reports

“You Have No Right to Complain”

Education, Social Restrictions, and Justice in Taliban-Held Afghanistan

The 69-page report, “‘You Have No Right to Complain’: Education, Social Restrictions, and Justice in Taliban-Held Afghanistan” focuses on the everyday experiences of people living in Taliban-held districts and Taliban restrictions on education, access to information and media, and freedom of movement. The Taliban’s widespread rights abuses in areas it controls raise concerns about their willingness and ability to keep commitments on rights in any future peace agreement

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  • No Place for Children

    Child Recruitment, Forced Marriage, and Attacks on Schools in Somalia

    This 104-page report details unlawful recruitment and other laws-of-war violations against children by all parties to the conflict in Somalia since 2010.

  • Schools and Armed Conflict

    A Global Survey of Domestic Laws and State Practice Protecting Schools from Attack and Military Use

    This 162-page report examines domestic laws and military policies in 56 countries around the world. Governments have been slow to update and align their domestic legislation with the explicit prohibitions on attacks on schools under international criminal law, Human Rights Watch said.

  • "Their Future is at Stake"

    Attacks on Teachers and Schools in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province

    This 40-page report documents the killing of at least 22 teachers and other education personnel by suspected militants between January 2008 and October 2010.

  • “Targets of Both Sides”

    Violence against Students, Teachers, and Schools in Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces

    This 111-page report details how ethnic Malay Muslim insurgents, who view the government educational system as a symbol of Thai state oppression, have threatened and killed teachers, burned and bombed government schools, and spread terror among students and their parents.

  • The “Ten-Dollar Talib” and Women’s Rights

    Afghan Women and the Risks of Reintegration and Reconciliation

    This 65-page report addresses the potential challenges to women's rights posed by future government agreements with insurgent forces.

  • “I Lost Everything”

    Israel's Unlawful Destruction of Property during Operation Cast Lead

    This 116-page report documents 12 separate cases during Operation Cast Lead in which Israeli forces extensively destroyed civilian property, including homes, factories, farms, and greenhouses, in areas under their control, without any lawful military purpose.

  • Sabotaged Schooling

    Naxalite Attacks and Police Occupation of Schools in India’s Bihar and Jharkhand States

    This 103-page report details how the Maoists - known as Naxalites - a longstanding, pan-Indian armed militant movement, are targeting and blowing up state-run schools. At the same time, police and paramilitary forces are disrupting education for long periods by occupying schools as part of anti-Naxalite operations.

  • Rain of Fire

    Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza

    This 71-page report provides witness accounts of the devastating effects that white phosphorus munitions had on civilians and civilian property in Gaza.

  • The Christmas Massacres

    LRA attacks on Civilians in Northern Congo

    This 67-page report details the brutal slaughter of more than 865 civilians and the abduction of at least 160 children between December 24, 2008, and January 17 in the Haute Uele district of Congo.

  • Up In Flames

    Humanitarian Law Violations and Civilian Victims in the Conflict over South Ossetia

    This 200-page report details indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks by both Georgian and Russian forces, and the South Ossetian forces' campaign of deliberate and systematic destruction of certain ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia.

  • Besieged, Displaced, and Detained

    The Plight of Civilians in Sri Lanka’s Vanni Region

    This 49-page report documents the Sri Lankan government's responsibility for the plight of the 230,000 to 300,000 displaced persons trapped in the Vanni conflict zone. They face severe shortages of food and other essentials because of government restrictions on humanitarian assistance.

  • "So Much to Fear"

    War Crimes and the Devastation of Somalia

    The 104-page report, "So Much to Fear: War Crimes and the Devastation of Somalia," describes how the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the Ethiopian forces that intervened in Somalia to support it and insurgent forces have committed widespread and serious violations of the laws of war.

  • Dangerous Duty

    Children and the Chhattisgarh Conflict

    This 58-page Human Rights Watch report updates information on the use of children by all parties to the conflict, the harm they have suffered, and the adverse impact of the conflict on children’s education.

  • “Being Neutral is Our Biggest Crime”

    Government, Vigilante, and Naxalite Abuses in India’s Chhattisgarh State

    This 182-page report documents human rights abuses against civilians, particularly indigenous tribal communities, caught in a deadly tug-of-war between government security forces and the vigilante Salwa Judum and Naxalites.

  • "The Best School"

    Student Violence, Impunity, and the Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire

    This 98-page report documents how, in the last several years, members of FESCI have been implicated in attacks on opposition ministers, magistrates, journalists, and human rights organizations, among others.