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US: Newly Released Files Show Fast-Track to Deportation

Reveal How Asylum Seekers at Border Were Short-Changed on Rights

(Washington) – Two years after the implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program, newly released government records reveal US immigration agencies’ efforts in 2019 to rapidly deport thousands of…
Migrants seeking asylum wait in line with their case paperwork to meet with an attorney on Oct. 5, 2019, during a weekly trip by volunteers, lawyers, paralegals and interpreters to the migrant campsite outside El Puente Nuevo in Matamoros, Mexico.
News

Russia, Turkey, and Iran Should Act on Syria Detainees

Use September 7 Meeting to Address Arbitrary Detentions, Disappearances, Abductions

(Beirut) – The Astana working group on detentions and abductions in the Syrian conflict should take immediate steps to address the Syrian government’s arbitrary detentions, torture of detainees, and enforced disappearances, 11 human…
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lock hands during a group photo in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, April 4, 2018. © 2018 Tolga Bozoglu/Pool Photo via AP
News

US: Grant ISIS Suspect Access to Lawyer

Unnamed US Detainee Held 2 Months in Iraq

(Washington, DC) – The US government has been holding a US citizen suspected of fighting with the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) for two months in an undisclosed military prison in Iraq without access to legal counsel, Human Rights…
The American flag flies next to a statue of the scales of justice at United States Court House, February 6, 2002.
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US: Releases Signal Progress on Guantanamo

Senegal Shows Leadership, Compassion in Accepting Libyan Detainees

(New York) – The United States government’s release of two Libyan detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Senegal on April 4, 2016, shows meaningful progress on closing the prison, Human…
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US: Reform Policing, Criminal Justice

High-Profile Cases Highlight Longstanding Problems

(Washington, DC) – State and local officials in the United States should address racial discrimination and police abuse in the criminal justice system that sparked widespread demonstrations last year, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2015…
News

US: Ensure Benghazi Suspect’s Rights

Rightly Charged in Federal Court, Not Guantanamo Military Commissions

(Washington, DC) – The United States government should ensure that Ahmed Abu Khatallah, apprehended for his alleged role in the September 11, 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, is brought promptly before a judge and provided access to a…
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US: Send Guantanamo’s Yemenis Home

New Video Captures Anguish of Detainees’ Families

(Washington, DC) – The US should expedite the return of Yemeni detainees cleared for release from Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Barack Obama. Human Rights Watch released a video showing the plight of families of…
News

US: Respect Privacy at Home, Abroad

UN Rights Body Concerned Over Surveillance Activities, Other Issues

(Washington, DC) – The United States should heed calls issued on March 27, 2014, by an important UN human rights body to ensure that its surveillance activities are consistent with the right to privacy, both within and outside its borders, Human Rights…
News

US: Eased Guantanamo Transfers a Positive Step

President Should Sign Defense Act, Work Towards Prison’s Closure

The US Congress’ passage of a defense bill that will ease restrictions on the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees is an important step towards closing the detention facility, Human Rights Watch said today. On December 19, 2013, the Senate passed the 2014…
News

US: Pledges to End ‘War,’ Close Guantanamo

Obama Should Follow-Up With Action, Adherence to International Law

(Washington, DC) – United States President Barack Obama’s new call to transfer detainees from Guantanamo and wind down the “war” with al-Qaeda could jumpstart a US counterterrorism policy more consistent with US human rights obligations. However, in his…
News

US: Policy Recommendations on Counterterrorism

On May 23, 2013, US President Barack Obama will give a speech at the National Defense University on counterterrorism policy. Human Rights Watch has long reported on US counterterrorism policy, and has recently made a number of recommendations that address…
News

Guantanamo: ‘An Unmitigated Disaster’

Kenneth Roth Challenges Senator James Inhofe on Closing Guantanamo

(New York) – Seven days after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, President George W. Bush signed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), a joint resolution passed by Congress that empowered the president to use force against…
News

US: Fulfill Promises to Close Guantanamo

Force Feeding Compounds Harms of Indefinite Detention

US President Barack Obama should move swiftly to fulfill newly repeated promises to end indefinite detention without trial at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay. At a White House press briefing on April 30, 2013, Obama said the prison at…
News

US: Bipartisan Study Shows Need to Investigate Torture

‘Indisputable’ Evidence Requires Declassification, Official Inquiry

A bipartisan study finding “indisputable” evidence of torture for which the highest United States officials bear responsibility should spur the US government to thoroughly investigate detainee abuse since September 11, 2001, and provide redress to victims…
News

US: Address Guantanamo Hunger Strike, End Indefinite Detention

Letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel

The Honorable Charles Hagel Secretary of Defense US Department of Defense 1000 Defense Pentagon, Room 3E880 Washington, DC 20301-1000 Via Facsimile Re: Continuing Indefinite Detention and Hunger Strike at…
News

US: NY Trial Right for Bin Laden In-Law

Terrorism Suspects Should be Prosecuted in Federal Court

(New York) – The Obama administration’s decision to try an alleged al Qaeda figure in federal court rather than before a military commission at Guantanamo best serves the interests of justice. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden who had…
News

US: Injustices Filling the Prisons

Counterterrorism Violations Blight US Record

(Washington, DC) – The enormous prison population in the United States partly reflects harsh sentencing practices contrary to international law, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013. The sentencing practices include disproportionately…
News

US: Zero Dark Thirty and the Truth About Torture

The movie Zero Dark Thirty, which depicts the hunt for Osama bin Laden, wrongly suggests that torture was an ugly but useful tactic in the fight against terrorism. It also falsely implies that information obtained through torture was critical to finding…
News

US: Defense Bill Signing Backtracks on Guantanamo

President Should Renew Efforts to Transfer Cleared Detainees

(Washington, DC) – US President Barack Obama’s refusal to veto a defense spending bill restricting detainee transfers from Guantanamo undercuts his pledge to close the prison, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 2, 2013, Obama signed the 2013…
News

Canada: Rehabilitate and Reintegrate Ex-Child Soldier

Assist Former Guantanamo Detainee Omar Khadr’s Return to Society

(Toronto) – The government of Canada should rehabilitate and reintegrate into society former child soldier Omar Khadr, and seek to remedy abuses he suffered during a decade in United States custody, Human Rights Watch said today. Khadr, who is now 26,…

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