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Mauritania: Allow Ex-Guantanamo Detainee to Travel

Issue Passport to Author of Celebrated Prison Memoir

(Tunis) – Mauritanian authorities should issue a passport without delay to a former Guantanamo Bay detainee or explain the legal grounds for denying his right to travel, Human Rights Watch said today.    The United States…
Mohamedou Ould Slahi
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US: Don’t Confirm Sessions as Attorney General

Nominee’s Record Shows Disregard for Rights

(New York) – The United States Senate should vote against the confirmation of Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General of the United States, Human Rights Watch said today. The senator’s record raises fears that Sessions would be unwilling to enforce…
Sessions confirmation
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Statement on President Obama’s MacDill Air Force Base Speech

On December 6, 2016, US President Barack Obama delivered a speech on US counterterrorism policy at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Below is the reaction from Laura Pitter, US national security counsel at Human Rights Watch: President…
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US: Reject Guantanamo Restrictions

Retain Bill’s Protections for Military Sexual Assault Victims

The US Congress should reject provisions in an annual defense spending bill that will impede efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, Human Rights Watch said today. Congress should retain provisions that protect military…
U.S. President Barack Obama vetoes the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2016 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on October 22, 2015. © 2015 Reuters
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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…
Camp delta
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US: Missteps on Refugees Define Year

Overreactions to Those Fleeing Syria, Central America

  (Washington, DC) – United States policies toward people seeking refuge or reunification with their families in the US during 2015 have been ill-considered, discriminatory, and harmful, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2016.…
2015_USP_WR_presser
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US: Veto is a Step to Closing Guantanamo

Obama’s Plans Should End Indefinite Detention

(Washington, DC) – United States President Barack Obama’s veto of a defense spending bill on October 22, 2015, signals a renewed effort to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, Human Rights Watch said today. The National Defense…
obama ndaa veto
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US: Obama Should Veto Defense Bill

Spending Measure Would Hamper Closing Guantanamo

(Washington, DC, October 8, 2015) – United States President Barack Obama should veto a defense spending bill that will hinder his efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, Human Rights Watch said today. The bill, passed by…
News

US: Military Commission Conviction Overturned

Abandon Guantanamo’s Fatally Flawed Justice System

(Washington, DC) – A United States federal court dealt another blow to the Obama administration’s attempts to resuscitate the inferior military commissions at Guantanamo Bay by overturning the 2008 conviction of Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul, Human…
News

Canada: Ex-Guantanamo Child Soldier Freed

Omar Khadr Conditionally Released, Needs Rehabilitation

(Toronto) – The Canadian court’s release on bail of the former child soldier and Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr on May 7, 2015, is a significant step toward ending his ordeal, which began almost 13 years ago, Human Rights Watch said today. The Canadian…
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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: Speed Transfers from Guantanamo

(Washington, DC) – The Obama administration should increase detainee transfers from Guantanamo Bay following passage of a defense bill on December 12, 2014, that preserves fewer transfer restrictions. President Barack Obama obtained loosened transfer…
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US: 6 Guantanamo Detainees Moved to Uruguay

Other Countries Should Offer Resettlement

(New York) – After months of delay, the United States completed the transfers of six detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Uruguay on December 7, 2014. The transfers lower the number of prisoners being held at Guantanamo from 142 to 136…
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US: Court Undercuts Military Commissions’ Legitimacy

Vacates 2 of 3 Charges in Guantanamo Conviction

(New York) – A US appeals court’s ruling on July 14, 2014, has dealt a major blow to the legitimacy of military commissions and should dissuade the Obama administration from further using the commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects, Human Rights Watch…
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…
News

Statement on US President Barack Obama’s West Point Speech

On March 28, 2014, US President Barack Obama delivered a speech on US foreign policy at the US Military Academy at West Point. Below is the reaction from Sarah Margon, Washington director at Human Rights Watch: President Obama is endorsing the promotion…
News

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…

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