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Interview: Weapons of War in Ukraine

Cluster Munitions Used, Vacuum Bombs Spotted in Ukraine

As the war in Ukraine continues, Human Rights Watch has been busy investigating what’s happening on the ground – including scrutinizing the weapons being used in the conflict. Under the laws of war, parties to the conflict must do everything feasible to…
An apartment building explodes
News

Interview: Phone of HRW Director Attacked Using Pegasus Spyware

Lama Fakih, Who Lives in Lebanon and Oversees Work on Conflict, Targeted by Government Attack

Surveillance technology sold to governments by the firm NSO Group has repeatedly been used to target the phones of journalists, activists, politicians, and diplomats. The software, called Pegasus, allows attackers full access to the phone’s camera,…
Lama Fakih
News

Interview: The World Desperately Needs More Covid-19 Vaccines

New Report Shows More Companies Could Help Produce mRNA Vaccines

The coordinator of the AccessIBSA project, which campaigns for access to medicines in India, Brazil, and South Africa, and a vaccine expert from the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or Doctors Without Borders) Access Campaign published a report today…
Vaccine Lab Worker
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Interview: Aluminum Is the Future for Electric Cars

But Mining and Refining the Metal Often Involves Human Rights Abuses

Sales of electric cars are surging – with sales predicted to rise from 2 million in 2018 to 12 million in 2025 – as people choose to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and better protect the environment. To keep electric cars lightweight and ensure…
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Interview: The Law Putting Illinois' Young People at Risk

Forcing Parental Involvement in Abortion Violates Rights

A law in the US state of Illinois that forces people under 18 to involve an adult family member in their abortion decision is failing some of the state’s young people and violating their human rights. In a new joint report with the American Civil…
An illustration of scales imposed over a woman's torso
News

Breaking the Poverty Trap

Why Poverty and Inequality are Human Rights Issues

Human Rights Watch has long documented how, when people live in poverty, their ability to exercise all their human rights erodes. Because of this, we have pushed governments to end abuses that contribute to poverty. We have recently decided to…
girls from the Kalokol Girls Primary School fetch water
News

Interview: What’s Happening to Refugees in Greece

How has the situation on Lesbos changed since your last visit? When I was here in 2016, I couldn’t imagine things being worse. We saw a lawless situation in Moria refugee camp. There were around 6,000 people in the camp,…
Migrants who arrived yesterday to Greece from Turkey eat bread as they try to warm themselves at the village of Skala Sikaminias, on the Greek island of Lesbos on Friday, March 6, 2020.
News

Interview: Libya’s Chaos Explained

Civilians Bear the Brunt of Renewed Fighting

Libya began descending into chaos after Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011. Could you summarize the complex situation in Libya today? The latest conflict started in April 2019, when an armed group in eastern Libya called…
Government of National Accord fighters take positions during clashes with east-based fighters from the Libyan National Army at Al-Yarmouk frontline in Tripoli, Libya on August 29, 2019.
News

Interview: Rwanda’s Street Children Locked up, Abused

So what exactly is happening to Kigali’s street children? They’re being rounded up, mostly by police, and taken to a site called Gikondo Transit Center as part of a “rehabilitation process,” as the Rwandan authorities call…
202001AFR_Rwanda_main
News

Interview: A Toxic Mix of Abuses on Congo’s Oil Palm Plantations

How European Development Banks Fail the Very People They Claim to Assist

Why did you focus your research on these oil palm plantations? These plantations provide jobs for many people. But their workers are being underpaid and exposed to unhealthy working conditions. The European development banks that finance these…
201911ENV_DRC_reportphotos
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Interview: Playing in Poisoned Dust

Being Outside is a Health Risk for Some of Zambia’s Children

How did you first become aware of the problem in Kabwe? We learned about it from an environmental group several years ago but became interested in doing our own research after seeing a young person from Kabwe speak at a United Nations event.…
201908crd_zambia_main
News

Interview: Keeping Armies out of Schools

Why has Human Rights Watch dedicated 10 years to this subject? We really believe that all kids everywhere are entitled to go to school and that they should feel safe in their schools wherever in the world they might be. We also feel that in…
Once soldiers make classrooms their home, the school can become a military target
News

Interview: The Dangers of Opposing Mining in South Africa

Left Destitute and Sick, Communities Defy Police Abuse and Threats to Assert their Rights

What changes for a community once a mine starts operating? Most mining in South Africa takes place in rural areas, where people live off the land and their livestock. Mining often forces people to leave the land they use for farming and grazing…
Coal mine in Somkhele viewed from Ocilwane village in Fuleni, KwaZulu-Natal. © 2018 Rob Symons
News

Interview: Children with Disabilities in Kazakhstan Are Missing Out

All Children Should Have Access to School

Why did you focus on Kazakhstan for this report? The Kazakh government has committed to improving education opportunities for children with disabilities, but so far we haven’t seen that commitment lead to meaningful change. We wanted to better…
First grade math class in a mainstream inclusive school in Almaty, Kazakhstan, includes at least one child with disabilities.
News

Interview: Airbnb Checks Out of West Bank Settlements

Company to Stop Listing Properties in Unlawful Israeli Settlements

How was this project conceived? Years of our research has shown that businesses operating in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank both benefit from and contribute to serious violations of international law and human rights. We…
Listings by the global travel companies Airbnb and Booking.com for properties in unlawful Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
News

Interview: Defying the Dominican Republic’s Abortion Law

So, all abortion is banned in the Dominican Republic? Yes. Even in instances where a woman or girl is pregnant from rape or incest, if her life is in danger, or if the fetus won’t survive outside the womb. But the ban, in effect since 1884,…
Rosa Hernández stands in her home below a photo of her daughter, Rosaura Almonte Hernández, who died in 2012 at age 16.
News

Interview: Drowning in Pesticides

Brazil’s Industrial Farmers Spray Dangerous Chemicals Near Schools, Villages

  What’s happening with pesticides in Brazil?  Brazil’s an agriculture powerhouse in terms of the amount of land under farming. The farming of soy, sugarcane, cotton, and corn is done at an industrial scale and pesticides are used…
Bernardo, a man in his 30s, was born in a quilombo (Afro-Brazilian) community of around 60, men, women, and children in Minas Gerais State, southeast Brazil. Bernardo told Human Rights Watch that he feels powerless against aerial spraying of pesticides. “

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