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End Cluster Munition Attacks in Ukraine

Russia, Ukraine Should Join International Ban Treaty

Russian armed forces have used at least six types of cluster munitions in attacks in Ukraine, and Ukrainian forces also appear to have used them at least once. Cluster munitions spread multiple explosive submunitions or bomblets over a wide area…
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Ukraine: Russia Uses Banned Antipersonnel Landmines

Landmines Threaten Civilian Lives, Prolong Recovery

(Berlin, March 29, 2022) – Russian forces fighting in Ukraine have used banned antipersonnel mines in the eastern Kharkiv region, Human Rights Watch said today.  The antipersonnel mines were located by Ukrainian explosive ordnance disposal…
POM-3 antipersonnel mines that failed to deploy and remnants of its delivery canister found by deminers in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine on or around March 28.
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Q&A: Incendiary Weapons in Ukraine

Incendiary weapons are among the cruelest weapons used in contemporary armed conflict. These weapons, which produce heat and fire through the chemical reaction of a flammable substance, cause immediate and lifelong human suffering in addition to…
Remnants of a misfired 9M22S incendiary 122mm Grad rocket
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Ukraine: Mariupol Theater Hit by Russian Attack Sheltered Hundreds

Serious Concerns for Civilians Remaining in the City

Update: Local officials in Mariupol reported on March 25, 2022, that about 300 people died during the March 16 attack on the theater. Human Rights Watch has not been able to verify the casualty figures. A mother and son who sheltered in the theater…
Satellite image recorded on March 14
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Ukraine: Russian Air-Dropped Bombs Hit Residential Area

Dozens Killed and Wounded in Apparent War Crime in Chernihiv

Russian aircraft dropped multiple unguided bombs simultaneously on March 3, 2022, that hit an intersection in a residential neighborhood of Chernihiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack, at about 12:15 p.m.…
A residential building in Chernihiv, Ukraine damaged by Russian aerial attack on March 3, 2022.
News

Russia: Brutal Arrests and Torture, Ill-Treatment of Anti-War Protesters

Thousands Arrested on March 6; Protesters Abused in Detention

Update: On March 13, police detained, at times brutally, more than 850 people allegedly for participation in peaceful anti-war protests. On March 15, the mayor of Moscow, where the majority of people were detained, lifted all major…
Police officers detain a protester in Manezhnaya Square, Moscow, Russia on March 6, 2022.
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Ukraine: Russian Assault Kills Fleeing Civilians

Continuous Shelling of Evacuation Route Suggests Laws of War Violations

For several hours on March 6, 2022, Russian forces bombarded an intersection on a road that hundreds of civilians were using to flee the Russian army’s advance in northern Ukraine to Kyiv, Human Rights Watch said today. The repeated nature of the…
Ukrainian soldiers help a woman in the town of Irpin, Ukraine on March 6.
News

Ukraine: Cluster Munitions Launched Into Kharkiv Neighborhoods

Russian Forces’ Indiscriminate Attacks May Amount to War Crimes

Russian forces fired cluster munitions into at least three residential areas in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, on February 28, 2022, Human Rights Watch said today. These attacks killed at least three civilians. Interviews with 2 witnesses…
Cluster munitions attacks in Kharkiv on February 28, 2022.
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Ukraine: Russian Cluster Munition Hits Hospital

4 Civilians Killed, 10 Wounded

(Berlin) – A Russian ballistic missile carrying a cluster munition struck just outside a hospital in Vuhledar, a town in the Ukrainian government-controlled Donetska region, on February 24, 2022, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack killed four…
Damage from a cluster munition attack outside the Central City Hospital in Vuhledar.
News

Serbia: Bahraini Dissident Unlawfully Extradited

Faces Torture, Ill-Treatment After Abusive Interpol Red Notice

(Beirut) – Serbia extradited a Bahraini political dissident to Bahrain in the early hours of January 24, 2022, despite an order by the European Court of Human Rights that specifically prohibited his extradition…
Ahmed Jaffer Muhammad
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Liberia: Landmark Swiss Conviction for Wartime Atrocities

Switzerland and Liberia Should Build on Important Progress

(Geneva) – The conviction of a former Liberian rebel leader by a Swiss court for war crimes during Liberia’s first civil war is a landmark step for Liberian victims and Switzerland’s efforts to hold those responsible for grave crimes to account, Human…
Switzerland's national flag flies over the entrance of the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (Bundesstrafgericht) in Bellinzona, Switzerland March 5, 2020.
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Switzerland: Liberian War Crimes Trial Resumes

Victims, Witnesses to Testify

(Geneva) – The trial of a former Liberian rebel leader arrested in Switzerland for alleged war crimes during Liberia’s first civil war will start its second important phase on February 15, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch issued…
Switzerland's national flag flies over the entrance of the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (Bundesstrafgericht) in Bellinzona, Switzerland March 5, 2020.
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Liberia: Milestone Swiss Trial for Wartime Atrocities

Switzerland Should Bolster Efforts in Cases of Serious International Crimes

(Geneva) – The trial of a former Liberian rebel leader arrested in Switzerland for alleged war crimes during Liberia’s first civil war is an important step forward for victims, Human Rights Watch said today. On December 3, 2020, a criminal…
Switzerland's national flag flies over the entrance of the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (Bundesstrafgericht) in Bellinzona, Switzerland March 5, 2020.
News

Syria/Russia: Strategy Targeted Civilian Infrastructure

Unlawful Attacks on Hospitals, Schools, Markets Forced Idlib Population Out

The Syrian and Russian armed forces’ repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure in Idlib in northwest Syria were apparent war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Dozens of unlawful air…
A woman in a black niqab and face mask walks through a deserted street with a child
News

Syria: Cluster Munition Attack on School

12 killed on first day of new decade

(Beirut) – A ballistic missile equipped with a banned cluster munition warhead launched by Syrian forces killed 12 civilians, including 5 children, at a school on January 1, 2020, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack…
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Europe Poll Supports Killer Robots Ban

Failing Diplomatic Talks Show Need for a Different Path

(Geneva) – Almost three in every four people responding to a new poll in 10 European countries want their governments to work for an international treaty prohibiting lethal autonomous weapons systems, Human Rights Watch said today. At…
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Russia: Don’t Block Action on Incendiary Weapons

White Phosphorus Should Be Included on the List

(Geneva) – Russia should support, not block, diplomatic talks about possible action to address the civilian harm caused by the use of incendiary weapons, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.  Issued…
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‘Killer Robots': Russia, US Oppose Treaty Negotiations

New Law Needed to Retain Meaningful Human Control Over the Use of Force

(Geneva) – Russia, the United States, and a handful of other nations investing in autonomous weapons are preventing efforts to start negotiations on a new treaty to retain meaningful human control over the use of force, Human Rights Watch said…
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Syria/Jordan: Open Borders to Daraa Residents

Dire Conditions for Thousands Fleeing Fighting

(Beirut) – Jordanian and Israeli authorities should allow Syrians fleeing fighting in Daraa governorate to claim asylum and protect them, Human Rights Watch said today. On June 16, 2018, the Syrian-Russian military alliance opened an…
An Internally displaced girl from Daraa province carries a stuffed toy and holds the hand of child near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Quneitra, Syria June 29, 2018. © 2018 Reuters/Alaa Al-Faqir

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