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Gambia: Fully Probe Anti-Mining Protesters’ Deaths

Inquiry, Officers’ Arrests Positive First Steps

The Gambian authorities should thoroughly investigate the alleged excessive use of force by police causing the deaths of two anti-sand mining demonstrators on June 18, 2018, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. The…
Gambian security officers at the Supreme Court in Banjul, December 5, 2016.
News

Who Benefits from the Diamond Summit in Antwerp?

This week, June 18 to 22, Antwerp hosts a meeting of governments, the diamond industry, and nongovernmental groups to take stock of the Kimberley Process, the certification process set up nearly two decades ago to end the trade in “blood diamonds.” But…
News

EU Should Push to Protect Rights in Diamond Trade

Next week (June 18-22) the European Union hosts governments, the diamond industry, and nongovernmental groups in the diamond-trading city of Antwerp to take stock of the Kimberley Process, the certification process set up nearly two decades ago to end the…
News

Diamond Trade Still Fuels Human Suffering

It’s been almost two decades now since governments came together to end the trade in “blood diamonds” that were fuelling several brutal wars in Africa. They set up the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, a system of export and import controls for…
News

Buying Jewelry for Mother’s Day?

Questions You Should Ask Your Jeweler

Sunday is Mother’s Day in many countries, an opportunity for many to give their mum a piece of jewelry. Jewelers are offering “Mother’s Day Gift Guides” and “Mother’s Day Specials.” Here is Human Rights Watch’s special “gift guide” for Mother’s Day…
"Peter," 15, working alongside a teenage girl at an artisanal and small-scale mine in Odahu, Amansie West district, Ghana.
News

A Chance to Curb Abuse in Mineral Supply Chains

Monitoring of Companies’ Sourcing Practices Should Be Prioritized

This week, a gathering of governments, companies and civil society groups at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris will assess companies’ efforts to curb serious abuses in their minerals supply chains…
A girl works in an artisanal diamond mine in Sosso Nakombo, Central African Republic, near the border with Cameroon, in August 2015.
News

The Path to Responsible Sourcing in the Jewellery Sector

These days, jewellers use many terms to describe their efforts to ensure that their products aren’t the result of abusive mining practices: “Responsible sourcing,” “ethical sourcing,” “responsible business conduct,” and “sustainable…
A girl works in an artisanal diamond mine in Sosso Nakombo, Central African Republic, near the border with Cameroon, in August 2015
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The Hidden Cost of Jewelry

Precious minerals and stones are mined in dozens of countries around the world, and then typically traded, exported, and processed in other countries. Although their supply chains can be long and complex, jewelers and watchmakers have a responsibility to…
Report

The Hidden Cost of Jewelry

Summary Jewelry and watches denote wealth and status, as well as artistry, beauty, and love. Gold and diamond jewelry in particular are frequently purchased as gifts for loved ones and for special occasions. Globally, about 90 million…
News

Equatorial Guinea: President’s Son Convicted of Laundering Millions

French Court Orders 3-Year Suspended Sentence, Seizes Assets

(Paris) – A Parisian court on October 27, 2017, convicted the president of Equatorial Guinea’s eldest son in absentia of embezzling tens of millions of euro from his government and laundering the proceeds in France. The court handed down…
Teodorin Nguema, Equatorial Guinea's vice president and son of President Teodoro Obiang
News

Azerbaijan Gets US$500 Million Loan for Gas Transportation

Missed Opportunity to Affect Much Needed Reforms

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Wednesday approved a US$500 million loan for a crucial piece of a network of pipelines owned largely by the Azerbaijani government that will transport Azerbaijani gas to Europe. The bank made…
Report

“We Can’t Refuse to Pick Cotton”

Summary Cotton is mandatory for everyone. The government gave the orders [to pick] and you will not go against those orders…. If I refuse, they will fire me…. We would lose the bread we eat. −Uzbek schoolteacher, October 2015, Turtkul,…
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Video: Forced Labor Used in Uzbekistan's Cotton Harvests

The World Bank is funding half a billion dollars in agricultural projects linked to forced and child labor in Uzbekistan. Under the loan agreements, the Uzbek government is required to comply with laws prohibiting forced and child labor, and the World…
News

How Equatorial Guinea Turned Corruption into an Art Form

Equatorial Guinea has the highest GDP per capita of any African country. What’s gone wrong?         About 20 years ago the country discovered oil, and virtually overnight it went from being one of the poorest…
After spending several million dollars on government buildings in Malabo, the capital, and Bata, the nation’s economic center, Equatorial Guinea is pouring billions of dollars into building a new administrative capital, Oyala, in the middle of the jungle.
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Equatorial Guinea: Oil Wealth Squandered and Stolen

Equatorial Guinea’s mismanagement of its oil wealth has contributed to chronic underfunding of its public health and education systems in violation of its human rights obligations. The government spent only 2 to 3 percent of its annual budget on health…
Report

“Manna From Heaven”?

Summary The president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, once described the discovery of oil in the 1990s off the coast of the small Central African nation as “manna from heaven,” the Biblical life-saving bread that God sent…
News

Equatorial Guinea: Oil Wealth Squandered and Stolen

As Reserves Dwindle, Little Time to Reverse Neglect of Health, Education

(Paris, June 15, 2017) – Equatorial Guinea’s mismanagement of its oil wealth has contributed to chronic underfunding of its public health and education systems in violation of its human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said in a report released…
After spending several million dollars on government buildings in Malabo, the capital, and Bata, the nation’s economic center, Equatorial Guinea is pouring billions of dollars into building a new administrative capital, Oyala, in the middle of the jungle.
News

Africa's Natural Resources: From Curse to a Blessing

This year's Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa, which will take place on April 22 and 23, will focus on natural resources governance in Africa. Africa's rich natural resource endowment has long been at the heart of both the continent's many…
Mining machinery left behind at Eland coal mine at Mwabulambo after closure in 2015.