|
| ||
|
|
European Governments Should Resettle Guantanamo Detainees European governments should provide humanitarian protection to those Guantanamo detainees who will not be charged with a crime but cannot be returned to their countries of origin for fear of torture or other serious human rights violations, five leading human rights organizations said today. European governments should agree to accept them into their countries and ensure they are provided with adequate support. November 10, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version The Omar Khadr Case: Redefining War Crimes By Audrey Macklin, law professor at the University of Toronto Published in Jurist JURIST Guest Columnist Audrey Macklin of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, who recently observed the US military commissions at Guantanamo Bay for Human Rights Watch, says that the prosecution's arguments in the case against Canadian national Omar Khadr that all acts of war by unlawful combatants are by definition war crimes points toward the “heads I win; tails you lose” quality of the entire military commissions process.... October 31, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version US: First Verdict for Overseas Torture Decision in Trial of Ex-Liberian President’s Son Significant for Justice Today’s verdict in the US trial of Charles “Chuckie” Taylor, Jr. for torture committed in Liberia is a significant step to ensure that victims see justice and that perpetrators do not expect sanctuary in the United States, Human Rights Watch said. The jury in the trial, which has been taking place at a Miami federal court since September 29, found the defendant guilty on all counts today. October 30, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version US: Iraq Security Deal Should Shield Detainees To Avoid Torture Risk, Include Provision to Challenge Transfer The United States should not transfer detainees in US military custody to Iraqi custody under a US-Iraqi security agreement if they face the risk of torture, Human Rights Watch said today. October 29, 2008 Press Release Also available in Printer friendly version Human Rights Agenda for the New Administration The next US president will take office at a time when the credibility and effectiveness of the United States in combating human rights abuses abroad has been badly eroded by the US government’s own actions. There is an urgent need to remedy abuses on many fronts, but Human Rights Watch here highlights four crucial initiatives that the new president should take shortly after assuming office: October 29, 2008 Campaign Document Printer friendly version US: Los Angeles Needs Plan to Test Rape Evidence New Staff Only One Step to Reducing 7,300-Case Backlog The approval of 16 additional Los Angeles Police Department crime lab positions today by the City Council is only one step in addressing the backlog of 7,300 cases in which rape evidence has not been tested, Human Rights Watch said. The city needs to prepare and implement a more comprehensive plan to address the problem of untested “rape kits,” the physical evidence, including DNA, collected after a sexual assault. October 29, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version Burma: US Consumers Should Avoid Banned Gems US Measure Tightening Sanctions Has Gone Into Effect Consumers should support a new US law banning Burmese gems by refusing to buy from jewelers unless they ensure their gems are not from Burma, Human Rights Watch said today. October 27, 2008 Press Release Also available in Printer friendly version Confessions of a former Guantánamo prosecutor The inside story of a military lawyer who discovered stunning injustice at the heart of the Bush administration's military commissions. By Stacy Sullivan, counterterrorism advisor Published in Salon When Army Lt. Col. Darrell Vandeveld began his work in May 2007 as a prosecutor at the Guantánamo Bay military commissions, the Iraq war veteran was one of the most enthusiastic and tenacious lawyers working on behalf of the Bush administration. So it came as a shock in mid-September when Vandeveld announced that he was resigning as a prosecutor because he had grave doubts about the integrity of the system he had so vigorously defended. October 23, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version Seeking a New Ally to Curb Domestic Violence By Meghan Rhoad Published in RH Reality Check: Information and Analysis for Reproductive Health Jessica Gonzales called the police in Castle Rock, Colorado, seven times on the night in June 1999, when her estranged husband abducted her three daughters, ages 7, 8 and 10. For seven hours after he took them, she pleaded with the police to go after him, to enforce the restraining order she had against him. They ignored her appeals. Then, at 3:20 a.m., her husband drove up to the police station in his pickup truck and began shooting. The police shot back, killing him. They found the bodies of the three girls in the back of the truck, slain by their father's semi-automatic. October 23, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version US: Improve Workers’ Rights in Trade Accords Labor provisions in US free trade accords are weak and are not effectively enforced, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Major reforms are needed. October 22, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version A Way Forward for Workers’ Rights in US Free Trade Accords
HRW Index No.: 1-56432-401-X October 22, 2008 Report Download PDF, 203 KB, 39 pgs Purchase online Read Press Release US: LA Police Fail to Use Funds to Test Rape Kits Audit Shows LAPD Rape-Kit Backlog Grows Despite $4 Million in Funding The Los Angeles Police Department should make it a priority to reduce its huge backlog in testing evidence in rape cases, Human Rights Watch said today after release of an audit that shows the number of untested rape kits continues to grow despite nearly $4 million in federal grants the LAPD has received for that purpose. October 20, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version US: Georgia Should Grant Clemency to Troy Davis Letter to Governor Sonny Perdue and Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles Human Rights Watch urges Governor Perdue and Members of the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant executive clemency to Troy Anthony Davis, who is scheduled to be executed at 7:00 p.m. on October 27, 2008. Davis was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of an off-duty police officer. Of the nine eyewitnesses who testified against him at his trial, seven have since recanted. No physical evidence linked Davis to the crime, and the murder weapon was never found. October 20, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version US: Georgia Should Commute Death Sentence of Troy Davis Halt Execution of Man Whose Guilt Is in Doubt Georgia should commute the death sentence of Troy Anthony Davis, who is scheduled to be executed on October 27, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Governor Sonny Perdue and the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles. October 20, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version Abortion Rights: Back in the Spotlight By Marianne Mollmann Published in The Huffington Post Throughout a long election campaign, the future of abortion rights and the right to choose has remained a silent concern for many women and men as the higher-profile issues of the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dominated debate. But the question on Roe v. Wade put to the presidential candidates at the final debate on Wednesday moved the issue front and center once again. It is an intensely personal and relevant issue for women, and for most of us it is not an abstraction. October 18, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version US: Parole Uighur Detainees Into the United States Uighurs Still Held at Guantanamo Despite Being Cleared of ‘Enemy Combatant’ Status A day after this press release was issued, a US federal judge ordered that the 17 Chinese Uighurs being held at Guantanamo Bay be released into the United States on Friday, October 10. However, on Wednesday, October 8, a federal appellate court temporarily blocked the release of the Uighurs into the United States in order to give the government time to appeal the lower court’s release order. A group of Chinese Uighurs who have been cleared of the “enemy combatant” designation should be freed from Guantanamo and given parole status in the United States. Their case will be heard by a federal judge in the District of Columbia on Tuesday, October 7. October 6, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version United States: Bush Signs Law on Child Soldiers Measure to Prosecute Recruiters Abroad Puts Commanders on Notice Under a new law signed today by US President George W. Bush, leaders of military forces and armed groups who have recruited child soldiers may be arrested and prosecuted in the United States, Human Rights Watch said today. The law could apply to leaders of dozens of forces that have recruited and used child soldiers in over 20 armed conflicts. October 3, 2008 Press Release Also available in Printer friendly version More Blowback from the War on Terror The U.S.-backed Ethiopian military has secreted away scores of "suspects" – including pregnant women and children – and fueled anti-American rancor in Africa. By Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel Published in Salon Ishmael is a victim of a 2007 rendition program in the Horn of Africa, involving Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and the United States. There are at least 90 more victims like him. Most have since been sent home. A few – including a Canadian and nine who assert Kenyan nationality – remain in detention even now. The whereabouts of 22 others – including several Somalis, Ethiopian Ogadenis, and Eritreans--remain unknown. October 1, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version Ethiopia/Kenya: Account for Missing Rendition Victims Secret Detainees Interrogated by US Officials Are Still in Custody Two days after this report was issued, eight of the ten rendition victims known to be in Ethiopian jails were released to Kenya. The whereabouts of 22 others remains unknown. At least 10 victims of the 2007 Horn of Africa rendition program still languish in Ethiopian jails and the whereabouts of several others is unknown. Several of the detained men were interrogated by US officials in Addis Ababa soon after they were secretly transferred from Kenya to Somalia, and then to Ethiopia in early 2007. October 1, 2008 Press Release Also available in Printer friendly version Is the U.S. putting mentally incompetent terror suspects on trial? At Guantánamo, bizarre proceedings with the 9/11 suspects raise questions about a prisoner's psychiatric evaluation and the murky role of the CIA. By Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director Published in Salon It was the second day of a round of pretrial hearings in the 9/11 case, and Ramzi Binalshibh, one of five accused al-Qaida operatives, was in an angry mood. He didn't seem upset about facing the death penalty; in a previous round of hearings he had declared that he would embrace martyrdom. What bothered him were his lawyers' efforts to save his life. September 29, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version |
Display only
Human Rights in the United States
|
|
Contribute to Human Rights Watch
Home | About Us | News Releases | Publications | About HRW | Info by Country | Global Issues | Campaigns | Free Mailing Lists | Community | Store | Film Festival | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | Press Contacts | Privacy Policy © Copyright 2006, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA |