Uighurs Still Held at Guantanamo Despite Being Cleared of ‘Enemy Combatant’ Status
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....
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....
The US Department of Homeland Security should immediately reconsider the visa revocation of a widely respected Pakistani human rights advocate. On September 12, 2008, US officials suddenly and inexplicably revoked the travel visa of Amina Masood Janjua, who was scheduled to fly that day from Geneva to Washington, DC, for meetings about people believed to have been “disappeared” in Pakistan....
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should press the Algerian government on the well-being and status of Guantanamo detainees returned to Algeria when she travels to Algiers on September 6. Four Guantanamo detainees from Algeria have been returned in the last two months, and Rice is expected to discuss future Guantanamo returns during her visit....
Tribunal Handicaps the Defense
The trial of Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni charged with conspiracy and material support for terrorism, exposed fundamental flaws of the US military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. The six-member panel of military officers began to deliberate a verdict on August 4, 2008, following a two-week trial, which Human Rights Watch attended as an observer....
Improve Treatment of HIV-positive Immigrants in Detention
Inferior medical care for HIV-positive immigrant detainees threatens their health, and ultimately their lives, Human Rights Watch said today at the 2008 International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – the agency charged with providing health care services to detainees – fails to ensure timely HIV prevention and treatment services, putting many at risk of infection, resistance to treatment, and even death....
US Senator Barack Obama should put respect for human rights at the center of his forthcoming tour of the Middle East, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to him released today. Obama will visit the region on Monday after traveling to Afghanistan this weekend....
Guantanamo Inmates Have Right to Challenge Detention
The US Supreme Court ruling recognizing the right of Guantanamo detainees to challenge their detention in civilian courts deals a stunning blow to the Bush administration’s detention policies. The lead plaintiffs in the case are Bosnian Lakhdar Boumediene and Kuwaiti Fawzi al-Odah, who are both being held at Guantanamo without charge....
New Report Finds Treatment of Detainees Unnecessarily Harsh
More than two-thirds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, including many cleared for release or transfer, are being housed in inhumane conditions that are reportedly having a damaging effect on their mental health, Human Rights Watch said in a new report....
US Failure to Engage Added to Council’s Shortcomings
A decision by the United States to disengage from the UN Human Rights Council amounts to an abandonment of human rights defenders and victims, Human Rights Watch said today....
UN Experts Criticize US Detention of Children in Iraq and Guantanamo
The United States should immediately implement the recommendations of a new UN report calling on Washington to improve its treatment of children involved in armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said today....
September 11 Defendants Should Be Prosecuted in Federal Court
The trials of five alleged perpetrators of the September 11, 2001 attacks should be moved to federal court. The rush to bring these cases to trial during the weeks before the presidential election, after years in which the defendants were held without charge or access to counsel, suggests that military commissions at Guantanamo are subject to improper political influence....
US efforts to undermine a new treaty banning cluster munitions met with significant defeat today at the final negotiations in Dublin, Human Rights Watch said....
Two National Reports Detail Racial Disparity in Arrests and Imprisonment
Ostensibly color-blind, the US “war on drugs” disproportionately targets urban minority neighborhoods, Human Rights Watch and The Sentencing Project said in two reports released today. Although whites commit more drug offenses, African Americans are arrested and imprisoned on drug charges at much higher rates, the reports find....
Two National Reports Detail Racial Disparity in Arrests and Imprisonment
In a 67-page report, “Targeting Blacks: Drug Law Enforcement and Race in the United States,” Human Rights Watch documents with detailed new statistics persistent racial disparities among drug offenders sent to prison in 34 states. All of these states send black drug offenders to prison at much higher rates than whites. Although whites commit more drug offenses, African Americans are arrested and imprisoned on drug charges at much higher rates, the report finds....
US-Led Force Holds Thousands Without Due Process
The United Nations Security Council should address serious concerns about the detention practices of the US-led Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF) in its debate on Iraq, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to council members. The United States invokes Security Council resolutions to justify holding thousands of Iraqis for indefinite periods, without judicial review, and under military processes that do not meet international standards....
Rome Should Seek Extradition of 26 Americans in Cleric’s Abduction
The alleged kidnappers of an Egyptian cleric in 2003 will go on trial in Milan on April 16 in what is the first ever legal challenge to the CIA’s controversial rendition program, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged the newly-elected Italian government to seek the extradition of 26 American CIA agents implicated in the abduction....
CIA Transfer of Suspects to Jordan for Interrogation Violates International Law
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) transferred at least 14 terrorist suspects to Jordanian custody for interrogation and torture since the September 11, 2001 attacks, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today....
Jawad and Al-Darbi Slated to Be Charged by Unfair Military Commissions This Week
The US government should transfer the military commission trials of Mohammad Jawad and Ahmed Mohammad al-Darbi to federal court, Human Rights Watch said today. The Guantanamo military commissions are expected to formally charge Jawad and al-Darbi this week, making them the fourth and fifth detainees to be so charged....
President George W. Bush’s praise for US efforts against HIV/AIDS in Africa should not obscure how his administration’s policies continue to undermine HIV prevention on the continent and globally, Human Rights Watch said today....
Death Penalty in Flawed Military Commissions Should Not Be an Option
The trials of six Guantanamo detainees being charged for their role in the September 11, 2001 attacks should be moved from the Guantanamo military commissions to US federal courts, Human Rights Watch said today....
CIA’s Acknowledgment of Waterboarding is Admission of a Crime
CIA Director Michael Hayden’s admission that the CIA used waterboarding should prompt an immediate criminal investigation by the Department of Justice, Human Rights Watch said today. Although use of waterboarding has been widely reported in the press, this is the first time that the CIA has openly acknowledged employing the practice....
Contrary to US Claims, Human Rights Watch Opposes Khadr Prosecution
The US government fundamentally misrepresented Human Rights Watch’s position to justify its prosecution of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen facing charges for war crimes allegedly committed when he was just 15, Human Rights Watch said today....
Transfer Omar Khadr to Federal Court or Return Him to Canada
The United States should try Omar Khadr, a Guantanamo detainee arrested when he was 15 years old, in a court that meets juvenile justice and fair trial standards or repatriate him to Canada for rehabilitation, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, and Human Rights First said today in a joint letter to the US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates....
The Genocide Accountability Act closes a loophole by allowing the United States to prosecute individuals for taking part in genocide abroad, Human Rights Watch said today. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law on December 21, 2007....
Reinstate Habeas Corpus and Try Detainees in Federal Courts
The US Supreme Court should uphold the right of non-citizen detainees to challenge the lawfulness of their detention through habeas corpus, and military commission prosecutions should be transferred to federal court, Human Rights Watch said today....
A military judge today allowed the controversial military commissions at Guantanamo Bay to go forward without hearing evidence as to whether or not Omar Khadr, a 21-year-old Canadian who has been in US custody for more than five years, met the definition of an “unlawful enemy combatant” as required by the Military Commissions Act of 2006, Human Rights Watch said today....
Trial of Canadian Youth Should Be Transferred to Federal Court
Ad hoc US military commission rules for the trial of Omar Ahmed Khadr, the 21-year-old Canadian who was been detained at Guantanamo since he was 15, are grossly unfair, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called for Khadr’s trial to be moved to federal court....
Awards for Colombian Journalist and Sri Lankan Rights Defender
A courageous journalist who is exposing horrific crimes by guerrilla, government, and paramilitary forces in Colombia and an activist who has spent 20 years documenting vicious abuses by both sides of Sri Lanka’s civil war have been chosen to receive the prestigious Human Rights Defender Awards, Human Rights Watch said today....