Human Rights Watch

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Iraq Forces Torture, Rape Women Prisoners: Report

And they're often jailed for their husband's alleged crimes

(Newser) - Women in Iraq's prisons face beatings, electrical shocks, and sexual assault, among other horrors—and they're often detained for the actions of their male relatives, not their own, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. Sometimes the abuses were carried out while those male relatives looked...

Syria Intentionally Demolishing Neighborhoods

Regime claims it's just 'urban planning,' not retaliation

(Newser) - Syrian military forces have been systematically using bulldozers and controlled explosions to level entire neighborhoods in Damascus and Hama, in what appears to be an attempt to punish citizens for their rebel sympathies, Human Rights Watch alleges in a new report based on satellite images and witness testimony. The imagery...

US Forces Guilty Pleas on Drug Defendants: Group

Human Rights Watch puts spotlight on mandatory minimums

(Newser) - Defendants in federal drug cases are getting unfairly sentenced, thanks to mandatory minimums and unchecked power wielded by the Justice Department, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Prosecutors basically "force" defendants into pleading guilty with threats of lengthy sentences and stacked-up charges if the case goes to trial,...

Putin&#39;s Op-Ed: Joke or Masterstroke?
Putin's Op-Ed: Joke or Masterstroke?
OPINION
Sep 12, 2013 1:57 PM CDT

Putin's Op-Ed: Joke or Masterstroke?

Russian president's Syria piece riles up Human Rights Watch, others

(Newser) - If nothing else, Vladimir Putin's New York Times op-ed certainly got people talking. Here's what they're saying about it:
  • Human Rights Watch Associate Director Anna Neistat calls the piece "worrisome," mostly because of what Putin didn't say. He neglected to mention, for example, "
...

Syria Rebel Filmed Biting Into Soldier's Heart

Human Rights Watch calls it a war crime

(Newser) - A Syrian rebel has been caught on video apparently cutting a dead soldier's heart from his body then taking a bite from it. "I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog," says the rebel, identified by Human...

Israel 'Violated Laws of War': Rights Group

Human Rights Watch says it targeted media in Gaza conflict

(Newser) - Israel broke the laws of war by targeting media facilities and journalists "that were making no apparent contribution to Palestinian military operations" during its November offensive against Gaza, Human Rights Watch argues in a statement released today. The group recorded four attacks by Israeli forces over the eight-day conflict...

Rights Group: Time to Ban Killer Robots

International treaty needed before it's too late, group says

(Newser) - The world needs to ban robots capable of killing without human input before they become a reality on the battlefield, a human rights group warns. Human Rights Watch and Harvard's International Human Rights Clinic are calling for an international treaty to ban the "development, production and use of...

Libya Rebels 'Executed' Gadhafi Loyalists

Report on dictator's final hours suggests he was executed, too

(Newser) - Libyan rebels appear to have "summarily executed at least 66 captured" fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi, and probably the dictator himself, when they overran his hometown a year ago, a human rights group said today. The report by Human Rights Watch on alleged rebel abuses that followed the October...

Rights Group: Syria Dropping Cluster Bombs in Civilian Areas

Widely banned munitions pose long-term risk

(Newser) - Human Rights Watch today blasted Syria, saying it has new evidence that the Assad regime is dropping cluster bombs into populated areas, reports the AP . "Syria's disregard for its civilian population is all too evident in its air campaign, which now apparently includes dropping these deadly cluster bombs...

Claim: CIA Waterboarded Gadhafi's 'Enemies'

And delivered them to him 'on a silver platter': Human Rights Watch

(Newser) - Human Rights Watch has uncovered evidence that waterboarding—and other severe abuse of detainees—was practiced more widely during the Bush administration than has been acknowledged, according to an investigation by the organization. The newly discovered incidents expose close cooperation between Washington and Libya's late dictator Moammar Gadhafi in...

UN Calls Off Syria Observer Mission

As Human Rights Watch reports new massacre

(Newser) - The UN will allow its observer mission in Syria to expire Sunday, even as reports of extreme violence continue to pour in. A government airstrike on a rebel-held town killed more than 40 people and injured at least 100 more, Human Rights Watch reported today, and that wasn't the...

Syria Running 'Torture Archipelago': Rights Group

Detainees beaten, burned, electrocuted, sexually assaulted

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad's regime has been running a "torture archipelago," Human Rights Watch alleged today, documenting vicious abuses at a string of 27 Syrian detention facilities. The New York-based group interviewed more than 200 former detainees and Syrian defectors, who say prisoners were routinely beaten with batons and...

Hundreds of Afghan Women Jailed for 'Moral Crimes'

Karzai government not making progress, rights groups says

(Newser) - More than a decade after the Taliban regime was ousted, Afghanistan is still imprisoning hundreds of women for "moral crimes" like running away from their husbands, according to Human Rights Watch. The group interviewed scores of women in Afghan prisons, and found that many were there because they had...

Syrian Rebels Accused of Kidnapping, Torture

Human rights group calls out freedom fighters for abuses

(Newser) - It's tempting to paint the conflict in Syria as a brutal regime fighting virtuous rebels, but Human Rights Watch today issued an open letter to the Free Syrian Army accusing insurgents of a variety of brutalities, including kidnapping and torturing security forces and government supporters. "The Syrian government'...

Syria Studding Refugee Routes With Mines

Human Rights Watch cites eyewitness near Turkey, Lebanon

(Newser) - Earlier reports accused Syria of planting landmines along its Lebanese border, and according to witnesses, the practice shows no sign of waning. Mines are being placed along the routes refugees typically use to flee into neighboring Lebanon and Turkey, Human Rights Watch said today, citing eyewitness reports. One former...

Olympic Ban Urged for Sexist Saudi Arabia

'Systemic discrimination' should keep nation out: Human Rights Watch

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia should be banned from participating in the London Olympics unless it includes a female athlete, says a scathing new report from Human Rights Watch. The nation is one of three that regularly participate in the games that has yet to send a women to the Olympics. Saudi Arabia'...

53 Gadhafi Supporters Apparently Executed: Human Rights Watch
53 Gadhafi Supporters Apparently Executed
says human rights watch
Oct 24, 2011 8:14 AM CDT

53 Gadhafi Supporters Apparently Executed

Bodies found in abandoned Sirte hotel on Friday

(Newser) - Troubling news out of Libya: Human Rights Watch discovered the bodies of 53 people yesterday—apparent Gadhafi loyalists who appear to have been executed in the garden of a Sirte hotel. The decomposing bodies, which looked to have been killed between Oct. 14 and 19, were found in an area...

Swank Not the First to Party With Bad Guys

Actress sorry, claim she wasn't aware it was a birthday celebration

(Newser) - Well, that didn’t take long: Hilary Swank has officially apologized for celebrating the birthday of Chechnya's leader , a charming fellow accused of kidnappings, torture, and killings. But she can take comfort in the fact that she's not exactly a trailblazer when it comes to stars rubbing shoulders...

China Sees Muslim Extremists in Xinjiang Unrest

But human rights groups doubt government story

(Newser) - Chinese authorities are blaming Muslim extremists with links to Pakistan for the burst of violence in the western region of Xinjiang that killed 11 people Sunday, reports Reuters . Leaders of this latest uprising in the restive region joined the so-called East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) while in Pakistan, says Beijing,...

UN: Burma Uses Convicts as Shields, Slaves

Human Rights Watch demands war crimes investigation

(Newser) - Human Rights Watch is out with harrowing accusations about Burma's army and potential war crimes abuses, reports Reuters . The UN group accuses the military of forcing inmates from the nation's jails to act as human "pack mules" for the army on long marches, without adequate food or...

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