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Human Rights Watch Logo
Human Rights Watch Logo

Human Rights Watch is a United States-based international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled Its headquarters is in New York City. The City of New York

Contents

History

Human Rights Watch was founded under the name Helsinki Watch in 1978 to monitor the former Soviet Union's compliance with the Helsinki Accords. Helsinki Watch was a private American NGO devoted to monitoring Helsinki implementation The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Final Act, Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration, was As the organization grew, it formed other "watch committees" to cover other regions of the world. In 1988, all of the committees were united under one umbrella to form Human Rights Watch. Robert L. Bernstein was a president of the organization and is one of the original founders. Robert L Bernstein is an US publisher and Human rights activist

Profile

Pursuant to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Human Rights Watch opposes violations of basic human rights, which include capital punishment and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly ( 10 December 1948 at Palais Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender social movements share related goals of social acceptance of Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Transgenderism Lesbian Human Rights Watch advocates freedoms in connection with fundamental human rights, such as freedom of religion and the press. Freedom of religion is the freedom of an individual or community in public or private to manifest religion or belief in teaching practice worship and observance Freedom Constitutional or statutory protections pertaining to freedom of the press

Human Rights Watch produces research reports on violations of international human rights norms as set out by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other internationally-accepted human rights norms. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly ( 10 December 1948 at Palais These reports are used as the basis for drawing international attention to abuses and pressuring governments and international organizations to reform. Researchers conduct fact-finding missions to investigate suspect situations and generate coverage in local and international media. The news media refers to the section of the Mass media that focuses on presenting current News to the public Issues raised by Human Rights Watch in its reports include social and gender discrimination, torture, military use of children, political corruption, and abuses in criminal justice systems. Unlike most discrimination policies discrimination between, which is the discernment of qualities and recognition of the differences focused here discrimination against is Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally The military use of Children takes three distinct forms children can take direct part in hostilities (child soldiers or they can be used in support roles such as porters spies messengers Political corruption is the use of governmental powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain Criminal justice is the system of practices and organizations used by national and local governments directed at maintaining Social control, deterring Human Rights Watch documents and reports violations of the laws of war and international humanitarian law. War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units

Human Rights Watch also supports writers worldwide who are being persecuted for their work and are in need of financial assistance. The Hellman/Hammett grants are financed by the estate of the playwright Lillian Hellman in funds set up in her name and that of her long-time companion, the novelist Dashiell Hammett. Lillian Florence Hellman ( June 20, 1905 &ndash June 30, 1984) was an American playwright linked throughout her life with many Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( May 27, 1894 — January 10, 1961) was an American Author of Hardboiled detective In addition to providing financial assistance, the Hellman/Hammett grants help raise international awareness of activists who are being silenced for speaking out in defence of human rights. [1]

Each year, Human Rights Watch presents the Human Rights Defenders Award to activists around the world who demonstrate leadership and courage in defending human rights. The award winners work closely with Human Rights Watch in investigating and exposing human rights abuses. [2]

Human Rights Watch was one of six international NGOs that founded the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers in 1998. The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers was formed in June 1998 to "advocate for the adoption of and adherence to national regional and international legal standards It is also the co-chair of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a global coalition of civil society groups that successfully lobbied to introduce the Ottawa Treaty, a treaty that prohibits the use of anti-personnel landmines. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines is a coalition of Non-governmental organizations whose goal is to abolish the production and use of Anti-personnel mines The Ottawa Treaty or the Mine Ban Treaty, formally the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use Stockpiling Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their

Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, a global network of non-governmental organizations that monitor censorship worldwide. The International Freedom of Expression Exchange ( IFEX) founded in 1992 is a global network of 81 non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor

Human Rights Watch has more than 230 paid staff, and a budget of over US$30 million a year. [3]

The current executive director of Human Rights Watch is Kenneth Roth. He has held this position since 1993. Roth is a graduate of Yale Law School and Brown University. Yale Law School, or YLS, is the Law school of Yale University in New Haven Connecticut. Brown University is a highly esteemed private University located in Providence, Rhode Island and is a member of the Ivy League. His father fled Nazi Germany in 1938. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Roth started working on human rights after the declaration of martial law in Poland in 1981, and later became engaged in Haiti issues. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole: [4]

Issues and campaigns

Recent

Human Rights Watch made recent headlines by criticizing the Jordanian government for arresting elected officials who praised Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, at ceremonies held in response to his death. Small arms is a term used by the Armed forces to refer to Infantry Weapons such as the Firearms that an individual soldier can carry A land mine is an Explosive device designed to be placed on or in the ground to explode when triggered by an operator or the Proximity of a vehicle person Overview See also Ethical aspects of abortion Pro-choice advocates emphasize their beliefs that having a child is a personal choice that affects a woman's body and Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender social movements share related goals of social acceptance of Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Transgenderism Lesbian Cluster munitions or cluster bombs are air-dropped or ground-launched munitions that eject a number of smaller submunitions a cluster of bomblets Child labor is the employment of Children at regular and sustained labour The military use of Children takes three distinct forms children can take direct part in hostilities (child soldiers or they can be used in support roles such as porters spies messengers Street children is a term used to refer to children who live on the streets Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction in whole or in part of an ethnic racial religious or national group War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war" including but not limited to "murder the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied In Public international law, a crime against humanity is an act of Persecution or any large scale atrocities against a body of people and is the highest level of Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally Extrajudicial punishment is Punishment by the state or some other official authority without the permission of a Court or legal authority Human trafficking is the recruitment transportation harbouring or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery forced labor (including bonded labor or debt bondage and servitude Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (أبومصعب الزرقاوي, Abu Musab from Zarqa)) (October 30 1966 – June 7 2006 born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI is a group playing an active role in the Iraqi insurgency. Human Rights Watch also spoke out against the mass killings and government-imposed famines during the last decade of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's rule. This article deals with mass killings that are not considered Genocide. A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( Arabic: ar صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي --> April 28 1937 &ndash December 30 This article includes an overview from prehistory to the present in the region of the current state of Iraq in Mesopotamia. [5]

On July 26, 2007 HRW denounced that hundreds of migrant children held in emergency centers in the Spanish Canary Islands are living in squalid, overcrowded conditions and face the risk of abuse from their custodians and other children. The Canary Islands ( English pronunciation kəˈnæriː ˈaɪləndz Spanish: Islas Canarias, ˈizlas kaˈnarjas are a Spanish The Canary Islands government, which runs the facilities, replied in a statement[6] that the report lacked "rigor" and that "an internal investigation had failed to corroborate" Human Rights Watch's findings.

Publications

Human Rights Watch World Report 2007
Human Rights Watch World Report 2007

Human Rights Watch publishes reports on several topics[7] and compiles annual reports ("World Report") presenting an overview of the worldwide state of human rights.

Human Rights Watch has published extensively on the Rwandan Genocide of 1994[8] and the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda 's minority Tutsis and the moderates of its Hutu majority The Democratic Republic of the Congo (République démocratique du Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DRC or RDC, and formerly known or referred to [9]

Comparison with Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are the only two international human rights organizations operating worldwide in most situations of severe oppression or abuse. Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is a Western based international Non-governmental organization which defines its mission as "to Though close allies, the two groups play complementary roles, reflecting a division of labour. The major differences lie in the groups’ structure and methods for promoting change.

Amnesty International is a mass-membership organization. Mobilization of those members is the organization's central advocacy tool. Human Rights Watch's main products are its crisis-directed research and lengthy reports, whereas Amnesty lobbies and writes detailed reports, but also focuses on mass letter-writing campaigns, adopting individuals as "prisoners of conscience" and lobbying for their release. Human Rights Watch will openly lobby for specific actions for other governments to take against human rights offenders, including naming specific individuals for arrest, or for sanctions to be levied against certain countries, recently calling for punitive sanctions against the top leaders in Sudan who have overseen a killing campaign in Darfur. International sanctions are actions taken by Countries against others for political reasons either Unilaterally or Multilaterally. Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) ( السودان al-Sūdān is a country in northeastern Africa. Darfur (دار فور daar foor, lit "realm of the Fur " is a region in Sudan.

Its documentations of human rights abuses often include extensive analyses of the political and historical backgrounds of the conflicts concerned, some of which have been published in academic journals. AI's reports, on the other hand, tend to contain less analysis, and instead focus on specific abuses of rights.

Criticisms

Main article: Criticism of Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch has been criticized for perceived anti-Western, anti-China, and anti-Israel bias while others have criticized it for having a pro-Western and pro-Israel bias. Human Rights Watch, a United States -based international Non-government organisation that conducts research and advocacy on Human rights, has According to a report in the Egyptian press, "the government often accuses human rights groups [including Human Rights Watch] of importing a Western agenda that offends local religious and cultural values. "[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Hellman-Hammett Grants,Human Rights Watch
  2. ^ [1],Human Rights Watch
  3. ^ Financial statement,Human Rights Watch
  4. ^ Kenneth Roth Bio,Human Rights Watch
  5. ^ Middle east and North Africa,Human Rights Watch
  6. ^ Human Rights Watch says migrant children are at risk in Canary Islands,International Herald Tribune
  7. ^ Publications,Human Rights Watch
  8. ^ Rwandan genocide report,Human Rights Watch
  9. ^ Congo report,Human Rights Watch
  10. ^ Not just the Queen Boat: HRW is asking the Egyptian government to stop persecuting homosexuals and commit to reform

External links

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