Human Rights Watch

Girls Freed From Isis And Refugee Children Falling Into Coma Like Sleep

Souhayla, a 16-year-old girl who escaped the Islamic State after three years of captivity, at her uncle’s home in Shariya Camp, Iraq. Credit Alex Potter for The New York Times

An increasing number of women and children fleeing war and ISIS captivity are exhibiting lethargy and apathy with resemblance to depressive stupor or catatonia, in connection to traumatic events and reaction patterns involving “apathic introversion” or Resignation Syndrome [continue reading].

POTUS: What Do Trump And Kent Univ. Shooting Have In Common?

With the Trump Administration in power an indisputable fact rings true – that history will repeat itself – often in the most terrifying violence and unspeakable inhumanity – we will find the cycle never-ending. And “Mark my words,” the Trump era [continue reading].

Armenia: Disabled Children Isolated And Separated from Families

Thousands of children in Armenia are needlessly separated from their parents and placed in institutions due to disability or poverty, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The government should urgently provide community-based services and quality, inclusive [continue reading].

KSA: Imprisoned Activist Earns Canadian Human Rights Award

Waleed Abu al-Khair, prominent lawyer and human rights activist, speaks to Human Rights Watch over Skype from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on September 19, 2013. © 2013 Human Rights Watch

The Law Society of Upper Canada’s selection of the imprisoned Saudi human rights lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair for its 2016 Human Rights Award highlights Saudi Arabia’s brutal repression of peaceful activists and dissidents, Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi authorities [continue reading].

Pakistan: Largest Mass Forced Return of Refugees In History

Pakistani authorities have carried out a campaign of abuses and threats to drive out nearly 600,000 Afghans since July 2016, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The returnees include 365,000 registered refugees, making it the world’s largest mass forced return [continue reading].

World’s War On Terrorism And The Rise Of Terror/tories

The remnants of a US drone strike on August 29, 2012 in Khashamir, Yemen. The strike killed three alleged members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a policeman, and a cleric who preached against the armed group.

NATO and its preemptive war on terrorists in the Middle East: just whose citizens are more important? I raise this question in light of the recent terrorist attacks in Karada, Iraq; in Nice, Paris; and in Munich, Germany; and now Manjib in Syria. The foreboding retribution will [continue reading].

Syria: US Airstrikes Kill At Least 73 People – Including 11 Children

The incident took place in the town of Manbij on Tuesday. Around eight families were struck while they were trying to escape the attack launched by Arab and Kurdish forces against Islamic State (IS) group fighters in Manbij. 85 civilians, including 11 children have been killed, according to the statement of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Besides, dozens were wounded.

Today media sources reported that the US will not pause airstrikes in Syria despite appeals from opposition activists after what appears to be the worst US-caused civilian casualty disaster of the war against the Islamic State. Anas Alabdah, president of the Syrian National [continue reading].

USA: NGO’s Demand UN Suspend Saudis from Human Rights Council

Saudi Arabian Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greets UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN headquarters in New York on June 22, 2016. (Photo: © 2016 Reuters).

Today Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International sent a strong message to the United Nations, saying that “The United Nations General Assembly should immediately suspend Saudi Arabia’s membership rights on the UN Human Rights Council. “A two-thirds majority of [continue reading].

Part Three: Humanitarian Crises – UN Fails To Protect “At-Risk” Nations

A 29-year-old woman who was raped in October 2015 by peacekeepers stationed in Bambari, Central African Republic. © 2015 Lewis Mudge/Human Rights Watch

To give credit where it is due, the United Nations started out with the best of intentions; with a mission set forth to prevent another holocaust and other crimes against humanity. The time was the end of WWII, and the enormous task of convincing countries once at war to [continue reading].

Congo: Mass Grave Evidence Family Was Murdered by Peacekeepers

Twelve skulls discovered in a mass grave in February 2016 near a peacekeeping base in Boali, Central African Republic. The victims are believed to be individuals who were summarily executed by Republic of Congo peacekeepers on March 24, 2014. (Photo" © 2016 Private/ HRW).

Soldiers from the Republic of Congo killed at least 18 people, including women and children, between December 2013 and June 2015 while serving as peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. A mass grave recently discovered near a peacekeeping base in Boali, and exhumed on [continue reading].

Video Report: First Ever Summit Calling For An End To Pact Between USA-KSA

U.S. President George W. Bush walks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah (R) on his ranch in Crawford, Texasm in this April 25, 2005 file photo. [Saudi Arabia's Kind Fahd died on August 1, 2005 and Crown Prince Abdullah was swiftly pronounced monarch of the world's largest oil exporter and key U.S. ally. (Credit: Reuters/ Jason Reed).

Inside the first-ever summit calling for an end to the “suicidal death pact between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.” Since Present Franklin Delano Roosevelt met with King Ibn Saud on Valentine’s Day 1945, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have maintained a close relationship. For [continue reading].

Ethiopia: HRW Says Over 400 Killed, Tens Of Thousands Arrested, Tortured

Outcry as Oromo protests in Ethiopia turn violent: One Oromo farmer from Sululta, a town part of the “integrated master plan” located 26 kilometers (16 miles) to the north of Addis Ababa, spoke to DW on condition of anonymity. He claimed that in late November alone, the government evicted 600 farming families on the grounds that their land was needed for the construction of a factory. When asked if they had received fair compensation and a new home, the farmer told DW that the money given to them was “very meager,” and that the families had so far not been given a place to relocate to.

Since November (2015), state security forces have killed hundreds of protesters and arrested thousands in Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest region. It’s the biggest political crisis to hit the country since the 2005 election but has barely registered internationally. Part of [continue reading].