Reports
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June 14, 2023
“No Internet Means No Work, No Pay, No Food”
Internet Shutdowns Deny Access to Basic Rights in “Digital India”The 82-page report “‘No Internet Means No Work, No Pay, No Food’: Internet Shutdowns Deny Access to Basic Rights in ‘Digital India,’” finds that internet shutdowns impair essential activities and adversely affect economic, social and cultural rights under Indian and international human rights law. Indian authorities, in the name of maintaining public order, have ignored Supreme Court orders setting out procedural safeguards to ensure that internet suspensions are lawful, necessary, proportionate, and limited in scope and territory. Decisions by central and state government authorities to disrupt internet access are often erratic and unlawful, and are used for restricting protests and preventing cheating in examinations.
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June 13, 2023
Automated Neglect
How The World Bank’s Push to Allocate Cash Assistance Using Algorithms Threatens RightsThe 74-page report, “‘Automated Neglect’: How The World Bank’s Push to Allocate Cash Assistance Using Algorithms Threatens Rights,” details how an automated cash transfer program in Jordan known as Takaful (a word similar to solidarity in Arabic) profiles and ranks the income and well-being of Jordanian families to determine who should receive support – an approach known as poverty targeting. This system, which the World Bank has funded in Jordan and seven other countries in the Middle East and North Africa, is depriving many people of their right to social security even as they go hungry, fall behind on rent, and take on crippling debt.
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June 8, 2023
“Our Numbers Are Dwindling”
Myanmar’s Post-Coup Crackdown on LawyersThe 39-page report, “‘Our Numbers are Dwindling’: Myanmar’s Post-Coup Crackdown on Lawyers,” examines the junta authorities’ pattern of harassment, surveillance, arrests, and in some cases torture of lawyers since the coup, particularly those taking on political cases. At least 32 lawyers have been arrested and placed in pretrial detention with little evidence supporting the charges against them, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
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May 25, 2023
Japan’s “Hostage Justice” System
Denial of Bail, Coerced Confessions, and Lack of Access to LawyersThe 101-page report, “Japan’s ‘Hostage Justice’ System,” documents the abusive treatment of criminal suspects in pretrial detention. The authorities strip suspects of their right to remain silent, question them without a lawyer, coerce them to confess through repeated arrests and denial of bail, and detain them for prolonged periods under constant surveillance in police stations. The Japanese government should urgently undertake wide-ranging reforms, including amending the criminal procedure code, to ensure detainees their fair trial rights and make investigators and prosecutors more accountable.
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May 10, 2023
“They, the Policemen, Killed My Brother”: Reconstruction of a Deadly Day of Protests in Juliaca, Peru
Human Rights Watch interviewed 26 witnesses, lawyers, prosecutors, and family members of victims in Juliaca and analyzed more than 500 photographs and 10 hours of video footage posted to social media, as well as autopsy and ballistics reports and the criminal file of the Prosecutor’s Office investigation into killings and injuries there. The multimedia report provides additional evidence and details of abuses in Juliaca that complement the findings in an April 26 Human Rights Watch report. -
May 3, 2023
“Like We Were Just Animals”
Pushbacks of People Seeking Protection from Croatia to Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe 94-page report, “‘Like We Were Just Animals’: Pushbacks of People Seeking Protection from Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina,” finds that Croatian authorities engage in pushbacks, including of unaccompanied children and families with young children. The practice is ongoing despite official denials, purported monitoring efforts, and repeated – and unfulfilled – commitments to respect the right to seek asylum and other human rights norms. Border police frequently steal or destroy phones, money, identity documents, and other personal property, and often subject children and adults to humiliating and degrading treatment, sometimes in ways that are explicitly racist. -
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May 2, 2023
Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan: Apparent War Crimes in Border Conflict
Forces from both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan committed apparent war crimes in attacks on civilians during their brief but intense armed border conflict in September 2022. The families of victims deserve justice and reparations to pave the way for a rights-respecting resolution to this ongoing dispute. -
April 26, 2023
Deadly Decline
Security Force Abuses and Democratic Crisis in PeruThe 107-page report, “Deadly Decline: Security Force Abuses and Democratic Crisis in Peru,” documents excessive use of force by security forces, due process violations and abuses against detainees, and failures in criminal investigations, as well as the entrenched political and social crisis that is eroding the rule of law and human rights in Peru. While some protesters were responsible for acts of violence, security forces responded with grossly disproportionate force, including with assault weapons and handguns. Forty-nine protesters and bystanders, including 8 children, were killed.
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April 3, 2023
Brazil: Online Learning Tools Harvest Children’s Data
Educational websites directed at Brazilian students, including two created by state education secretariats, conducted surveillance on children and harvested their personal data. -
March 29, 2023
“A Nightmare for Everyone”
The Health Crisis in Pakistan’s PrisonsThe 55-page report, “A Nightmare for Everyone: The Health Care Crisis in Pakistan’s Prisons,” documents widespread deficiencies in prison health care in Pakistan and the consequences for a total prison population of more than 88,000 people. Pakistan has one of the world’s most overcrowded prison systems, with cells designed for a maximum of 3 people holding up to 15. Severe overcrowding has compounded existing health care deficiencies, leaving inmates vulnerable to communicable diseases and unable to get medicines and treatment for even basic health needs, as well as emergencies.
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March 22, 2023
“A Thousand Explosions in My Ears”: Russian Attack Killed Dozens of Civilians in Izium Residential Building
Russian forces used a large air-delivered munition on an apartment building on March 9, 2022, in Izium, eastern Ukraine, in an attack that killed at least 44 civilians and violated the laws of war. This new web report uses survivor testimony, photos, videos, and 3D modeling of the building at 2 Pershotravneva Street to show the devastating effects of the attack. -
March 13, 2023
“We Must Provide a Family, Not Rebuild Orphanages”
The Consequences of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine for Children in Ukrainian Residential InstitutionsThe 55-page report, “We Must Provide a Family, Not Rebuild Orphanages,” documents risks to children from institutions in areas directly affected by the conflict as well as those evacuated to other areas of Ukraine or to European countries. According to government figures, Ukraine had more than 105,000 children in institutions before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the largest number in Europe. Nearly half were children with disabilities, according to UNICEF. Russia bears responsibility for the crisis facing these children, but the war adds to the urgency for Ukraine, with support from foreign governments and humanitarian agencies, to stop institutionalizing children and expand family- and community-based care.
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March 9, 2023
“Cut Off From Life Itself”
Lebanon’s Failure on the Right to ElectricityThe 127-page report, “‘Cut Off from Life Itself’: Lebanon’s Failure on the Right to Electricity,” argues that electricity is fundamental to nearly every aspect of living and participating in present- day societies, and as such, the internationally protected right to an adequate standard of living includes the right of everyone, without discrimination, to sufficient, reliable, safe, clean, accessible, and affordable electricity. At present, the government provides electricity for only one to three hours a day on average, while people who can afford it supplement that supply with private generators. The public sector and private generator industry rely on polluting climate-intensive fossil fuels. The electricity crisis has exacerbated inequality in the country, severely limited people’s ability to realize their most basic rights, and pushed them further into poverty.
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February 21, 2023
“All This Terror Because of a Photo”
Digital Targeting and Its Offline Consequences for LGBT People in the Middle East and North AfricaThe 135-page report, “‘All This Terror Because of a Photo’: Digital Targeting and Its Offline Consequences for LGBT People in the Middle East and North Africa,” examines the use of digital targeting by security forces and its far-reaching offline consequences – including arbitrary detention and torture – in five countries: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia. The findings show how security forces employ digital targeting to gather and create evidence to support prosecutions.