Human Rights Watch

As the largest human rights organization based in the United States, Human Rights Watch investigates human rights abuses in all regions of the world. Upon publishing its findings, Human Rights Watch prompts the media to cover such incidents of human rights violations. Then the group turns its attention to abusive governments in efforts to shame them; by doing so, state officials are pressured to refrain from harmful tactics. Human Rights Watch also meets directly with government officials and in extreme cases it calls for the withdrawal of international military and economic support for that nation.

The group formed in 1978 as Helsinki Watch with the mission of monitoring the compliance of Soviet bloc countries with the human rights provisions of the [Page 723]landmark Helsinki Accords. In the 1980s, Americas Watch was established to dispel the myth that human rights abuses by one side in the war in Central America were somehow more tolerable than abuses by the other side. The organization expanded to cover other regions of the world, and in 1988 all of the “Watch” committees were consolidated, creating what is currently known as Human Rights Watch. Based in New York City, the group has offices in Brussels, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, San Francisco, Tashkent, Toronto, and Washington, while setting up temporary offices in regions where intensive investigations are being conducted.

Human Rights Watch is involved in a wide range of issues: banning child soldiers and landmines; prosecuting war crimes; protecting freedoms of the press, academics, and religion; securing lesbian and gay rights; challenging caste discrimination and racism; reforming prison conditions; and upholding international treaties designed to assist immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. For example, Human Rights Watch was instrumental in preventing the deportation of hundreds of Sudanese demonstrators who were violently removed from their Cairo encampment by Egyptian police. In 2005, some 4,000 Egyptian police surrounded the camp housing 3,000 Sudanese refugees and fired water cannons into the crowd, and beat protestors, killing at least 27 people. Human Rights Watch met with Egypt's ambassador in Washington where the organization condemned the assault along with the separation of children from their parents and the loss of key personal documents as a result of the police violence.

Human Rights Watch also has recently weighed into the controversy surrounding the war on terror and has been critical of the U.S. policies that undermine the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture. While furthering his case that torture and inhumane treatment have emerged as a deliberate U.S. policy, Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, emphasizes that any discussion of detainee abuse must begin with the United States, not because it is the worst violator but because it is the most influential.

Human Rights Watch believes that international standards of human rights apply to all people equally, and that sharp vigilance and timely protest can prevent the atrocities of the 20th century from recurring. The group promotes the idea that progress can be made when people of good will organize and challenge human rights abusers. Human Rights Watch is committed to accurate reporting and maintains its independence by not accepting financial support from any government or government-funded agency. It depends solely on contributions from private foundations and individual donations.

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