The Kurdistan Islamic Scholars Union, the highest Muslim authority in Iraqi Kurdistan for religious pronouncements and rulings, issued a fatwa or religious edict last month. This would not have been particularly newsworthy, except that this particular …Continue Reading

By Jose Luis Diaz Head of Office and Representative at the UN
The Millennium Development Goals review summit next week in New York will take place amid the ritual – and logistical-security headache – that usually surrounds the opening of the annual…Continue Reading

By Gergana Halpern, Millennium Development Goals Campaign Organizer for Amnesty International
The voice of thousands of Amnesty International supporters from across the world was heard at the United Nations in New York on Thursday.
Over 25,000 activist…Continue Reading

(New York) – Two Kenyan activists working on the cases of suspects charged with terrorism for the July 11, 2010 Kampala bombings have been illegally detained in Uganda and are at risk of abuse, Human Rights Watch said today.
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(Milan) – The Libyan government should immediately end what appears to be a policy that allows shooting at boats carrying migrants from Libya to Italy, and Italy should stop participating in joint patrols with Libya, Human Rights Watch said today.
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"Amelia," a Filipina domestic worker who sought shelter at her embassy in Beirut earlier this year, had one wish: "I just want to get my money [unpaid wages] and to go back to the Philippines." Her employer had savagely beaten her w…Continue Reading

This 54-page report reviews 114 Lebanese judicial decisions affecting migrant domestic workers. It finds that lack of accessible complaint mechanisms, lengthy judicial procedures, and restrictive visa policies dissuade many workers from filing or pursu…Continue Reading

(Beirut) – Lebanon’s judiciary is generally failing to hold employers accountable when they violate the basic rights of migrant domestic workers, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The government should adopt a plan to ensure that thes…Continue Reading

(Istanbul) – Turkish authorities should redouble their efforts to bring to justice all those involved in the killing of Hrant Dink, Human Rights Watch said today, following a ruling on September 14, 2010, of the European Court of Human Rights.  The co…Continue Reading

(New York) – A Kyrgyz court on September 15, 2010, sentenced a human rights defender to life in prison for his alleged role in the June violence in southern Kyrgyzstan, following court hearings marred by violence and threats against the defense.
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This 88-page report documents abuses against the displaced by all warring parties in all phases of displacement – during the attacks that uproot them; after they have been displaced and are living in the forests, with host families, or in camps; and …Continue Reading

(Amsterdam) – Both the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Nations peacekeeping mission there should give greater emphasis to the protection of the nearly two million people displaced from their homes in the conflict-ridden ea…Continue Reading

(New York) – Last May, following several apparent suicide attempts, Adnan Latif, a Yemeni detainee at the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba, sent his lawyer a letter in which he renounced all hope in the U.S. justice system.
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