Human Rights Watch, one of the world’s most influential human rights organizations, conducts timely and accurate investigations, makes thoughtful and informed policy recommendations, and generates intense public pressure to confront human rights abusers and defend basic freedoms. Our experienced staff of regional and legal experts conduct on-site investigations and engage in aggressive outreach through high-level policy advocacy. We have earned a reputation as a leading human rights defender because of our ability to respond quickly and effectively to a broad spectrum of human rights concerns—from discrimination to genocide. We bring international attention to the exploitation of children; the mistreatment of women; and the failure of governments to ensure the safety of refugees, ethnic minorities, and other vulnerable populations. Through vigilant monitoring and advocacy, Human Rights Watch is advancing the protection of human rights in over seventy countries.
Human Rights Watch was founded in 1978 as “Helsinki Watch” to support and protect individual dissidents and independent citizen groups in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Our aim was to defend the rights of suppressed writers, scholars, and intellectuals, and to ensure that their governments complied with the 1975 Helsinki Accords, which, among other things, affirmed citizens’ rights to monitor the human rights practices of their own governments. Our first expansion came in 1981 when we established Americas Watch to demonstrate that human rights standards are universal and should be applied equally to governments of all political stripes. In 1985 we launched Asia Watch; in 1988, Africa Watch; and in 1989, Middle East Watch. The global ensemble became known as Human Rights Watch. Paralleling this geographic expansion, we pioneered the protection of groups that had been marginalized by a narrow interpretation of human rights standards. We founded a women’s rights project in 1990 and a children’s rights project in 1994. In recent years, we have assumed the defense of the rights of refugees, workers, gay men and lesbians, and people with HIV/AIDS.
Pioneering a ban on the use of child soldiers: As chair of the International Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Human Rights Watch celebrated an important victory with the passage of a treaty in 2000 banning the use of children as soldiers.
Protecting refugees in Uzbekistan: In 2005 Human Rights Watch catalyzed the evacuation of some 450 Uzbek refugees to safety in Romania. The refugees had fled an Uzbek government massacre in May and were under severe pressure to return home, where they would likely have faced torture for bearing witness to the massacre. In response to our work, European donors to Uzbekistan imposed sanctions on the country.
Leading the campaign to ban landmines: Human Rights Watch and our partner organizations in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for our work.
Advancing justice and accountability: In Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia Human Rights Watch’s expert testimony and legal analysis helped convict several individuals of numerous war crimes.
Spearheading the International Criminal Court: Human Rights Watch led the global campaign to establish the International Criminal Court. As a result of our public pressure and advocacy with governments around the world, the court entered into force in July2002. In 2005 Human Rights Watch helped persuade the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court.
To uncover, document, and challenge human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch begins by conducting meticulous on-site investigations. We speak to victims, witnesses, local activists, government officials, and others to assemble as complete, accurate, and objective a picture as we can of human rights practices in a particular country. We then release comprehensive reports to publicize our findings, issue calls for action, and launch intensive advocacy campaigns to pressure abusers to respect rights. Because the international media have come to rely on our timely and accurate information, our reports consistently receive substantial press coverage. The embarrassing publicity for governments is itself a strong spur to curtail abuses. In addition, we enlist influential governments, the international business community, the United Nations, and other multilateral institutions to exert pressure on abusive regimes. The prospect of diplomatic isolation and reduced economic assistance provides further incentive to reform. Ultimately, government actors who abuse human rights often improve their practices in order to avoid persistent bad press, economic sanctions, or other consequences of our work.
