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The Children's Rights Division monitors human rights abuses against children around the world and works to end them. We investigate all kinds of human rights abuses against children: the use of children as soldiers; the worst forms of child labor; torture of children by police; police violence against street children; conditions in correctional institutions and orphanages; corporal punishment in schools; mistreatment of refugee and migrant children; trafficking of children for labor and prostitution; discrimination in education because of race, gender, sexual orientation, or HIV/AIDS; and physical and sexual violence against girls and boys. Children's physical and intellectual immaturity makes them particularly vulnerable to human rights violations. Their ill-treatment calls for special attention because, for the most part, children cannot speak for themselves, their opinions are seldom taken into account and they can only rarely form their own organizations to work for change. Executive Summary: The Rest of Their LivesLife without Parole for Youth Offenders in the United States in 2008 In this update to Human Rights Watch’s work on eliminating the sentence of life without parole for juvenile offenders, a number of findings are presented that illustrate the troublesome nature of the sentence and how it is applied to youthful offenders. Among those findings are that the United States is alone in the world in applying this harsh sentence to juveniles, that an estimated 59 percent of youth who receive the sentence had no prior adjudications or convictions, and that there are currently nearly 2,500 offenders who are serving life without parole for crimes committed while they were a juvenile. Additionally, data reveal that there are stark racial disparities in the imposition of the sentence, with black youth serving life without parole at a per capita rate that is 10 times the rate of white youth. May 13, 2008 Background Briefing UK: Missed Chance to Charge Sri Lankan Rights Abuser Karuna Case Could Have Been Landmark for International Justice The British government’s failure to file criminal charges against a former Tamil Tiger leader for grave human rights abuses in Sri Lanka is a tragic missed opportunity to bring a notorious rights abuser to justice, Human Rights Watch said today. May 9, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version Universal Periodic Review of Sri Lanka Human Rights Watch's Submission to the Human Rights Council Major hostilities between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resumed in mid-2006 and in January 2008 the government formally withdrew from the ceasefire in place since 2002. Since then the fighting has claimed hundreds of civilians lives, and tens of thousands more have been displaced. Human Rights Watch has long documented serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by both parties to the conflict. We are deeply concerned that with the ceasefire’s end, abuses will intensify. May 5, 2008 Written Statement Printer friendly version Universal Periodic Review of Guatemala Human Rights Watch's Submission to the Human Rights Council The country continues to face high levels of violence associated with both electoral politics and common crime. Guatemala’s weak and corrupt law enforcement institutions have proven incapable of containing the powerful organized crime groups that, among other things, are believed responsible for continuing attacks on human rights defenders. May 5, 2008 Written Statement Printer friendly version Universal Periodic Review of Romania Human Rights Watch's Submission to the Human Rights Council This submission will focus only on Human Rights Watch’s key concerns regarding Romania’s compliance with international human rights law in its treatment of children and youth living with HIV. It draws on research and recommendations presented in greater detail in our August 2006 report, Life Doesn’t Wait: Romania’s Failure to Protect and Support Children and Youth Living with HIV May 5, 2008 Written Statement Printer friendly version Written Testimony to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the Human Rights Concerns of Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs Accurate and objective sexual education is critical to advancing public health and promoting human rights. This fact is widely accepted within the international community and is supported by the provisions of fundamental human rights instruments. Indeed, the current federal policy of funding abstinence-only programs while failing to fund comprehensive sexuality education raises serious human rights concerns. Federal abstinence-only programs threaten a number of basic human rights, including the rights to health, information, and nondiscrimination. April 30, 2008 Written Statement Printer friendly version DR Congo: Suspected War Criminal Wanted International Court Unseals Arrest Warrant Against Bosco Ntaganda Congolese officials and UN peacekeepers should take swift action to enforce the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against a rebel leader accused of forcibly conscripting child soldiers and of other abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. April 29, 2008 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version Coercion and Intimidation of Child Soldiers to Participate in Violence Child soldiers are often compelled by their commanders to engage in combat operations, participate in human rights abuses against civilians, and carry out punishments against fellow soldiers under threat of severe punishment or execution. In this backgrounder, Human Rights Watch describes methods of coercion and intimidation used against child soldiers serving in armed conflicts in Angola, Burma, Colombia, Liberia, Nepal, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. April 16, 2008 Background Briefing China: Educate Children of North Korean Women Policies Marginalize Children, Force Family Breakups Many children of North Korean women living in China are denied legal identity and access to education, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. To comply with international standards and its own laws, China should ensure all children can go to school, without preconditions such as requiring them to show household registration papers. China should also stop arresting and summarily repatriating North Korean women who have had children with Chinese men. April 13, 2008 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version Denied Status, Denied Education Children of North Korean Women in China
HRW Index No.: 1-56432-304-8 April 12, 2008 Report Also available in 
Download PDF, 269 KB, 24 pgs Purchase online Read Press Release How China breaks up refugees' homes By Kay Seok, North Korea researcher at Human Rights Watch Published in The International Herald Tribune April 9, 2008 Commentary Also available in
Printer friendly version In Support of the "The Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2007"; Hearing in the US House Judiciary Subcommittee Testimony by Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director In the last decade, progress has been made in establishing criminal responsibility for the recruitment and use of child soldiers. The Child Soldier Accountability Act is a positive next step as it would enable the US to prosecute military commanders who recruit or use child soldiers under the age of 15, whether committed here or abroad by either US citizens or non-citizens present in the United States. April 8, 2008 Testimony Printer friendly version US: California May End ‘Life Without Parole’ for Youth Committee Approves Bill to Reform Sentencing of Young Offenders The California Senate’s Public Safety Committee has taken a historic step toward ending the practice of sentencing youth to die in prison by voting 3 to 2 in favor of the Juvenile Life Without Parole Reform Act (Senate Bill 1199), which would eliminate life-without-parole sentences for offenders under age 18. April 8, 2008 Press Release Printer friendly version Human Rights Watch Calls on Congress to Support the “Youth PROMISE Act,” H.R. 3846 Letter to the US House of Representatives Human Rights Watch, an independent, nongovernmental organization dedicated to protecting human rights around the world, submits this letter in support of H.R. 3846, the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education Act (“Youth PROMISE Act”), and in opposition to H.R. 3547, the Gang Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression Act. Human Rights Watch supports the Youth PROMISE Act because it makes sense, comports with scientific research on prevention, intervention, and adolescent brain development, and is consistent with US treaty obligations under international law. In contrast, we oppose H.R. 3547 because its excessive emphasis on overly punitive sanctions—including life without parole sentences for youth —rather than prevention and intervention is contrary to basic principles of juvenile and criminal justice, is inappropriate in light of adolescent brain development research, and violates US treaty obligations under international law. April 7, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version Code for oppression By Christoph Wilcke, Researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division, and Clarisa Bencomo, Researcher, Children’s Rights Division Published in Progress Online Though Saudi officials pay lip service to the rule of law, this is difficult to reconcile with reality. Arbitrary arrests and unfair trials characterize the fate of those who enter the system April 7, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version Universal Periodic Review of South Africa Human Rights Watch's Submission to the Human Rights Council Emerging from a history of institutionalized racial inequality, South Africa has made admirable progress in transforming the state and society to ensure respect for fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, an independent judiciary, and free and fair elections. Nevertheless, widespread poverty, unemployment, persistently high levels of violent crime, and gender inequality continue to inhibit the full enjoyment of human rights. April 7, 2008 Written Statement Printer friendly version Do Not Reinstate Corporal Punishment in Schools Letter to the Jackson, MS Public School District Board of Trustees March 27, 2008 Delmer C. Stamps, President Jackson Public School District Board of Trustees PO Box 2338 Jackson, MS 39255 Dear President Stamps: April 3, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version Adults Before Their Time Children in Saudi Arabia’s Criminal Justice System
HRW Index No.: E2004 March 25, 2008 Report Also available in 
Download PDF, 382 KB, 82 pgs Purchase online Read Press Release Saudi Arabia: Heavy Price of Unfair Justice System Instead of Protection, Children are Exposed to Danger Saudi Arabia should urgently enact a penal code to protect all criminal suspects against arbitrary arrest, Human Rights Watch said in two reports released today. Criminal defendants, especially children, need greater protection against gross abuses during interrogation and unfair trials. The new reports are the result of a yearlong examination of the criminal justice system and draw on hundreds of interviews with Saudi officials, current and former detainees, their lawyers, and their families. The first, 144-page report, “Precarious Justice: Arbitrary Detention and Unfair Trials in a Deficient Criminal Justice System,” documents the arbitrary arrest and detention of individuals for vaguely defined crimes or behavior that is not inherently criminal. Once arrested, suspects often face prolonged solitary confinement, ill-treatment, forced confessions, and are denied a lawyer at crucial stages of interrogation and trial. March 24, 2008 Press Release Also available in
Printer friendly version Watching Jawad By Aisling Reidy, senior legal advisor We sat for almost four hours under the tents erected outside the Military Commissions building at Guantanamo Bay, waiting to hear whether the arraignment of Mohammad Jawad, a young Afghan man, would take place. Jawad was 16 or 17 when he was picked up in Afghanistan in December 2002 for allegedly throwing a hand grenade at a US military vehicle in which two soldiers and an interpreter were injured. He faces no charges of terrorism, material support, or any connection to al-Qaeda or the Taliban. He was just a young man in Afghanistan when the US invaded his country. We had heard various rumors that the hearing might not happen, that there was an issue with his lawyers, and that the “detainee was not cooperating,” but the military authorities weren’t prepared to confirm anything. March 12, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version |
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