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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. Op-Eds and LettersHow China breaks up refugees' homesBy 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 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 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 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 Letter to Nebraska Legislature Judiciary Chairman Brad Ashford on Legislative Bill 843 In support of abolishing the sentence of life without parole for children Human Rights Watch urges Nebraska to pass Legislative Bill 843, which will abolish the sentence of life without parole for children in Nebraska. Such a sentence is not only cruel and inappropriate, but also a violation of international law; and the United States is the worst violator with 2,381 juvenile offenders currently sentenced to life without parole. We are deeply concerned that racial discrimination enters into the determination of these sentences for children. Nationwide, African-American youth serve life without parole sentences at a rate that is ten times higher than that of Caucasian youth. February 19, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version A Child on Trial at Guantanamo By Clive Baldwin, senior legal advisor Published in The Huffington Post Human Rights Watch again sent an observer to Guantanamo Bay, this time for the latest legal proceedings against Canadian Omar Khadr. Now 21, Khadr is facing charges for alleged offenses committed at the age of 15 as a child soldier in Afghanistan. Baldwin comments on these proceedings, the ad hoc nature of military commissions, and Canada's silence despite its commitment to the protection of child soldiers. February 11, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version Letter to US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Omar Khadr Human Rights Watch and partner organizations write to Secretary Gates ahead of the February 4 appearance before a military commission of Omar Khadr, detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since he was 15 years old. Human Rights Watch notes the United States' failure to incorporate juvenile detention and juvenile justice in military commission proceedings standards, and urges the US to not compound these violations by prosecuting Khadr before a military tribunal that is not equipped to meet these standards as well as other fair trial requirements, and in a manner inconsistent with its legal obligations to assist in rehabilitating former child soldiers within its jurisdiction. Accordingly, if the United States is not prepared to prosecute Khadr in a judicial system that incorporates fundamental standards of juvenile justice and other fair trial rights, it should promptly release Khadr and repatriate him to Canada for appropriate rehabilitation. February 1, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version Letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Omar Khadr Human Rights Watch and partner organizations write to Prime Minister Harper ahead of the February 4 appearance before a military commission of Omar Khadr, detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since he was 15 years old. Consistent with its commitment to the rule of law, international juvenile justice standards, and the rehabilitation of former child soldiers, Canada should formally request that unless the US government will prosecute Khadr in accordance with international juvenile justice and fair trial standards, the United States should promptly release Khadr and repatriate him to Canada for rehabilitation. February 1, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version Germany: Promote Respect for Human Rights and Justice for Serious Crimes Letter to the President of the Federal Republic of Germany upon his visit to Uganda and Rwanda We write to ask you to use the opportunities offered by your visits to Uganda and Rwanda to contribute, as Germany has so often done in the past, to the promotion of respect for human rights and justice for serious crimes under international law. January 31, 2008 Letter Also available in 
Printer friendly version Letter to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Human Rights Watch sent a letter to newly elected Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd regarding Australian foreign policy with regard to Burma, China, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea and Australian domestic policy on counter-terrorism, refugees, indigenous Australians, and same-sex relationships. December 17, 2007 Letter Printer friendly version Child soldiers a problem in Myanmar By David Scott Mathieson, New York Published December 5, 2007 Published in The Jakarta Post In a small Myanmarese army border outpost in Shan State, a sign in English and Myanmarese points into Thailand's thriving tourist town of Doi Ang Khan: "We Are Able." It's probably not much comfort to the soldiers walking around barefoot, enclosed by sharpened bamboo stakes and separated from their comrades by mountains of hostile jungle filled with resentful civilians and vengeful Shan insurgents. December 5, 2007 Commentary Printer friendly version Letter to H.E. Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone Recommendations following the Presidential elections of 2007 Recommendations following the Presidential elections of 2007 November 13, 2007 Letter Printer friendly version Letter to Representatives Lowey and Wolf on US foreign operations funding In this letter to the chair and ranking member of the US House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, Human Rights Watch identifies Pakistan, Iran, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, and reproductive health as key concerns for the 2008 State and Foreign Operations bill. November 7, 2007 Letter Printer friendly version Nasty, brutish and short Published in New Statesman The brutality and bluster of Burma's military leaders conceal the reality of an army increasingly reliant on forcibly conscripted child soldiers. November 2, 2007 Commentary Printer friendly version Suffer the little soldiers By Jo Becker Published in South China Morning Post By the time he was 16, Maung Zaw Oo had been forcibly recruited into Burma's national army not once, but twice. First recruited at 14, he escaped, only to be recruited again the following year. The corporal who delivered him to a recruitment centre received a cash payment, a sack of rice and a big tin of cooking oil. November 2, 2007 Commentary Printer friendly version The Plight of Child Soldiers in Burma An Interview with Jo Becker Published in The Irrawaddy News Magazine November 2, 2007 Commentary Printer friendly version HRW Letter to UN Security Council on Upcoming Mission to Africa June 12, 2007 June 12, 2007 Letter Printer friendly version Nepal: Letter to New Minister for Children Urged to Act Swiftly As you undertake your new responsibilities as a cabinet member in the interim Nepali government, Human Rights Watch recognizes the important challenges before you in addressing the situation of women and children following years of armed conflict. We share your hopes for a peaceful, democratic future for Nepal and its people. May 8, 2007 Letter Printer friendly version Spain/Morocco: Repatriation Accord Fails to Protect Children The Spanish government must ensure that its new agreement on the repatriation of unaccompanied children to Morocco fully complies with Spain’s international human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. April 2, 2007 Letter Also available in 
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