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46-514: CNDD–FDD's youth wing is known as the Imbonerakure . Human Rights Watch has documented claims that members of Imbonerakure have harassed, arbitrarily detained , tortured , and killed alleged members of opponent parties and militias on behalf of the country's security forces, especially since Évariste Ndayishimiye became the president in 2020. During the civil war, the CNDD was the political wing of

92-829: A global network of non-governmental organizations that monitor censorship worldwide. It also co-founded the Cluster Munition Coalition , which brought about an international convention banning the weapons. HRW employs more than 275 staff—country experts, lawyers, journalists, and academics—and operates in more than 90 countries around the world. Headquartered in New York City , it has offices in Amsterdam , Beirut , Berlin , Brussels , Chicago , Geneva , Johannesburg , London , Los Angeles , Nairobi , Seoul , Paris , San Francisco , Sydney , Tokyo , Toronto , Washington, D.C. , and Zürich . HRW maintains direct access to

138-531: A mass membership, as AI is, HRW depends on wealthy donors who like to see the organization's reports make headlines. For this reason, according to Foreman, it may be that organizations like HRW "concentrate too much on places that the media already cares about," especially Israel. For the financial year ending June 2008, HRW reported receiving approximately US$ 44 million in public donations. In 2009, HRW said it received almost 75% of its financial support from North America, 25% from Western Europe and less than 1% from

184-637: A permanent access to attend the organization's assemblies. Bahrain held the IPU Meeting from 11–15 March 2023. Pursuant to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Human Rights Watch opposes violations of what the UDHR considers basic human rights . This includes capital punishment and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation . HRW advocates freedoms in connection with fundamental human rights, such as freedom of religion and freedom of

230-562: A report accusing Israel of apartheid and calling on the International Criminal Court to investigate "systematic discrimination" against Palestinians, becoming the first major international rights NGO to do so. In August 2020, the Chinese government sanctioned HRW executive director Kenneth Roth—along with the heads of four other U.S.-based democracy and human rights organizations and six U.S. Republican lawmakers—for supporting

276-506: A result of the Chinese sanctions, with the situation in Hong Kong henceforth to be monitored by HRW's China team. The decision to leave came amid a wider crackdown on civil society groups in Hong Kong. On 8 March 2023, Bahrain canceled two HRW staff members' entry permit visas to attend the 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly. The permits were issued on 30 January 2023. Holding a constant observer status with IPU, HRW authorities had

322-658: Is a qualified social worker who has worked with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children , and most recently as director of Amnesty International 's Crisis Response Program. Hassan holds honors degrees in social work and law from Australia and a master's degree in international human rights law from Oxford University . Human Rights watch and Amnesty International are both international non-governmental organizations headquartered in

368-456: Is an international non-governmental organization , headquartered in New York City that conducts research and advocacy on human rights . The group pressures governments, policymakers, companies, and individual human rights abusers to denounce abuse and respect human rights, and often works on behalf of refugees, children, migrants, and political prisoners. In 1997, Human Rights Watch shared

414-467: Is biased against Israel in its coverage of the Israel–Palestine conflict . In 2014, two Nobel Peace Laureates , Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Mairead Maguire , wrote a letter signed by 100 other human rights activists and scholars criticizing HRW for its revolving-door hiring practices with the U.S. government, its failure to denounce the U.S. practice of extrajudicial rendition , its endorsement of

460-540: The Nobel Peace Prize as a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines . It played a leading role in the 2008 treaty banning cluster munitions . HRW's annual expenses totaled $ 50.6 million in 2011, $ 69.2 million in 2014, and $ 75.5 million in 2017. Human Rights Watch was co-founded by Robert L. Bernstein , Jeri Laber , and Aryeh Neier as a private American NGO in 1978, under

506-753: The Rwandan genocide of 1994, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and the excessive breadth of U.S. sex offender registries and their application to juveniles. In the summer of 2004, the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University in New York became the depository institution for the Human Rights Watch Archive, an active collection that documents decades of human rights investigations around

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552-685: The CNDD–; FDD consisted of about 25,000 rebels, but in September of that year Ndayikengurukiye was ousted by a faction led by Pierre Nkurunziza over the former's handling of negotiations with the government to join the transitional administration set up by in Arusha Accords. The Nkurunziza-led faction, consisting of 20,000 to 22,000 troops signed a ceasefire with the government in December 2002 but continued fighting. The faction led by Ndayikengurukiye became

598-635: The Curtis Benjamin Award for Distinguished Publishing from the Association of American Publishers ; and, in 1998, the United States' first Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights , which was presented by President Bill Clinton . In 2014, Bernstein was honored with a Social Justice Award from The New Press , the non-profit, public interest publishing house set-up by his long-time Random House colleague André Schiffrin . At Yale in 1998, Bernstein

644-462: The HRW archive are not open to researchers or to the public, including the records of the meetings of the board of directors, the executive committee, and the various subcommittees, limiting historians' ability to understand the organization's internal decision-making. HRW has been criticized for perceived bias by the national governments it has investigated for human rights abuses. Some sources allege HRW

690-562: The Hong Kong pro-democracy movement in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests . The five organizations' leaders saw the sanctioning, whose details were unspecified, as a tit-for-tat measure in response to the earlier U.S. sanctioning of 11 Hong Kong officials. The latter step had in turn been a reaction to the enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law in June. In October 2021, The New York Times reported that HRW left Hong Kong as

736-607: The Middle East and North Africa. After The Intercept reported the donation, it was returned, and HRW issued a statement that accepting it was "deeply regrettable". Robert L. Bernstein Robert Louis Bernstein (January 5, 1923 – May 27, 2019) was an American publisher and human rights activist. Bernstein started as an office boy at Simon & Schuster in 1946, moved to Random House in 1956 and succeeded Bennett Cerf as President and CEO in 1966. He served as

782-913: The North Atlantic Anglosphere that report on global human rights violations. The major differences lie in the groups' structures and methods for promoting change. Amnesty International is a mass-membership organization. Mobilization of those members is the organization's central advocacy tool. Human Rights Watch's main products are its crisis-directed research and lengthy reports, whereas Amnesty International lobbies and writes detailed reports but also focuses on mass letter-writing campaigns, adopting individuals as " prisoners of conscience " and lobbying for their release. HRW openly lobbies for specific actions for other governments to take against human rights offenders, including naming specific individuals for arrest, or sanctions to be levied against certain countries, such as calling for punitive sanctions against

828-689: The Party. In June 2020, Nkurunziza died while still serving as President of Burundi and was succeeded by Ndayishimiye. Prior to Nkurunziza's death, Ndayishimiye had been elected President of Burundi in elections which were held in May 2020 . Former Senate president Révérien Ndikuriyo , a hardliner, was chosen as the Secretary General of the CNDD–FDD in January 2021 . Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch ( HRW )

874-671: The President of Random House for 25 years. He published many great American authors, including William Faulkner , James Michener , Dr. Seuss , Toni Morrison and William Styron . After being invited to the Soviet Union as part of a delegation from the Association of American Publishers , he became interested in writers whose work could not be published in their own countries. Beginning with Andrei Sakharov and Elena Bonner , he ensured that authors like Václav Havel , Jacobo Timerman , Xu Wenli and Wei Jingsheng were all published around

920-545: The Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights, a research center that will promote scholarship, education, and advocacy on human rights issues in the United States and abroad. He was the recipient of honorary doctorates from Swarthmore College , The New School , Bard College , Hofstra University , Bates College , Tougaloo College , and Yale University . Bernstein served in the U.S. Army Air Force from 1943 to 1946, two of

966-517: The U.S. 2011 military intervention in Libya , and its silence during the 2004 Haitian coup d'état . In 2020, HRW's board of directors discovered that HRW accepted a $ 470,000 donation from Saudi real estate magnate Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber , owner of a company HRW "had previously identified as complicit in labor rights abuse", under the condition that the donation not be used to support LGBT advocacy in

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1012-510: The affected countries, Americas Watch also examined the role played by foreign governments, particularly the United States government , in providing military and political support to abusive regimes. Asia Watch (1985), Africa Watch (1988) and Middle East Watch (1989) were added to what was known as "The Watch Committees". In 1988, these committees united under one umbrella to form Human Rights Watch. In April 2021, Human Rights Watch released

1058-596: The basis for drawing international attention to abuses and pressuring governments and international organizations to reform. Researchers conduct fact-finding missions to investigate suspect situations, also using diplomacy, staying in touch with victims, making files about public and individuals, providing required security for them in critical situations, and generating local and international media coverage. Issues HRW raises in its reports include social and gender discrimination , torture , military use of children , political corruption , abuses in criminal justice systems, and

1104-599: The country. During the war, the group was often referred to simply by the name of the armed wing (FDD). In May 1998, Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye, Nyangoma's chief of staff, caused a schism by ousting the latter over leadership issues and losses suffered by the group during the First Congo War , the Nyangoma-led faction later taking a seat at the Arusha negotiations , while Ndayikengurukiye's faction carried out its fight. In 2001,

1150-421: The current edition, World Report 2020 , was released in January 2020, and covers events of 2019. World Report 2020 , HRW's 30th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, includes reviews of human rights practices and trends in nearly 100 countries, and an introductory essay by Executive Director Kenneth Roth, "China's Global Threat to Human Rights". HRW has reported extensively on subjects such as

1196-455: The free speech that creates internal pressure to improve human rights. Bernstein felt that the organization's credibility was diminished by an undue focus of reporting on Israel's military that lacked credible sources in Gaza, and ignored Israel's open society. The criticism opened a rift between Bernstein and Human Rights Watch, which was not healed until shortly before his death, when he was lauded at

1242-518: The largest human rights organizations in the world. Bernstein served as the Chair of Human Rights Watch from 1978 to 1998, when he became Founding Chair Emeritus. However, he later became a critic of the group, publicly chastising them in a 2009 essay that appeared on the Op-ed page of The New York Times . His concern was deviation from the group's charter, which was to focus on abuses in closed societies lacking

1288-491: The legalization of abortion . HRW has documented and reported various violations of the laws of war and international humanitarian law , most recently in Yemen. Human Rights Watch also supports writers worldwide who are persecuted for their work and in need of financial assistance. The Hellman/Hammett grants are financed by the estate of the playwright Lillian Hellman in funds set up in her name and that of her longtime companion,

1334-487: The lesser of the two with about 5,000 fighters. It also signed a ceasefire with the government in October 2002 to which it has roughly held. At an official ceremony in January 2005, the group registered as a legal political party. Months later, in the largely peaceful parliamentary elections on 4 July 2005, the CNDD–FDD won an estimated 60 to 80 percent of the vote, making it likely that a CNDD–FDD representative would be chosen

1380-511: The majority of countries it reports on. Cuba , North Korea , Sudan , Iran , Israel , Egypt , the United Arab Emirates , Uzbekistan and Venezuela are among the handful of countries that have blocked HRW staff members' access. HRW's former executive director is Kenneth Roth , who held the position from 1993 to 2022. Roth conducted investigations on abuses in Poland after martial law

1426-414: The maximum four as of 2016. The Better Business Bureau said HRW meets its standards for charity accountability. Some notable current and former staff members of Human Rights Watch: Human Rights Watch publishes reports on many different topics and compiles an annual World Report presenting an overview of the worldwide state of human rights. It has been published by Seven Stories Press since 2006;

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1472-526: The name Helsinki Watch , to monitor the then- Soviet Union 's compliance with the Helsinki Accords . Helsinki Watch adopted a practice of publicly " naming and shaming " abusive governments through media coverage and direct exchanges with policymakers. Helsinki Watch says that, by shining the international spotlight on human rights violations in the Soviet Union and its European partners, it contributed to

1518-616: The novelist Dashiell Hammett . In addition to providing financial assistance, the Hellman/Hammett grants help raise international awareness of activists who have been silenced for speaking out in defence of human rights. Each year, Human Rights Watch presents the Human Rights Defenders Award to activists who demonstrate leadership and courage in defending human rights. The award winners work closely with HRW to investigate and expose human rights abuses. Human Rights Watch

1564-483: The organization has to be seen as more international, less an American organization." He continued, "Human Rights Watch is one of the most effective organizations I support. Human rights underpin our greatest aspirations: they're at the heart of open societies." The donation, the largest in HRW's history, increased its operating staff of 300 by 120 people. Charity Navigator gave HRW a three-star rating for 2018. Its financial rating increased from three stars in 2015 to

1610-904: The organization's annual dinner. Bernstein was also a board member and Chair Emeritus of Human Rights in China . Bernstein won numerous awards and honorary degrees, including the Florina Lasker Award from the New York Civil Liberties Union ; the Human Rights Award from the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights ; the Spirit of Liberty Award from People for the American Way ; the Barnard Medal of Distinction from Barnard College ;

1656-478: The organization, while the FDD was the military wing. The original CNDD was founded in 1994, a year after the first democratically elected President Melchior Ndadaye was killed by elements of Burundi's Tutsi-dominated army in a failed coup d'etat . The political wing was dominated by Hutu intellectuals from the southern region of Bururi led by Léonard Nyangoma , while the armed wing was made up of troops drawn from across

1702-514: The president in August. Pierre Nkurunziza indeed was elected President of Burundi unopposed on August 19. At the legislative elections , the party won 57.8% and 64 out of 118 seats. In March 2012, Pascal Nyabenda was elected as President of CNDD–FDD. Then on 20 August 2016, General Évariste Ndayishimiye was, in the extraordinary congress that took place in Gitega, elected as the Secretary General of

1748-561: The press . It seeks to achieve change by publicly pressuring governments and their policymakers to curb human rights abuses, and by convincing more powerful governments to use their influence on governments that violate human rights. Human Rights Watch publishes research reports on violations of international human rights norms as set out by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and what it perceives to be other internationally accepted human-rights norms. These reports are used as

1794-412: The region's democratic transformations in the late 1980s. Americas Watch was founded in 1981 while bloody civil wars engulfed Central America. Relying on extensive on-the-ground fact-finding, Americas Watch not only addressed perceived abuses by government forces but also applied international humanitarian law to investigate and expose war crimes by rebel groups. In addition to raising concerns in

1840-526: The rest of the world. According to a 2008 financial assessment, HRW reports that it does not accept any direct or indirect funding from governments and is financed through contributions from private individuals and foundations. Financier George Soros of the Open Society Foundations announced in 2010 his intention to grant US$ 100 million to HRW over ten years to help it expand its efforts internationally: "to be more effective", he said, "I think

1886-752: The top leaders in Sudan who oversaw a killing campaign in Darfur . The group also called for human rights activists who had been detained in Sudan to be released. HRW's documentations of human rights abuses often include extensive analyses of conflicts' political and historical backgrounds, some of which have been published in academic journals. AI's reports, on the other hand, tend to contain less analysis, instead focusing on specific abuses of rights. In 2010, Jonathan Foreman wrote that HRW had "all but eclipsed" Amnesty International. According to Foreman, instead of being supported by

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1932-535: The world. After his experience in Moscow in 1973, Bernstein returned to the U.S. and established the Fund for Free Expression, the parent organization of Helsinki Watch which was established to monitor the former Soviet Union 's compliance with the Helsinki Accords . In 1988, the series of "Watch Committees" created throughout the 1980s—Americas Watch, Asia Watch, Middle East Watch—merged to become Human Rights Watch , one of

1978-706: The world. The archive was transferred from the Norlin Library at the University of Colorado, Boulder . It includes administrative files, public relations documents, and case and country files. With some exceptions for security considerations, the Columbia University community and the public have access to field notes, taped and transcribed interviews with alleged victims of human rights violations, video and audiotapes, and other materials documenting HRW's activities since its founding in 1978 as Helsinki Watch. Some parts of

2024-459: Was declared 1981. He later focused on Haiti , which had just emerged from the Duvalier dictatorship but continued to be plagued with problems. Roth's awareness of the importance of human rights began with stories his father had told about escaping Nazi Germany in 1938. He graduated from Yale Law School and Brown University . Tirana Hassan became the group's executive director in 2023. Hassan

2070-661: Was honored by friends and colleagues with the establishment of the Robert L. Bernstein Fellowships in International Human Rights at Yale Law School . The fellowships are awarded annually to two or three Law School graduates devoted to advancing human rights protection around the world. Bernstein was also honored by New York University School of Law , which established the Robert L. Bernstein Fellowship in International Human Rights in 2006. In 2015, NYU School of Law created

2116-648: Was one of six international NGOs that founded the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers in 1998. It is also the co-chair of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines , a global coalition of civil society groups that successfully lobbied to introduce the Ottawa Treaty , which prohibits the use of anti-personnel landmines. Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange ,

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