Human Rights Watch conducts regular, systematic investigations of human rights abuses in more than 70 countries around the world. Our reputation for timely, reliable disclosures has made us an essential source of information for anyone concerned with human rights. The reports you will find here each describe human rights violations, detail the causes, and provide recommendations for how to end the abuses. Through field investigations and an extensive network of sources around the globe, Human Rights Watch recently examined human rights violations associated with Taliban massacres in Afghanistan, the trafficking of Thai women in Asia, rape in US prisons, refugees in Sierra Leone, and ongoing conflicts in Indonesia, Macedonia, Colombia, Russia, and the Congo.

To conduct research, Human Rights Watch sends members of our staff to talk with people who either experienced the abuse themselves or witnessed it. These witnesses and their voices are the heart of our work. Researchers work with local activists and other experts, then write up the findings. Since our founding, Human Rights Watch has published more than a thousand reports on more than one hundred countries worldwide. This catalog lists only those reports we currently have available. We sell the reports in an attempt to recoup some of the considerable expenses of research, production, and distribution. We address the human rights practices of governments of all political stripes, of all geopolitical alignments, and of all ethnic and religious persuasions. Human Rights Watch defends freedom of thought and expression, due process and equal protection of the law, and a vigorous civil society; we document and denounce murders, disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, discrimination, and other abuses of internationally recognized human rights. Our goal is to hold governments accountable if they transgress the rights of their people.

With our experienced staff of regional experts, lawyers, and linguists, Human Rights Watch has the capacity to expose abuses on a regular basis and a worldwide scale. This ongoing effort makes a difference saving lives, stopping torture, freeing prisoners and helping to create the space for citizens to exercise their civil and political rights. Human Rights Watch reports are unique, up-to-date, firsthand sources of human rights information and are available individually or through convenient subscriptions. Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of our European division, Helsinki Watch. Today, we have seven divisions covering Africa, the Americas, Arms, Asia, Children, Women, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Europe and Central Asia. We maintain offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Brussels, Moscow, Sarajevo, Tashkent, Tblisi, Hong Kong, and Rwanda. Human Rights Watch is a fully independent, nongovernmental organi-zation, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. We accept no government funds, directly or indirectly.

Who relies on our reporting? 

Concerned Individuals: demand information on abuses around the world to ensure that human rights play a major role in government policy. 

The Press: reporters, columnists, broadcasters and editors worldwide rely on these reports and frequently cite them in their work. 

Citizens' Organizations: church groups, relief organizations and humanitarian agencies use and act upon the timely data and analysis in these reports. 

Policymakers: receive a detailed briefing on conditions from the eyewitnesses, experts, local government officials, opposition leaders, scholars, church officials, lawyers and human rights monitors interviewed in these reports. 

The Academic Community: increasingly focuses on the impact of human rights abuses on economic development, environmental degradation, famine, conflict and other global problems. These reports are a rich source of firsthand information for scholars and students. 

Libraries: research, academic, special and public libraries subscribe to these reports, to meet the growing demand for their unique information and to preserve the record of human rights history. 

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