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Human Rights Watch

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Not to be confused with Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society.
Human Rights Watch
Founded1978
TypeNon-profit NGO
FocusHuman rights activism
Location
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Websitehrw.org
Formerly called
Helsinki Watch
Current executive Director Kenneth Roth speaking at the 44th Munich Security Conference 2008

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto, and Washington.[1]

History

Main article: Helsinki Watch

Human Rights Watch was founded as a private American NGO in 1978, under the name of Helsinki Watch, to monitor the former Soviet Union's compliance with the Helsinki Accords.[2] Helsinki Watch adopted a methodology of publicly "naming and shaming" abusive governments through media coverage and through direct exchanges with policymakers. By shining the international spotlight on human rights violations in the Soviet Union and its vassal states in Eastern Europe, Helsinki Watch contributed to the democratic transformations of the region in the late 1980s.[2]

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 its concerns in 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 then known as "The Watch Committees." In 1988, all of the committees were united under one umbrella to form Human Rights Watch.

Profile

Pursuant to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Human Rights Watch opposes violations of what it considers basic human rights, which include capital punishment and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Human Rights Watch advocates freedoms in connection with fundamental human rights, such as freedom of religion and the press.

Human Rights Watch produces 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 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 and generate coverage in local and international media. Issues raised by Human Rights Watch in its reports include social and gender discrimination, torture, military use of children, political corruption, abuses in criminal justice systems, and the legalization of abortion.[2] Human Rights Watch documents and reports violations of the laws of war and international humanitarian law.

Human Rights Watch also supports writers worldwide who are being persecuted for their work and are 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 long-time companion, the novelist Dashiell Hammett. In addition to providing financial assistance, the Hellman/Hammett grants help raise international awareness of activists who are being silenced for speaking out in defence of human rights.[3]

Each year, Human Rights Watch presents the Human Rights Defenders Award to activists around the world who demonstrate leadership and courage in defending human rights. The award winners work closely with Human Rights Watch in investigating and exposing human rights abuses.[citation needed]

Human Rights Watch 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, a treaty that prohibits the use of anti-personnel landmines.

Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, 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. Human Rights Watch employs more than 275 staff—country experts, lawyers, journalists, and academics – and operates in more than 90 countries around the world.[4]

The current executive director of Human Rights Watch is Kenneth Roth, who has held the position since 1993. Roth conducted investigations on abuses in Poland after martial law 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 human rights began with stories that his father told about escaping Nazi Germany in 1938. He graduated from Yale Law School and Brown University.

Financing and services

For the financial year ending June 2008, HRW reported receiving approximately US$44 million in public donations.[5] In 2009, Human Rights Watch stated that they receive almost 75% of their financial support from North America, 25% from Western Europe and less than 1% from the rest of the world.[6]

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.[7] According to NGO Monitor this policy is violated by support from the Dutch government and a May 2009 fund raising trip to Saudi Arabia.[8]

Notably, billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros announced in 2010 his intention to donate US$100 million to HRW over a period of ten years. He said, "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."[9][10] The donation increases Human Rights Watch's operating budget from $48 million to $80 million. The donation was the largest in the organization's history.[11]

Charity Navigator gave Human Rights Watch a four-star rating, the highest number of stars possible. The Better Business Bureau said Human Rights Watch meets its standards for charity accountability.

Human Rights Watch published the following program and support services spending details for the financial year ending June 2008.

Program services 2008 Expenses (USD)[5]
Africa $5,532,631
Americas $1,479,265
Asia $3,212,850
Europe and Central Asia $4,001,853
Middle East and North Africa $2,258,459
United States $1,195,673
Children's Rights $1,642,064
International Justice $1,385,121
Woman's Rights $1,854,228
Other programs $9,252,974
Supporting services
Management and general $1,984,626
Fundraising $8,641,358

Notable staff

Some notable current and former staff members of Human Rights Watch have included:[12]

Issues and campaigns

Publications

Human Rights Watch publishes reports on several topics[13] and compiles annual reports ("World Report") presenting an overview of the worldwide state of human rights.[14] Human Rights Watch has published extensively on the subjects such as Rwandan Genocide of 1994[15] and the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[16]

Comparison with Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are the only two western-oriented international human rights organizations operating worldwide in most situations of severe oppression or abuse.[citation needed] The major differences lie in the groups’ structure 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 lobbies and writes detailed reports, but also focuses on mass letter-writing campaigns, adopting individuals as "prisoners of conscience" and lobbying for their release. Human Rights Watch will openly lobby for specific actions for other governments to take against human rights offenders, including naming specific individuals for arrest, or for sanctions to be levied against certain countries, recently calling for punitive sanctions against the top leaders in Sudan who have overseen a killing campaign in Darfur. The group has also called for human rights activists who have been detained in Sudan to be released.[17]

Its documentations of human rights abuses often include extensive analysis of the political and historical backgrounds of the conflicts concerned, some of which have been published in academic journals. AI's reports, on the other hand, tend to contain less analysis, and instead focus on specific abuses of rights.

In 2010 The Times of London wrote that HRW has "all but eclipsed" Amnesty International. According to The Times, instead of being supporting by 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, HRW tends to "concentrate too much on places that the media already cares about," especially in disproportionate coverage of Israel.[18][dead link]

Criticism

Main article: Criticism of Human Rights Watch

Criticism of Human Rights Watch may be classified into four major categories: accusations of poor research methods producing inaccurate reports, accusations of selection bias, accusations of ideological bias, and questions regarding their funding practices.[18][dead link]. In the second category, Human Rights Watch has been criticized for perceived biases that are anti-Sri Lanka,[19][20] anti-Israel,[21][22][23][24] and anti-Ethiopian government.[25] In 2008, Venezuela expelled the organization for its criticism.[26] In the third category, Human Rights Watch was accused of using anti-Israeli sentiment to elicit support while fund-raising in Saudi Arabia.[27][28]

Recent controversies

Robert L. Bernstein, a founder and former chairman of HRW, argued in October 2009 that "Human Rights Watch has lost critical perspective" on events in the Middle East.[29] Bernstein argued that "[t]he region is populated by authoritarian regimes with appalling human rights records. Yet in recent years Human Rights Watch has written far more condemnations of Israel for violations of international law than of any other country in the region."[29] Tom Porteus, director of the London branch of Human Rights Watch, replied that the organization rejected Bernstein's "obvious double standard. Any credible human rights organisation must apply the same human rights standards to all countries."[30]

Strong criticism against Human Rights Watch was caused by the Organization's declarations in favour of CIA illegal actions of Extraordinary rendition towards suspect terrorists. [31]

Human Rights Watch made headlines in September 2009 when its Middle East military analyst, Marc Garlasco who led investigations into Israeli wars in Lebanon and Gaza, was found posing on the internet dressed in a sweat shirt with a German Iron Cross. After pressure from the media HRW suspended Marc with pay pending an investigation. Several media reports highlighted his interest in World War II artifacts[32] and accused him of collecting Nazi memorabilia.[33][34] Garlasco has said that the allegations of Nazi sympathies were "defamatory nonsense, spread maliciously by people with an interest in trying to undermine Human Rights Watch's reporting."[32] HRW has said the charges leveled against Garlasco are "demonstrably false" and fit "into a campaign to deflect attention from Human Rights Watch's rigorous and detailed reporting on violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by the Israeli government".[35]

In February 2011, HRW appointed Shawan Jabarin to their Mideast Advisory Board. Jabarin is a very controversial figure, labeled "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by the Israeli Supreme Court, for his dual roles in both the terrorist organization PFLP, and the human rights organization, Al Haq. HRW’s decision to include Jabarin on its Mideast Board sparked criticism from Robert L. Bernstein, a founder of HRW, Stuart Robinowitz, a prominent New York attorney who has undertaken human-rights missions for the American Bar Association and Helsinki Watch (the predecessor to HRW) in Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and El Salvador, and Prof. Gerald Steinberg, the president of the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor.[36]

In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, February 24, 2011, weeks after the rebellion against the Libyan regime had intensified and Gaddafi began murdering his own citizens, Sarah Leah Whitson, head of the Middle East and North Africa division of HRW, belatedly reversed course from her earlier reporting, acknowledging the absence of human rights “reforms” in Libya. “With no progress on any institutional or legal reforms. For sure, most Libyans we spoke with never had much faith that Moammar Qaddafi would learn new tricks, or that the announced reforms were anything more than an endless loop of promises made and broken.”[37] Jeffrey Goldberg, writing in the Atlantic Monthly, takes Whitson to task for her having had "something of a soft spot" for Qaddafi and his son.[38]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  2. ^ a b c "Our History". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  3. ^ Hellman-Hammett Grants,Human Rights Watch
  4. ^ "Who We Are". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  5. ^ a b "Financial Statements. Year Ended June 30, 2008" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  6. ^ "Human Rights Watch Visit to Saudi Arabia". Human Rights Watch. 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  7. ^ "Financials". Human Rights Watch. 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  8. ^ "Sponsors". NGO Monitor. 2010-11-30. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  9. ^ Soros to give Human Rights Watch $100m. over 10 years
  10. ^ Colum Lynch (2010-09-12). "With $100 million Soros gift, Human Rights Watch looks to expand global reach". Washington Post. The donation, the largest single gift ever from the Hungarian-born investor and philanthropist, is premised on the belief that U.S. leadership on human rights has been diminished by a decade of harsh policies in the war on terrorism.
  11. ^ George Soros gives $100 million to Human Rights Watch (The Guardian, Sept. 7, 2010)
  12. ^ Human Rights Watch: Our People
  13. ^ "Publications". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  14. ^ "Previous World Reports". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  15. ^ Rwandan genocide report,Human Rights Watch
  16. ^ Congo report,Human Rights Watch
  17. ^ Human rights group says activists detained in Sudan
  18. ^ a b scandal engulfs Human Rights Watch The Sunday Times, March 28, 2010
  19. ^ Human Rights Watch hell-bent on attacking Sri Lankan government
  20. ^ Human Right Watch is now trying to block the IMF loan
  21. ^ Jonothan Foreman (2010-03-28). "Nazi scandal engulfs Human Rights Watch". London: Times Online.
  22. ^ Anti-Semitism in Europe: Fighting Back,Anti-Defamation League
  23. ^ NGO Monitor summary of Human Rights Watch
  24. ^ Minority Report: Human Rights Watch fights a civil war over Israel, Benjamin Birnbaum, The New Republic, April 27, 2010 [1]
  25. ^ "The government says Human Rights Watch got it Wrong. Really?", The Economist: 41, February 7, 2009
  26. ^ Reuters News. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  27. ^ Keinon, Herb. "Diplomacy: Israel vs. Human Rights Watch." Jerusalem Post. 18 July 2009. 18 July 2009.
  28. ^ Bernstein, David. "Human Rights Watch Goes to Saudi Arabia." The Wall Street Journal. 15 July 2009. 15 July 2009.
  29. ^ a b Bernstein, Robert L. (2009-10-19). "Rights Watchdog, Lost in the Mideast". The NY Times. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  30. ^ The Guardian: Credible approach on human rights
  31. ^ CIA Secret Rendition Policy Backed by Human Rights Groups?, The Huffington Post
  32. ^ a b Garlasco, Marc (2009-09-11). "Responding to Accusations". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  33. ^ Israelis See Clear Bias in Activist, New York Times, John Schwartz, September 14, 2009
  34. ^ Pilkington, Ed (2009-09-15). "Human Rights Watch investigator suspended over Nazi memorabilia". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
  35. ^ "Protecting Civilians: Military Expert Marc Garlasco". Human Rights Watch. 2009-09-10. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
  36. ^ HRW appoints alleged terrorist to Mideast Board
  37. ^ Libya: To oust a tyrant
  38. ^ Giving Qaddafi the Benefit of the Doubt
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