NGO Watch®

AI Urges UN Scrutiny of UK Surveillance Bill

March 28, 2016

Amnesty International ("AI") has published an open letter to UN Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy Joseph Cannataci urging him to focus attention on and express his concerns about the proposed UK Investigatory Powers Bill, which AI argues provides for mass surveillance without adequate protections for requirements of individualized suspicion or for the right to privacy.
HRW: US Must Provide Attorneys to Migrant Children

March 23, 2016

Human Rights Watch ("HRW") has signed onto a brief in US federal court arguing that international human rights law requires the US government to appoint an attorney for every child in deportation proceedings in the country.
HRW: Australia Ignores "Inconvenient" Rights Obligations

March 02, 2016

In the context of Australia's campaign for an upcoming seat on the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch ("HRW") has called for the country's government to reevaluate a number of policies HRW argues violate its international human rights obligations, including sending asylum seekers offshore for processing.
NGOs Object to Replacement TTIP Tribunal

February 25, 2016

IP Watch reports that nongovernmental organizations have objected to European proposals to replace an investor-state dispute settlement ("ISDS") tribunal for companies to challenge government actions under the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership ("TTIP") with an "Investment Court System," which these groups say is simply an "ISDS zombie."
NGOs Recommend Broad Convention on Crimes Against Humanity

February 24, 2016

Writing to Professor Sean Murphy of the UN International Law Commission on his development of an international Convention on crimes against humanity, a group of nongovernmental organizations warn that such a Convention must include universal jurisdiction and an obligation for governments to try suspects of such crimes who are located in their territory.
NGOs Object to Proposed EU Counterterrorism Directive

February 24, 2016

A group of nongovernmental organizations have published their human rights-based objections to the European Commission's proposed Directive on Combating Terrorism, arguing in part that the directive contravenes European and other international human rights instruments and demanding that the EU perform a "human rights impact assessment" on the proposal.
NGOs Call for UN Human Rights Mechanism in Yemen

February 24, 2016

A group of nongovernmental organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have called on the UN Human Rights Council to establish an "international mechanism" to investigate alleged human rights violations committed by all parties to the ongoing armed conflict in Yemen and to facilitate "fair trials" of violators.
HRW: NATO's Migrant Mission Violates Human Rights Principles

February 24, 2016

While conceding that an operation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ("NATO") returning to Turkey migrants trying to enter Greece does not "technically" violate European human rights instruments, Human Rights Watch ("HRW") argues that the operation undercuts the basis of these instruments and demands that European countries provide a path of entry for migrants.
Paper Attacks ISDS Inclusion in Trade Agreements

February 24, 2016

A paper published by the Transnational Institute calls on countries to defend environmental interests by rejecting international trade deals that give "special rights" to foreign investors through investor-state dispute settlement ("ISDS") mechanisms, which permit the settlement of complaints from businesses seeking to protect their investments from government action.
NGOs: Aid Budgets Cannot Fund Defense, Refugees

February 17, 2016

In line with activist arguments that developed countries have a duty to fund the "economic, social, and cultural human rights" of persons in poor countries, a group of nongovernmental organizations have called on governments not to "divert" foreign aid budgets to security efforts and domestic refugee care.