Human Rights Watch is an organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the rights and freedoms of people throughout the world. It investigates charges of human rights abuses and publishes dozens of reports every year based on its investigations. Human Rights Watch uses the media to draw attention to human rights problems and to pressure governments, armed groups, and corporations to stop abuse. Human Rights Watch is funded by private individuals and foundations and accepts no government contributions.
Human Rights Watch was founded in 1978 as Helsinki Watch. Its original purpose was to monitor compliance with the 1975 Helsinki Accords. In those agreements, the Soviet Union and other countries promised to respect the rights of their citizens. Helsinki Watch gradually widened its scope and in 1988 changed its name to Human Rights Watch. Today, the organization has eight divisions that focus on the following areas of concern: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, women’s rights, children’s rights, and the flow of weapons to rights violators.
Human Rights Watch has headquarters in New York City. It also maintains offices in Brussels, Belgium; London; Hong Kong, China; Moscow; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Washington, D.C.; and other cities.
See also Human rights .
