Post 9/11 Human Rights Violations in the U.S. A talk by David Fathi, U.S. Program Director, Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch is one of the largest human rights organizations in the world and the largest one based in the United States. Its researchers investigate human rights abuses in over 80 countries and publish their findings annually. The extensive local and international media coverage helps to expose abusive governments both in the eyes of their own citizens and in the view of the world. Human Rights Watch then follows up by meeting with government officials, urging changes in policy and practice at the United Nations, the European Union, in Washington, and in capitals around the world.

In extreme circumstances Human Rights Watch presses for the withdrawal of military and economic support from governments that egregiously violate the rights of their people. In moments of crisis, Human Rights Watch provides up-to-the-minute information about conflicts. The organization’s accurate and independent reporting and its ability to exert pressure on abusive governments help shape the response of the international community to wars and outbreaks of violence worldwide.

David Fathi directs the U.S. Program at Human Rights Watch, which works to defend the rights of particularly vulnerable groups in the United States. HRW has published groundbreaking reports on various topics specific to this nation: counter-terrorism after September 11, treatment of non-citizens, life without parole for children, the death penalty, and racial discrimination.

Before joining Human Rights Watch, Mr. Fathi spent ten years as a staff lawyer with the ACLU National Prison Project. His specialty was challenging “supermax” prisons, where prisoners are held in near-total isolation for months or years at a time. Mr. Fathi is a graduate of the University of Washington and the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.