Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch(HRW) is a well known NGO that claims that "The hallmark and pride of Human Rights Watch is the even-handedness and accuracy of our reporting". This is not reflected in its agenda regarding Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict nor is it reflected in its agenda regarding India or Hinduism.

Human Rights Watch is a New York based NGO that is funded mostly by institutions, foundations, and large individual donors. While 75% of HRW’s funds come from America, their funders include rich members of the Saudi family who are linked with the Saudi Arabian government.

The NGO is known for bias as well as false reporting. For example, in 2006, HRW put out a report saying that Israel took potshots at Lebanese civilians waving white flags. Israel later produced documents and videotapes showing that the "civilians" waving white flags were Hezbollah soldiers launching missiles. But as of 2008 the report is still being cited in academic dissertations under headings like "8.1.1 Possible war crimes committed by Israel." Similarly, in the report “Compounding Injustice,” HRW state “Forensic evidence suggesting that the train was set on fire from the inside, and not by the Muslim mob outside, has not found its way into the investigation.” However, this is in direct conflict with eyewitness reports (pg. 14 of the Tewatia report).

A closer examination reveals extensive and systematic bias exists in HRW reports on human rights and communal violence in India. The most glaring defect of HRW reports is the lack of concern for the rights and lives of Hindus. Incidents of communal violence in which both Hindus and Muslims were involved in and share the blame for are portrayed as one-sided attacks by Hindus against “innocent minorities.” Human rights abuses against Hindus are ignored or downplayed compared to attacks against other religious groups. The 1999 report on attacks on Christians goes a step further as it demonstrates hostility to the Hindu religion itself. Rather than attempting to provide an objective assessment of communal violence and human rights practices in India, HRW's reports are written with the intent of waging political warfare against the BJP and the Sangh Parivar. HRW's reports on India are frequently filled with many distortions, half-truths, and outright false statements. The nature and the extent of bias are such that it is not the result of mere negligence, but systematic bias that reveals political motives.

Instead of spending time to research the contents of their reports and talking to the people involved, they often rely on news paper reports which are them-selves biased and often wrong. This is combined with information from people with questionable associations—ie John Dayal, a notorious Christian demagogue and Teesta Setalvad who cooked up incidents of killings and violence and falsely accused then Gujarat police chief P C Pandey of encouraging mob violence during the Gujarat Riots. She also coached 22 witnesses and had them submit identical affidavits before various courts relating to riot incidents according to the Special Investigation Team appointed by the Indian Supreme Court.

Due to the history of spreading poorly researched reports, biased opinions, and false accusations, reports by Human Rights Watch and its analysts cannot be trusted to bring a balanced portrayal of the state of Human Rights in India.

References:

“Compounding Injustice”, Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org/en/node/12314/section/6

Bahl, Arvin. “Politics By Other Means: An Analysis of Human Rights Watch Reports on India,” South Asian Analysis Group, http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers9%5Cpaper891.html

“World Report 1999,” Human Rights Watch, http://199.173.149.120/worldreport99/asia/india.html

Ceren, Omri. “Human Rights Watch Earns Their Saudi Pay, Publishes Another Thinly-Sourced Report Demonizing Israel”, http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275819.html

NGO-Monitor, “Human Rights Watch,” http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/human_rights_watch_hrw_

Human Rights Watch. “Politics by Other Means: Attacks on Christians in India”, 1999

Mahapatra, Dhananjay. “NGOs, Teesta spiced up Gujarat riot incidents: SIT,” Times of India, August 14,2009, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4396986.cms

Jha, Suman K. “SIT report on Teesta”, Indian Express, Aprili 23, 2009,

Mehta, Pratap Bhanu. “An Unconscionable Act,”, Indian Express, April 15, 2009, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/an-unconscionable-act/447301/

“Gujarat riots: SIT says Teesta's charges false,” IBNLive, April 14, 2009 http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gujarat-riots-sit-says-teestas-charges-false/90200-3.html