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Through examination of press and other documents, legal analysis, intensive
in-country interviews with government officials, nongovernmental actors,
and victims of human rights abuses, and a rigorous internal editing process,
Human Rights Watch (HRW) produces an annual report on human rights in roughly
70 countries. The Human Rights Watch annual report devotes only infrequent
attention to workers' rights, but it also occasionally conducts in-depth
country reports on labor rights issues. For example, recent studies
have dealt with child labor in U.S. agriculture, discrimination against
women in Guatemalan maquila factories, and freedom of association and child
labor in the banana industry in Ecuador (Human Rights Watch, 2000, 2002a,
and 2002b). These reports may be more valuable for thorough information
and analysis than HRW's annual report.
Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining
The coverage of freedom of association issues is not always consistent
and depends upon the priorities of the reporters.
Workers' rights are not addressed in the Chile report, for example,
because Pinochet-related prosecutions and treatment of journalists received
higher attention. Similarly, civil strife between the central government
and the Tamil separatists was highlighted in the Sri Lanka report, and
workers' rights are not mentioned. The report on Mexico, in contrast,
contained two revelatory paragraphs about significant violations of workers'
freedom of association. Reliance on the Human Rights Watch annual
report might therefore lead an outside observer to conclude correctly that
serious problems are present in Mexico, but incorrectly that serious problems
are absent in Chile and Sri Lanka.
From time to time, Human Rights Watch publishes a major country report
devoted to workers' rights, such a recent one on freedom of association
in the United States (Compa, 2000). In addition, the organization's
Corporations and Human Rights program issues occasional studies of corporations,
including their treatment of workers (Human Rights Watch, 1999a; Human
Rights Watch, 1999b).
Forced Labor
There are a variety of NGOs that address issues related to forced labor.
Reporting by these organizations can be sporadic, without detailed documentation,
and geared towards moving public opinion. Anti-Slavery International
and Human Rights Watch have good overall records on reporting.
Child Labor
The Children's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch has largely focused
its efforts on forced and bonded child labor. It has published several
reports on child labor in individual countries, as well as globally.
Its recent publications include Child Labor in Agriculture (2000b) and
a section on "Children's Rights: Child Labor" in its World Report
2002. Individual country reports include Small Change: Bonded
Child Labor in India's Silk Industry (2003), Child Labor in Egypt's Cotton
Fields (2001), Child Farm Workers in the U.S.A. (2000a), Bonded Child
Labor in India (1996), Trafficking in Nepali Girls and Women to India's
Brothels (1995b), Street Children and Child Soldiers in Sudan (1995a),
and Trafficking of Burmese Women and Girls into Thailand's Brothels (1993).
Literature cited:
Compa, L. (2000). Unfair advantage: Workers freedom
of association in the United States under international human rights standards.
Washington, DC: Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights Watch. (1993). Trafficking of Burmese women
and girls into Thailand's brothels. New York, NY: Author.
Human Rights Watch. (1995a). Street children and child soldiers
in Sudan. New York, NY: Author.
Human Rights Watch. (1995b). Trafficking in Nepali girls
and women to India's brothels. New York, NY: Author.
Human Rights Watch. (1996). Bonded child labor in India.
New York, NY: Author.
Human Rights Watch. (1999a). The Enron Corporation: Corporate
complicity in human rights violations. Washington, DC: Author.
Available: http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/enron/ [June 23,
2003].
Human Rights Watch. (1999b). The price of oil: Corporate
responsibility and human rights violations in Nigeria's oil producing communities.
Washington, DC: Author. Available: http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/nigeria/index.htm.[June
23, 2003].
Human Rights Watch. (2000a). Child farm workers in the U.S.A.
New York, NY: Author.
Human Rights Watch. (2000b). Child labor in agriculture.
New York, NY: Author.
Human Rights Watch. (2000). Fingers to the bone: United
States failure to protect child farmworkers. New York, NY:
Author. Available: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/frmwrkr/
[October 14, 2003.]
Human Rights Watch. (2001). Child labor in Egypt's cotton
fields. New York, NY: Author.
Human Rights Watch. (2002a). From the household to the factory:
Sex discrimination in the Guatemala labor force. New York, NY:
Author. Available: http://hrw.org/reports/2002/guat/ [October
14, 2003.]
Human Rights Watch. (2002b). Tainted harvest: Child labor
and obstacles to organizing on Ecuador's banana plantations. New
York, NY: Author. Available: http://hrw.org/reports/2002/ecuador/
[October 14, 2003.]
Human Rights Watch. (2003, January). Small change:
Bonded child labor in India's silk industry. New York, NY:
Author.
From National Research Council, 2004, Chapters 2, 4, 5, and 6.
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