Criticism of Human Rights Watch

In 2023, Nabeel Rajab, a human rights activist from Bahrain and a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch's Middle East Division,{{Cite web |date=2015-05-11 |title=Middle East and North Africa Division |url=https://www.hrw.org/about/people/advisory-committee/middle-east-and-north-africa-division |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=Human Rights Watch |language=en}} faced accusations of corruption and bias due to his family ties to the controversial organization, Al Tajdeed Society.{{Cite web |title=لماذا كلّ هذا الغضب تجاه نبيل رجب؟! |url=https://www.annaharar.com/arabic/makalat/annahar-alarabi-authors/04102022035844706-amp |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=www.annaharar.com}} The society's chairman, Redha Rajab, is Nabeel's brother.{{Cite web |last=Northlines |date=2023-03-10 |title=International Outcry Against Prosecution Of Bahrain Religious Reformers - Northlines |url=https://thenorthlines.com/international-outcry-against-prosecution-of-bahrain-religious-reformers/ |access-date=2023-06-16 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2023-02-21 |title=Bahrain charges religious reformers for questioning Islam – Middle East Monitor |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230221-bahrain-charges-religious-reformers-for-questioning-islam/ |access-date=2023-06-16 |language=en-GB}} The accusations gained traction after Nabeel's nephew, Dr. Ali Rajab, a former member of the society, urged his uncle to lead an investigation to look into allegations that the society was a front for a cult and engaged in harassment and abusive practices.{{Cite web |title=Rattibha |url=https://en.rattibha.com/thread/1650824364395479040 |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=en.rattibha.com}}

Dr. Ali Rajab claimed that the "Alsafara Cult" was founded by Abdulwahab Albasri while serving his sentence at Jaw prison in the 1980s.{{Cite web |last=Dorsey |first=Dr James M. |date=2023-03-04 |title=Bahrain prosecutes religious reformers: traditionalists fight back |url=https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/03/04/bahrain-prosecutes-religious-reformers-traditionalists-fight-back/ |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=Modern Diplomacy |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Rattibha |url=https://en.rattibha.com/thread/1629788454560186369 |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=en.rattibha.com}} Former members of the cult, including Basema Qassab, supported these claims in her interviews, books{{Cite book |last=Qaṣṣāb |first=Bāsima al- |title=Ka-'llatī harabat bi-ʿainaihā: ǧamāʿat "al-Amr" wa-tašakkulāt aḏ-ḏāt al-muġallafa |date=2022 |publisher=Farādīs |isbn=978-99958-3-229-2 |edition=aṭ-Ṭabʿa al-ūlā |location=al-Manāma}} and expressed support for Dr. Ali.{{Cite web |last=القصاب |first=باسمة |date=2023-03-06 |title=باسمة القصاب تقر بمعاناة المنشقين عن الامر |url=https://twitter.com/bqassab/status/1632684878599733250?s=46&t=sWq-kBC67XWESJ3qttOkNA |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=Twitter |language=Ar}} As of June 16, 2023, Nabeel Rajab has not publicly addressed Dr. Ali's initiative.

Following the allegations, Bahrain's public prosecution and local authorities investigated and found evidence of systematic human rights abuses to control followers which were perpetrated by the society, including forced marriages and involuntary detention, leading to suicide attempts in some cases.{{Cite web |title=المحكمة الجنائية تصدر حكمها بحق متهمي جمعية التجديد |url=https://www.albiladpress.com/news/2023/5281/bahrain/801517.html |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=جريدة البلاد |language=ar}} On May 21, 2023, Redha Rajab, Nabeel's brother and AlTajdeed society chairman, was sentenced to prison.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-21 |title=تأييد الحبس لمدانان من أعضاء "جمعية التجديد" |url=https://alwatannews.net/Bahrain/article/1066580/تأييد-الحبس-لمدانان-من-أعضاء-جمعية-التجديد |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=Watan |language=Arabic}}

These events sparked outrage and raised concerns about Nabeel's involvement and motives with the society and its practices, according to various news outlets. There were public inquiries into the influence of the AlTajdeed society on Nabeel Rajab through his family connections. It emerged that Rajab's son, Adam, was married to the daughter of Hasan Mohamedi, a member of AlTajdeed society, who had publicly sexually harassed Dr. Ali Rajab on X (formerly Twitter).{{Cite web |date=2023-05-02 |title=عضو جمعية التجديد حسن محمدي يتعرض للدكتور علي رجب بكلمات بها ايحاءات جنسية خادشة للحياء باللغة |url=https://twitter.com/almonjed96/status/1653489827696787460?s=46&t=sWq-kBC67XWESJ3qttOkNA |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=Twitter |language=Ar}} Nabeel Rajab was accused of leveraging his influence in human rights organizations to support AlTajdeed and ignore allegations of human rights violations by the group and his nephew's request to investigate the “Cult” without addressing them.{{Cite web |last=خليفة |first=ريم |date=2023-06-12 |title=حول سنوات السجن والكتابة وحقوق الإنسان.. حوار مع نبيل رجب |url=https://muwatin-vpn.net/46998/%d8%ad%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d9%85%d8%b9-%d9%86%d8%a8%d9%8a%d9%84-%d8%b1%d8%ac%d8%a8 |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=مواطن |language=ar}}

In a June 12, 2023 interview published on Muwatin, Nabeel Rajab revealed that during his imprisonment, he shared a cell with ISIS prisoners and maintained good relations with them even after his release. This revelation has further fueled the controversy surrounding his ties with Al-Tajdeed (Alsafara Cult) and ignoring his nephew's initiative to conduct an impartial investigation into the Cult's practices while maintaining good relations with extremists convicted for terrorism charges. Human Rights Watch released a statement defending AlTajdeed's right for freedom of speech without any mention of the human rights violation allegations stated by Dr. Ali Rajab and the cult aspect, which was supported by multiple former members.{{Cite web |date=2023-02-28 |title=Bahrain: 3 On Trial for Religious Dialogue |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/02/28/bahrain-3-trial-religious-dialogue |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=Human Rights Watch |language=en}} In contrast, other organizations such as Amnesty International took a non-biased approach, releasing a statement expressing grave concern over the group's mistreatment of its members while also condemning the state's prosecution of people for their opinions, beliefs, and statements.{{Cite web |last=Bahrain |first=Amnesty |date=2023-03-03 |title=Amnesty statement on Altajdeed prosecution |url=https://twitter.com/aibahrain/status/1631683730996703239?s=46&t=sWq-kBC67XWESJ3qttOkNA |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=Twitter |language=Ar}}

In May 2014 an open letter was published criticising Human Rights Watch for what were described as its close ties to the government of the United States. The letter was signed by Nobel Peace Laureates Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Mairead Corrigan, former UN Assistant Secretary-General Hans von Sponeck, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Richard A. Falk, and over 100 scholars and cultural figures. The letter highlighted a number of Human Rights Watch officials who had been involved in foreign policy roles in the US government, including Washington advocacy director Tom Malinowski, formerly a speechwriter for Madeleine Albright and a special adviser to Bill Clinton, and subsequently Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor to John Kerry, and HRW Americas advisory committee members Myles Frechette (a former United States Ambassador to Colombia) and Michael Shifter (former Latin America director for the US government-funded National Endowment for Democracy). The letter contrasted HRW's criticism of Venezuela's candidacy for the United Nations Human Rights Council in a letter to Hugo Chávez to the lack of censure regarding the United States' tenure as a member of the council, despite the US government's use of a "kill list" for designated enemies, ongoing usage of extraordinary renditions and the continued detention of combatants at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The signatories called on Human Rights Watch to ban those involved in formulating or carrying out US foreign policy from serving as members of the organisation's staff, advisers or board members, or as a "bare minimum", instituting lengthy cooling-off periods between spells working for HRW and in the service of US foreign policy.{{cite web |url=http://www.alternet.org/world/nobel-peace-laureates-human-rights-watch-close-your-revolving-door-us-government?paging=off |title=Nobel Peace Laureates to Human Rights Watch: Close Your Revolving Door to U.S. Government |author= |date=12 May 2014 |website=AlterNet |access-date=10 December 2016 |archive-date=5 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105214850/https://www.alternet.org/world/nobel-peace-laureates-human-rights-watch-close-your-revolving-door-us-government?paging=off |url-status=dead }}

Left-wing academic and labour organizer Immanuel Ness writes that HRW rarely criticizes human rights abuses by the United States and its allies, and almost always reaches conclusions consistent with Western foreign policy positions.{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1345216431 |title=Sanctions as War: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-Economic Strategy |date=2023 |publisher= Haymarket Books|isbn=978-1-64259-812-4 |location= |pages=92–94 |oclc=1345216431 |last1=Davis |first1=Stuart }}

Robert Naiman, policy director of Just Foreign Policy, wrote that HRW is "often heavily influenced" by United States foreign policy.{{cite news|last=Naiman |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Naiman (activist) |title=Latin America Scholars Urge Human Rights Watch to Speak Up on Honduras Coup |publisher=Huffington Post |date=21 August 2009 |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/latin-america-scholars-ur_b_265282.html |access-date=22 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112212131/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/latin-america-scholars-ur_b_265282.html |archive-date=12 November 2012 |url-status=live }}

Human Rights Watch work in Venezuela became controversial in September 2008, when the country's government expelled two HRW staff members accused of "anti-state activities".{{cite web|author=Kenneth Roth |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/09/19/venezuela-human-rights-watch-delegation-expelled |title=Venezuela: Human Rights Watch Delegation Expelled |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=19 September 2008 |access-date=24 February 2015}} Then Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro said, "These groups, dressed up as human rights defenders, are financed by the United States. They are aligned with a policy of attacking countries that are building new economic models."{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1948835520080919 |title=Venezuela expels U.S. rights group for criticism |publisher=Reuters |date=19 September 2008 |access-date=24 February 2015 |first=Saul |last=Hudson}} The report highlights the discrimination of Chávez administration against political opponents and freedom of expression. According to one of the expelled members, the decision of the Venezuelan government was against Venezuelan law.

After HRW published a report (A Decade Under Chávez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in Venezuela){{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/node/64174/section/1 |title=A Decade Under Chávez|publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=22 September 2008 |access-date=24 February 2015}} documenting Chavez government abuses, 118 scholars, activists and film-makers from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, the US, the UK, Venezuela and other countries signed a letter, written by US academics Miguel Tinker Salas, Gregory Wilpert and Greg Grandin, criticizing the organization for a perceived bias against the government of Venezuela. The open letter criticized the report, saying that it "does not meet even the most minimal standards of scholarship, impartiality, accuracy, or credibility."{{cite web|url=http://www.coha.org/taking-human-rights-watch-to-task/ |title=Taking Human Rights Watch to Task on the Question of Venezuela's Purported Abuse of Human Rights: Over 100 U.S. and Foreign Scholars Take Issue with the head of HRW's Latin American Division |publisher=Coha.org |date=18 December 2008 |access-date=24 February 2015}} HRW director Kenneth Roth responded that the letter misrepresents "both the substance and the source material of the report".{{cite web|url=https://nacla.org/node/5369 |title=Human Rights Watch Responds to Criticism of Venezuela Report | North American Congress on Latin America |publisher=North American Congress on Latin America |date=5 January 2009 |access-date=28 January 2013}} Around the same time, Irish journalist Hugh O'Shaughnessy accused HRW of using false and misleading information, saying that the report was "put together with [a] sort of know-nothing Washington bias."{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/south-america/2008/09/hrw-report-chavez-venezuela |title=HRW v Chavez |publisher=New Statesman |date=26 September 2008 |access-date=24 February 2015}} Tom Porteous, Human Rights Watch's London director, said that O'Shaughnessy " ... not only fails to provide any evidence for these allegations", but " ... more seriously, he misrepresents HRW's positions in his apparent determination to undermine our well earned international reputation for accuracy and impartiality."{{cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/human-rights/2008/09/hrw-chavez-shaughnessy |title=HRW v Chavez II |publisher=Newstatesman.com |date=30 September 2008 |access-date=24 February 2015}}

On 21 August 2009, 93 academics and authors from the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Colombia and other countries published an open letter criticizing HRW's "absence of statements and reports" on human-rights violations in Honduras after 8 July 2009, following the 28 June coup d'état.{{cite web|last=Grandin |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Grandin |author2=Adrienne Pine |title=Over 90 Experts Call on Human Rights Watch to Speak Out on Honduras Abuses |publisher=Common Dreams |date=22 August 2009 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/08/21 |access-date=22 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829195013/http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/08/21 |archive-date=29 August 2009 |url-status=live }} According to its authors, after 8 July HRW had not "raised the alarm over the extra-judicial killings, arbitrary detentions, physical assaults, and attacks on the press - many of which have been thoroughly documented - that have occurred in Honduras, in most cases by the coup regime against the supporters of the democratic and constitutional government of Manuel Zelaya"; they asked HRW to make a strong statement against the human-rights violations and conduct its own investigation. The letter's signers said that the Obama administration was supporting the de facto Roberto Micheletti government by providing "aid money through the Millennium Challenge Account and other sources", training Honduran military students at the School of the Americas and ignoring Honduras' human-rights situation. Four days later, HRW published{{cite web|author=Human Rights Watch |title=Honduras: Rights Report Shows Need for Increased International Pressure |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=25 August 2009 |access-date=28 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828022918/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/25/honduras-rights-report-shows-need-increased-international-pressure |archive-date=28 August 2009 |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/25/honduras-rights-report-shows-need-increased-international-pressure |url-status=dead }} a summary of the preliminary version of a Honduran human-rights report by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) published on 21 August{{cite web|title=Preliminary Observations on the IACHR Visit to Honduras |publisher=Inter-American Court of Human Rights |date=21 August 2009 |url=http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2009/60-09eng.Preliminary.Observations.htm |access-date=26 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830232144/http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2009/60-09eng.Preliminary.Observations.htm |archive-date=30 August 2009 |url-status=live }} and cited its earlier reports (published until 8 July): "Given the scope of alleged abuses, and the region's history of bloody coups leading to massive violations, human rights advocates believed the situation warranted the direct intervention of the region's most authoritative human rights investigative body, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights."

The organization has also been accused of ignoring anti-Semitism or being anti-Semitic itself. In a 2005 speech to the Anti-Defamation League former Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said, "NGOs like Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International pay little attention to anti-Semitism."{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/Anti_semitism/speech_palacio.asp |title=Anti-Semitism in Europe: Fighting Back |publisher=Adl.org |access-date=24 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007004059/http://www.adl.org/Anti_semitism/speech_palacio.asp |archive-date=7 October 2012 |url-status=dead }} The ADL has also said, "While Human Rights Watch acknowledged in a May 3 report that there was no evidence of a massacre [in Jenin] and that Palestinian gunmen had contributed to endangering Palestinian civilians, they continued to emphasize that there was prima facie evidence Israel committed war crimes."{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/israel/jenin/default.asp |title=Anatomy of Anti-Israel Incitement: Jenin, World Opinion and the Massacre That Wasn't |publisher=Adl.org |access-date=28 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017120456/http://www.adl.org/Israel/jenin/default.asp |archive-date=17 October 2012 |url-status=dead }} In The New York Sun, ADL national director Abraham Foxman criticized Roth's use of "a classic anti-Semitic stereotype about Jews".{{cite web|url=https://www.nysun.com/article/opinion-no-accident/ |title=No Accident - The New York Sun |publisher=Nysun.com |date=2 August 2006 |access-date=28 January 2013}} In 2012, New Europe said that HRW "allegedly erased references in its reports to its previous cooperation with the Gaddafi regime, including the role of the organization's MENA Director, Sarah Leah Whitson, in marketing Saif al-Islam Gaddafi as a reformer."{{cite web |url=http://www.neurope.eu/article/human-rights-watch-slammed-over-anti-israeli-and-pro-gaddafi-reports |title=Human Rights Watch slammed over anti-Israeli and pro-Gaddafi reports |publisher=Neurope.eu |date=9 January 2012 |access-date=28 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504104543/http://www.neurope.eu/article/human-rights-watch-slammed-over-anti-israeli-and-pro-gaddafi-reports |archive-date=4 May 2013 |url-status=dead }}

{{Further|Arab–Israeli conflict}}

HRW has been accused of bias against Israel{{cite news|last1=Friedman|first1=Matti|title=What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/11/how-the-media-makes-the-israel-story/383262/3/|access-date=10 December 2014|publisher=The Atlantic|date=30 November 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Pollak|first1=Noah|title=Double Standards and Human Rights Watch: The organization displays a strong bias against Israel|url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204619004574318344040299638|access-date=11 August 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=30 July 2009}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-levy/the-swiftboating-of-human_b_241634.html|title=The "Swiftboating" of Human Rights Watch|last=Levy|first=Daniel|date=20 July 2009|work=The Huffington Post|access-date=19 August 2009}}

and having an anti-Israeli agenda.{{Cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Features/Front-Lines/Diplomacy-Israel-vs-Human-Rights-Watch|title=Diplomacy: Israel vs. Human Rights Watch|last=Keinon|first=Herb|date=16 July 2009|work=The Jerusalem Post

|access-date=10 August 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Lazaroff|first1=Tovah|title=PM attacks 'hypocritical' human rights organizations|url=http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/PM-attacks-hypocritical-human-rights-organizations|access-date=11 August 2014|work=Jerusalem Post|date=19 December 2010}}

Robert Bernstein wrote that by focusing on Israel and neglecting human rights violations by less free states in the Middle East that HRW had cast "aside its important distinction between open and closed societies."{{Cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Robert L. |date=19 October 2009 |title=Rights Watchdog, Lost in the Mideast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/opinion/20bernstein.html?_r=1&em |access-date=20 October 2009 |publisher=The NY Times}} In response, Aryeh Neier HRW co-founder and former executive director said, it "is wrong to suggest that open societies should be spared criticism for human rights abuses". Neier also said that Robert Bernstein's distinction between "wrongs committed in self-defense and those committed intentionally" is not made by the laws of war and is dangerous. "On such grounds, groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq" (which "murdered tens of thousands of civilians after" the 2003 American invasion) could justify their crimes.{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aryeh-neier/human-rights-watch-should_b_342680.html |title=Huffington Post: Human Rights Watch Should Not Be Criticized for Doing Its Job |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=2 November 2009 |access-date=28 January 2013 |first=Aryeh |last=Neier}}

Writing in the Wall Street Journal in 2009 about a controversial fundraising event that HRW held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Noah Pollak stated that the organization displayed a strong bias against Israel. Pollak observed that from 2006 to 2009 Human Rights Watch's reports on the Israeli-Arab conflict had been almost entirely devoted to condemning Israel (87 criticisms of Israeli conduct against the Palestinians and Hezbollah, versus eight criticisms of Palestinian groups and four of Hezbollah for attacks on Israel).{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204619004574318344040299638 |title=WSJ: Pollak: Human Rights Watch is Biased Against Israel - |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=30 July 2009 |access-date=10 August 2020 |first=N. |last=Pollak}}

For a Jerusalem Post article, Natan Sharansky said: "Here is an organization created by the goodwill of the free world to fight violations of human rights, which has become a tool in the hands of dictatorial regimes to fight against democracies ... It is time to call a spade a spade. The real activity of this organization today is a far cry from what it was set up 30 years ago to do: throw light in dark places where there is really no other way to find out what is happening regarding human rights." HRW executive director Kenneth Roth responded that "Israel accounts for about 15 percent of our published output on the region" and "our war coverage in the region has documented violations by all sides". According to Roth, "By failing to hold those responsible to account, Israel increases anger and resentment among the Palestinian population and in the wider Arab world and undercuts moderates who wish to pursue peace."{{cite web|last=Roth |first=Kenneth |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1123838.html |title=Haaretz: Human Rights Watch applies same standards to Israel, Hamas |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=27 October 2009 |access-date=28 January 2013}} Time Mideast correspondent Scott MacLeod wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Israeli policy cannot be shielded from a group like Human Rights Watch.{{Cite web |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-maccleod30-2009oct30,0,1700643.stor |title=Sneak attack on Human Rights Watch - Los Angeles Times |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=1 November 2009 |archive-date=2 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002165523/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-oct-30-oe-maccleod30-story.html |url-status=dead }}

In a November 2012 The Wall Street Journal article, David Feith said that there has been "bitter debate" within HRW about whether Iran's alleged call for annihilation of Israel is a violation of human rights. HRW vice-chair Sid Sheinberg wrote in an internal email that doing nothing while Ahmadinejad wants to "kill Jews and annihilate Israel ... is a position unworthy of our great organization." According to Kenneth Roth, "Tehran isn't inciting genocide and claims to the contrary are part of an effort to beat the war drums against Iran."{{cite news|last=Feith |first=David |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324439804578105691046734674 |title=David Feith: Dancing Around Genocide - WSJ |publisher=Online.wsj.com |date=4 December 2012 |access-date=24 February 2015}}

In an analysis published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Ron Kampeas criticized HRW reports: "Reconstructions of the horrific death of civilians replete with painstakingly gathered evidence are coupled with bewildering omissions of context and blended into a package that assumes an inherent Israeli immorality" and denounced "efforts to turn criticism of individual officers and soldiers into a wholesale indictment of Israel's military establishment and the decision to resort to military force."{{cite web|last=Kampeas |first=Ron |url=http://jta.org/news/article/2009/08/20/1007367/facts-fiction-and-fury-in-the-battle-of-human-rights-groups-vs-israel |title=Facts, fiction and fury in the battle of human rights groups vs. Israel | Jewish Telegraphic Agency |publisher=Jta.org |date=20 August 2009 |access-date=24 February 2015}} According to Kampeas, HRW reports on the 2009 fighting in Gaza "fail to assess evidence — including videos of Israeli forces holding their fire because of the presence of civilians — that Israel has provided to show that such incidents were the exception to the rule; they fail to examine what measures Israel has taken to prevent civilian deaths, which would be pertinent in examining any claim of war crimes."

In October 2009, Robert Bernstein criticized the organization's policy in the Middle East in a New York Times op-ed. According to Bernstein, "With increasing frequency, [HRW] casts aside its important distinction between open and closed societies ... The region is populated by authoritarian regimes with appalling human rights records. Yet in recent years Human Rights Watch has written far more condemnations of Israel for violations of international law than of any other country in the region." HRW London branch director Tom Porteus replied that the organization rejected Bernstein's "obvious double standard. Any credible human rights organization must apply the same human rights standards to all countries."{{cite news |date=30 October 2009 |title=Credible approach on human rights |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/30/human-rights-watch-ngo-monitor |access-date=28 January 2013 |work=The Guardian |location=London}} Jane Olson and Jonathan Fanton wrote in a letter to The New York Times, "We were saddened to see Robert L. Bernstein argue that Israel should be judged by a different human rights standard than the rest of the world ... As long as open societies commit human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch has a vital role to play in documenting those violations and advocating to bring them to an end."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/opinion/l21israel.html|title=Crossfire: A Rights Group and Israel|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=24 February 2015|date=20 October 2009}} According to the organization, in April 2009 Bernstein brought his concerns to the HRW board of directors; the board unanimously rejected his view that Human Rights Watch should report only on closed societies, expressing its full support for the organization's work.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/20/why-we-report-open-societies |title=Human Rights Watch: Why We Report on 'Open' Societies |publisher=Hrw.org |date=20 October 2009 |access-date=28 January 2013}}

The New Republic published a lengthy article about HRW in April 2010, criticizing the organization for "giving disproportionate attention to Israeli misdeeds."{{cite magazine|last=Birnbaum |first=Ben |url=http://www.tnr.com/article/minority-report-2?page=0,0 |title=Minority Report | The New Republic |magazine=The New Republic |publisher=Tnr.com |date=27 April 2010 |access-date=24 February 2015}} "Robert James—a businessman, World War II veteran, and member of the MENA [Middle East and North Africa Desk of HRW] advisory committee who has been involved with HRW almost since its inception—calls the group 'the greatest NGO since the Red Cross'," but argues that it is chronically incapable of introspection. 'Bob [Bernstein, founder and former chair of HRW] is bringing this issue up on Israel', he says. 'But Human Rights Watch has a more basic problem ... They cannot take criticism'." According to the magazine (referring to Bernstein's The New York Times op-ed), "Yet, as difficult as it was to go public, Bernstein does not believe that Human Rights Watch left him with much choice. 'They think they've heard me out,' he says. 'You see, they think they've listened to me until they can't listen anymore. Actually, they haven't listened at all'." In November 2010 Bernstein delivered the Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Lecture on Human Rights at the University of Nebraska at Omaha,{{cite web|url=http://www.unomaha.edu/religion/goldstein.home.htm |title=The Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Lecture on Human Rights at the University of Nebraska |publisher=Unomaha.edu |access-date=2013-01-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716210947/http://www.unomaha.edu/religion/goldstein.home.htm |archive-date=2012-07-16 }} accusing HRW of "fault[ing] Israel as the principal offender" in the Israel–Palestine conflict and suggesting that human-rights groups were responsible for polarizing university campuses.

In her The Washington Post blog, Jennifer Rubin described HRW as "an anti-Israel group masquerading as one devoted to human rights".{{cite news|last=Rubin |first=Jennifer |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-turn/2010/12/morning_bits_16.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011093126/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-turn/2010/12/morning_bits_16.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 October 2012 |title=Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post, Morning Bits |publisher=Voices.washingtonpost.com |date=21 December 2010 |access-date=28 January 2013}} Orlando Radice said about his interview with Kenneth Roth for The Jewish Chronicle, "This was less of an interview than an exercise in denial, obfuscation and plain old censorship."{{cite web|url=http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/analysis/102268/censorship-never-human-rights-watch |title=Censorship? Never, this is Human Rights Watch | The Jewish Chronicle |publisher=Thejc.com |date=8 February 2013 |access-date=24 February 2015}}

In an email on her last day at HRW, Danielle Haas, a departing senior editor, accused the organization of politicizing its work on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. She expressed concern about HRW's responses to the Hamas massacres in Israel on October 7, stating that "years of institutional creep culminated in organizational responses that shattered professionalism, abandoned principles of accuracy and fairness, and surrendered its duty to stand for the human rights of all."{{cite news| date = 16 November 2023| title = Outgoing Human Rights Watch senior editor blasts group's 'infected' work on Israel| url = https://www.timesofisrael.com/outgoing-human-rights-watch-senior-editor-blasts-groups-infected-work-on-israel/| location = Times of Israel| access-date = 3 December 2023}}

Senior HRW investigator Marc Garlasco has been criticized for collecting Nazi memorabilia,{{cite news|last1=Pilkington|first1=Ed|title=Human Rights Watch investigator accused of collecting Nazi memorabilia|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/10/human-rights-watch-israel-nazi|access-date=11 August 2014|work=The Guardian|date=10 September 2009}} and Emma Daly confirmed without elaboration in March 2010 that Garlasco had resigned from Human Rights Watch the previous month. Garlasco, who wrote a book about Nazi-era medals, posted on a collector website: "That is so cool! The leather SS jacket makes my blood go cold it is so COOL!"{{cite news|last=Blomfield |first=Adrian |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/6194158/Human-Rights-Watch-suspends-researcher-who-collected-Nazi-memorabilia.html |title=Human Rights Watch suspends researcher who collected Nazi memorabilia |publisher=Telegraph |date=15 September 2009 |access-date=24 February 2015 |location=London}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/world/middleeast/15nazi.html?em|title=Rights Group Assailed for Analyst's Nazi Collection|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=24 February 2015|first=John|last=Schwartz|date=14 September 2009}}[https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gN0ozL3Zpc5Wv8369sfOpffXmA6Q] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002081517/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gN0ozL3Zpc5Wv8369sfOpffXmA6Q|date=2 October 2009}}{{cite news|last1=Pilkington|first1=Ed|title=Human Rights Watch investigator suspended over Nazi memorabilia|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/15/human-rights-watch-nazi-israel|access-date=11 August 2014|work=The Guardian|date=15 September 2009}} Ron Dermer, then Benjamin Netanyahu's policy director, said about Garlasco: "A war crimes investigator who is an avid collector and trader in Nazi memorabilia is perhaps a new low."{{cite web|last=Keinon |first=Herb |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/HRW-expert-collects-Nazi-memorabilia |title='HRW expert collects Nazi memorabilia' - Israel - Jerusalem Post |publisher=Jpost.com |date= 9 September 2009|access-date=24 February 2015}} HRW issued a rebuttal, saying that the "accusation is demonstrably false and fits into a campaign to deflect attention from Human Rights Watch's rigorous and detailed reporting on violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by the Israeli government" and Garlasco "has never held or expressed Nazi or anti-Semitic views."

Helena Cobban (a fellow analyst on the Human Rights Watch Middle East advisory board) said that Garlasco engaged with "people who clearly do seem to be Nazi sympathizers," which she called "extremely disturbing".

According to the organization Garlasco "covered Iraq as a senior intelligence analyst at the Pentagon",[https://www.hrw.org/en/bios/marc-garlasco] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905212531/http://www.hrw.org/en/bios/marc-garlasco|date=5 September 2009}} and The Guardian reported that he served in this role for seven years. He was chief of high-value targeting during the Iraq war in 2003, on the Operation Desert Fox (Iraq) Battle Damage Assessment team in 1998 and led a Pentagon Battle Damage Assessment team to Kosovo in 1999. Garlasco also participated in over 50 interrogations as a subject-matter expert.{{cite news| url=http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/marc_garlasco/profile.html | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=Marc Garlasco | date=22 February 2012}}

In a piece for The National, Alan Philps wrote that "the Netanyahu government and its supporters have set out to destroy the credibility of the UN Human Rights Council and all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the human rights field ... The aim is clearly to de-legitimize the organization at a time when its rights-based analysis coincides with some of the views of the US president Barack Obama."{{cite web |author=- Monday |url=http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090918/OPINION/709179888/1080/NEWS |title=The National: Israeli defense depends on attacking the messenger |publisher=Thenational.ae |date=13 December 2012 |access-date=28 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226022600/http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20090918%2FOPINION%2F709179888%2F1080%2FNEWS |archive-date=26 February 2014 }}

According to Christian Science Monitor staff writer Robert Marquand, a U.N. report by "jurist Richard Goldstone, head of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, chief prosecutor for the Yugoslav war-crimes tribunal" showed illegal white-phosphorus use consistent with Garlasco's eyewitness testimony provided to the Monitor. Marquand wrote that it was "not okay ... to use Garlasco to distract from or obfuscate findings that war crimes and crimes against humanity may have taken place in Gaza".{{cite web|url=http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/09/17/gaza-war-analyst-does-his-nazi-era-collection-indicate-bias/ |title=Christian Science Monitor: Gaza war analyst: Does his Nazi-era collection indicate bias? |publisher=Features.csmonitor.com |date=17 September 2009 |access-date=28 January 2013}}

On 7 September 2010, it was announced that George Soros planned to donate $100 million to Human Rights Watch.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/09/07/global-challenge |title=George Soros to Give $100 million to Human Rights Watch | Human Rights Watch |publisher=Hrw.org |date=7 September 2010 |access-date=24 February 2015}}

Journalists have criticized Human Rights Watch for requesting, encouraging or accepting financial donations in Saudi Arabia and for its fundraising methods. Critics charge that these methods include descriptions of HRW "battles" and arguments with Israel and its supporters. According to The Jerusalem Post columnist Herb Keinon and Jeffrey Goldberg, a correspondent for The Atlantic and former JP columnist, this compromises HRW's integrity. In an email exchange, Goldberg asked Kenneth Roth if funds were raised to fight pro-Israel lobbying groups. Roth answered: "The Saudis obviously are aware of the systematic attacks on us by various reflexive defenders of Israel. Everyone is", adding that these complaints are common in "discussions" during fundraisers and not exclusive to Saudi Arabia.{{cite web|url=http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/07/fundraising_corruption_at_huma.php |title=Fundraising Corruption at Human Rights Watch - Jeffrey Goldberg - The Atlantic |date=15 July 2009 |publisher=Jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com |access-date=28 January 2013}}

David Bernstein of the George Mason University School of Law wrote that something is "wrong when a human rights organization goes to one of the worst countries in the world for human rights to raise money to wage lawfare against Israel",{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124528343805525561 |title=Human Rights Watch Goes to Saudi Arabia - WSJ |publisher=Online.wsj.com |date=15 July 2009 |access-date=24 February 2015 |first=David |last=Bernstein}} although Inter Press Service later said that he apologized for suggesting that HRW did not also discuss Saudi human-rights abuses during the meetings.

According to Human Rights Watch, allegations that HRW had "compromised its neutrality" by meeting with Saudi donors were based on "misleading assumptions and wrong facts". HRW noted that staffers made two May 2009 presentations in private Saudi homes to people interested in the organization. Among an estimated 50 guests at a Riyadh reception, three had governmental affiliations: "the spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior; the deputy head of the Human Rights Commission, a governmental organization; and a member of the Shura Council, a government-appointed consultative body."{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/node/84956 |title=Visit to Saudi Arabia and False Allegations of Human Rights Watch 'Bias' | Human Rights Watch |publisher=Hrw.org |date= |access-date=24 February 2015 |archive-date=15 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315205544/http://www.hrw.org/en/node/84956 |url-status=dead }} According to HRW, none of those individuals were solicited for funds; HRW never accepts funds from government officials in any country,{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/node/84512 |title=Human Rights Watch Visit to Saudi Arabia |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=4 December 2016 |archive-date=22 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722190606/http://www.hrw.org/en/node/84512 |url-status=dead }} and there is no reason why Saudi citizens cannot legitimately want to support human rights.

HRW told Inter Press Service that the idea "that any money from Saudi Arabia is tainted because it comes from a country with a totalitarian ruling regime is a gross generalization ... The ethnic background of our donors is irrelevant to the work we do ... It's not relevant to our work in Israel that many, many of our donors are Jewish. And it's not relevant for the work that we do that we get money from Arab countries".{{Cite news|url=http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47685 |title=U.S.-Based Leading Rights Group Denies Improprieties |last=Gharib |first=Ali |date=6 July 2009 |publisher=Inter Press Service |access-date=12 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902102146/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47685 |archive-date=2 September 2009 }} According to the organization its work in Saudi Arabia, including "coverage of women's rights, the juvenile death penalty, domestic workers, and discrimination against religious minorities", was discussed at the receptions. HRW also said, "No other human rights group has produced a more comprehensive, detailed, and thorough body of work on Saudi Arabian human rights issues in recent years than Human Rights Watch". Although the Gaza situation was covered, HRW claimed that the coverage was justified since the Gaza war dominated worldwide headlines and is a regional issue in Saudi Arabia. Criticism of HRW as anti-Israel was juxtaposed against the accusations HRW faces in much of the Middle East that HRW is soft on Israeli human-rights violations.

In 2008, HRW issued one multi-country and five single-country reports criticizing the Saudi Arabian government.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/publications/reports|title=Human Rights Watch - Reports|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=31 August 2009}} In August 2009 the organization issued a report, "Human Rights and Saudi Arabia's Counterterrorism Response: Religious Counseling, Indefinite Detention, and Flawed Trials", criticizing the Saudi Arabian government's counterterrorism program.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/04/saudi-arabia-counterterrorism-efforts-violate-rights|title=Saudi Arabia: Counterterrorism Efforts Violate Rights|date=10 August 2009|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=31 August 2009}}

In 2023 MEMRI published a leaked Quatari document mentioning US$3 million donation to HRW in 2018.{{Cite web |last=i24NEWS |date=2023-11-23 |title=Human Rights Watch under fire for allegedly accepting millions in Qatar funds |url=https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/1700763578-human-rights-watch-under-fire-for-allegedly-accepting-millions-in-qatar-funds |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=I24news |language=en}}

In February 2011, HRW appointed Shawan Jabarin to their Mideast Advisory Board. Jabarin has been called "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by the Israeli Supreme Court for his roles in the militant Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the human-rights organization Al Haq. HRW's decision to include Jabarin on its Mideast Board evoked criticism.{{cite news |last1=Schanzer |first1=Jonathan |last2=May |first2=David |title=Why has Human Rights Watch become an anti-Israel activist group? |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/why-has-human-rights-watch-become-an-anti-israel-activist-group |access-date=5 February 2019 |publisher=Washington Examiner |date=4 February 2019}}

HRW program director Iain Levine said in August 2009, "If the Israeli government wants to silence critics, it should fully investigate allegations of wrongdoing and take action to end the abuses."{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/14/false-allegations-about-human-rights-watch-s-latest-gaza-report|title=False Allegations about Human Rights Watch's Latest Gaza Report|date=14 August 2009|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=17 August 2009|archive-date=17 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817232517/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/14/false-allegations-about-human-rights-watch-s-latest-gaza-report|url-status=dead}} In a Jerusalem Post op-ed piece that month, Kenneth Roth wrote that reports of recent Israeli human-rights violations had "given rise to an intense campaign by the Israeli government and some of its uncritical supporters to smear the messengers and change the subject." According to Roth, the "problem is not the messenger carrying news of that misconduct, whether Judge Goldstone or the human rights groups that have been the target of a disinformation campaign launched by the Israeli government and some supporters. The problem is the conduct of the Israeli military."{{cite web|last=Roth |first=Kenneth |url=http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Right-of-Reply-Dont-smear-the-messenger |title=Right of Reply: Don't smear the messenger - Opinion - Jerusalem Post |publisher=Jpost.com |date=25 August 2009 |access-date=24 February 2015}} According to The Times, "most" HRW Middle East staff "have activist backgrounds — it was typical that one newly hired researcher came to HRW from the extremist anti-Israel publication Electronic Intifada — unlikely to reassure anyone who thinks that human-rights organizations should be non-partisan."{{cite news |author=Jonathan Foreman |date=28 March 2010 |title=Nazi scandal engulfs Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7076462.ece?token=null&offset=24&page=3 |publisher=Times Online |location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The Times later said that the Electronic Intifada had published the HRW researcher's articles without permission and that she "was not directly employed by that group".[https://web.archive.org/web/20111007070940/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7086749.ece Correction: Human Rights Watch], The Times, 4 April 2010, on Wayback Machine

In the wake of the 2009 Goldstone report, HRW accused Israel and its supporters of an organized campaign of false allegations and misinformation designed to discredit the group over its findings concerning the Gaza War. The organization tied the criticism to a June 2009 statement by a senior official in the Israeli prime minister's office who pledged to "dedicate time and manpower to combating" human-rights organizations. According to HRW, the criticism amounted to an organized effort. Attacks from different sources, with similar language and arguments, implied prior coordination. Iain Levine of HRW said, "We are having to spend a lot of time repudiating the lies, the falsehoods, the misinformation".{{cite news|author=Chris McGreal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/13/israel-human-rights-watch-gaza |title=Israel 'personally attacking human rights group' after Gaza war criticism | World news |work=The Guardian |date= 13 November 2009|access-date=24 February 2015 |location=London}} A group of 10 Israeli rights groups accused the Israeli government of attempting to "instill fear and silence or alarm vital organizations" who were engaging in open, public discourse.{{cite web|author=Corey Flintoff |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112900014&ps=cprs |title=Rights Analyst Suspended Over Nazi-Era Collection |publisher=NPR |date=16 September 2009 |access-date=24 February 2015}}

On 14 August 2014, the one-year anniversary of the dispersal of pro-Morsi sit-ins by Egyptian police in the Rabaa al-Adawiya Square and Nahda Square, which lead to clashes that resulted in 638 deaths, of which 43 were police officers, according to the Egyptian Health Ministry, HRW published a report in which it accused security forces of excessive force, in addition to claiming that the dispersal was planned at the highest levels of the Egyptian government. The death toll given by HRW ranged from 817 to approximately 1000. HRW stated that the actions of the police likely amounted to "crimes against humanity."{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2014/08/12/all-according-plan-0|title=All According to Plan|date=12 August 2014|website=Human Rights Watch|access-date=23 February 2016}}

However, in an official statement from the State Information Service, the government of Egypt criticized HRW, alleging that the organization's report lacked transparency, ignored violence by protesters, and that it was biased in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood. As a consequence for publishing the report, executive director Kenneth Roth and Middle East and North Africa Director Sarah Leah Whitson, working for HRW, who were to publicly present the report to journalists and diplomats, were detained for hours by authorities and deported from Egypt.{{cite news|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/108289/Egypt/Politics-/HRW-says-Rabaa-dispersal-was-planned,-Egypt-govt-c.aspx|title=HRW says Rabaa dispersal was planned, Egypt gov't calls report 'biased'|date=12 August 2014|website=Ahram Online|access-date=23 February 2016}}

In a statement from the Egyptian Interior Ministry on its official Facebook page, HRW was accused of illegally operating in Egypt without permits from authorities.{{cite news|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/108286.aspx|title=Egypt justifies barring HRW entry, US says 'disappointed'|date=12 August 2014|website=Ahram Online|access-date=23 February 2016}}

{{See also|Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front|United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces|Meles Zenawi}}

In 2009, during the period of rule by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, the Ethiopian government raised questions about HRW's methods, commissioning a report dismissing "Human Rights Watch allegations of abuses in the Ogaden as hearsay and its methods as slapdash".{{cite news| url=http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=1521509&story_id=13061682 | newspaper=The Economist | title=A row over human rights | date=5 February 2009}}

In the early 2010s, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) took issue with the credibility of Roth's accusations that Ethiopia's government is corrupt and uses international aid funding for "repressive purposes".[https://www.hrw.org/node/94860 “Letter to Kenichi Ohashi, Ethiopia Country Director for the World Bank”] by Kenneth Roth, 17 December 2010 The EHRC accused Roth of impartiality caused by a desire to "appease… wealthy financiers." It cited his evaluation of the Democratic Institution Program (DIP) as "superficial" and said that his allegations of corruption were based on "poor methodology." EHRC also called his recommendations a "contradiction" that called "for the promotion of human rights at the expense of human rights programs and their implementers".{{cite web |url=http://www.ehrc.org.et/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Ji%2FBbt57Hzo%3D&tabid=36|title=EHRC Response on Human Rights Watch Reports on Ethiopia|publisher=EHRC|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725182503/http://www.ehrc.org.et/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Ji%2FBbt57Hzo%3D&tabid=36|archive-date=25 July 2012}}

{{See also|Prosperity Party|Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present)}}

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A special tribunal dealing with war crimes during Bangladesh's 1971 independence war with Pakistan asked Human Rights Watch to explain why it should not be charged with contempt of court for a statement from the organization that the trial of former Islamic party leader Ghulam Azam was "deeply flawed" and did not meet international standards. Azam was sentenced to 90 years in prison for war crimes. The U.S. ambassador in Bangladesh expressed concern over the prosecutors' move against the organization.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/bangladesh-court-asks-human-rights-watch-to-explain-why-it-shouldnt-be-charged-with-contempt|title=Bangladesh court asks Human Rights Watch why it shouldn't be charged with contempt|website=Fox News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205035245/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/02/bangladesh-court-asks-human-rights-watch-to-explain-why-it-shouldnt-be-charged/|archive-date=5 December 2013|url-status=live|access-date=5 November 2013}}

Due to Vietnam's position as being a one-party socialist state, the Vietnamese state is a frequent target for criticism and accusations from HRW, resulting in strong responses and criticism made by many parts of the Vietnamese government against the organization.

In 2024, commenting about racial bias allegations that were said associated to the 2023 Đắk Lắk attacks, the nation's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized and condemned HRW for "the factually inaccurate and fabricated information in their reports". The Vietnamese diplomat mentioned that "it was not the first time this organisation had presented such biased allegations with malicious intent against Vietnam, aiming to sabotage socio-economic development and sow discord between Vietnam and the international community".{{Cite web |date=2024-01-25 |title=Spokeswoman: Investigation into Dak Lak incident in line with law |url=https://en.vietnamplus.vn/spokeswoman-investigation-into-dak-lak-incident-in-line-with-law/276814.vnp |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=VietnamPlus |publisher=Vietnam News Agency |language=en |quote=Regarding a recent press release by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) in which 2023 human rights situation in Vietnam was mentioned, Hang completely rejected and condemned the so-called HRW, which delivered a report with fabricated and false content.
According to her, it was not the first time this organisation had presented such biased allegations with malicious intent against Vietnam, aiming to undermine the country’s socio-economic development and sow discord between Vietnam and the international community.}}{{Cite web |title=Đắk Lắk terrorism attacks: No ethnic discrimination in Việt Nam, foreign ministry says |url=https://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/1639791/dak-lak-terrorism-attacks-no-ethnic-discrimination-in-viet-nam-foreign-ministry-says.html |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=Việt Nam News |publisher=Vietnam News Agency |language=en |quote=Responding to queries regarding the contents related to Việt Nam's human rights situation as claimed in the World Report 2024 from Human Rights Watch, the spokesperson said Việt Nam completely refutes and condemns "the so-called Human Rights Watch for the factually inaccurate and fabricated information in their report."Hằng noted that this is not the first time that this organisation has put forward accusatory arguments with malicious intent, targeting Việt Nam and aiming to sabotage socio-economic development and create a distance between the international community and Việt Nam.}}

People's Army Newspaper, the official press agency of the national military People's Army of Vietnam, declared HRW's reports against Vietnam as "obscure", "treacherous" and "baseless". The newspaper also accused HRW for backing anti-socialism organizations, aiming to execute color revolutions against existing states, while also inappropriately advocating and praising unlawful dissidents and extreme activists against the government in Vietnam.{{Cite web |last=Trần |first=Lâm |date=2022-02-22 |title=Mưu đồ phía sau cái gọi là bản phúc trình "Nhốt chúng tôi ở trong nhà" |trans-title=Conspiracy behinds the “Locked Inside Our Home” report |url=https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-chong-dien-bien-hoa-binh/muu-do-phia-sau-cai-goi-la-ban-phuc-trinh-nhot-chung-toi-o-trong-nha-686646 |website=People's Army Newspaper |publisher=Vietnam People's Army |language=vi}} Meanwhile, the military's National Defence Journal described the organization as "absurd and bizarre", questioning HRW's qualification to self-proclaim its own functions, rights and jurisdictions to "monitor worldwide human rights situation" by "interfering in internal affairs of nations", noting that HRW is just a private organization but always tries to demand governments to do whatever satisfying its own standards and perspectives.{{Cite web |last=Nguyễn |first=Trung |title=HRW - phi lý và kỳ quái |trans-title=HRW - absurd and bizarre |url=http://tapchiqptd.vn/vi/phong-chong-dbhb-bao-ve-vung-chac-nen-tang-tu-tuong-cua-dang/hrw-phi-ly-va-ky-quai/595.html |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=National Defence Journal |publisher=Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnam Ministry of National Defence}}

• Criticism of Amnesty International
• Criticism of Greenpeace

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