Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Founded under the name Helsinki Watch in 1978, the Human Rights Watch, was to ensure the former Soviet Union's observance of the Helsinki Accords. As Helsinki Watch grew, it created various other "watch committees" to cover other regions of the world. In 1988, all other committees were united under one umbrella to form Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch is a strong defender of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it opposes violations of basic human rights which include capital punishment, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Human Rights Watch also speaks for fundamental human rights such as freedom of religion and the press.
One of Human Rights Watch's primary activities is the production of research reports regarding violations of international human rights norms as set out by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and what it represents. Human Rights Watch researches conduct fact finding missions to investigate certain fishy situations and generate media coverage in local and international media. Issues that have been raised by Human Rights Watch in the past include gender discrimination, torture, military use of children, political corruption, abuses in criminal justice systems, and the legalization of abortion. Human Rights Watch also speaks for people such as writers who are being persecuted for their work and are in need to financial assistance.
Like any organization the Human Rights Watch has received some criticism which can be separated into two main categories: accusations of selection bias and accusations of ideological bias.
The NGO Monitor has pointed out that Human Rights Watch is against open, democratic regimes where journalists and citizens can monitor abuses, and abusive regimes. Human Rights Watch as also been criticized for being anti-Western, anti-China, anti-Serb, anti-Sri Lankan, and anti-Israeli while other have criticized them for the opposite. Whichever what you look at it, there will certainly be some criticisms however they must also be awarded a great deal of praise for the work that they have done and continue to do.