Prepared Testimony of Human Rights Watch’s Laura Pitter – Hearing on New York State Discovery Reform

My name is Laura Pitter. I am the interim deputy director of the US Program for Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch is a non-profit, independent organization that investigates allegations of human rights violations in more than 90 countries around the world, including the United States. We document human rights violations, issue detailed reports, and advocate for changes in law, policy, and practice to address the harms. The right to a fair trial when accused of a crime and exposed to punishment including imprisonment is a fundamental human right that US federal and state governments are required…

Read complete article

~	South Africa’s youth are a generation lost under democracy – study

~	Why reading and writing poems shouldn’t be considered a luxury in troubling times

~	A Hong Kong Facebook group on shop closure strives to survive allegations of inciting discontent

~	Vaping now more common than smoking among young people – and the risks go beyond lung and brain damage

~	Burkina Faso: Army Massacres 223 Villagers

~	Lebanon: Stepped-Up Repression of Syrians

~	Africa’s High Teenage Pregnancy Rate Demands Strong Response

~	Inflation is slowly falling while student debt is climbing: 6 graphs that explain the CPI

~	‘It bucked our lads up wonderfully’: the lightning-quick battle that marked the birth of the US-Australia military alliance

~	If plastic manufacturing goes up 10%, plastic pollution goes up 10% – and we’re set for a huge surge in production