Human Rights Watch (Organization). Americas Division.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Record Group 5 contains the records of Human Rights Watch/Americas Watch (AmW). Established in 1981 as an outgrowth of the Helsinki Watch Committee, the AmW division promotes human rights in the Western Hemisphere. It concerns itself particularly with harassed human rights groups in repressive countries. AmW, for example, assists Latin American monitoring organizations in disseminating information about oppressive practices. It also mounts external pressure within countries to ensure human rights protections through sponsored human rights missions and publishes reports on their findings.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED The Americas Watch division is funded by private foundations, citizens, and does not accept government funds. As a strictly non-political, non-partisan group, it investigates and attempts to report objectively on human rights conditions. Its policy recommendations, in turn, relate solely to ways in which the United States can assist human rights monitors in countries with poor human rights records.