Rights & Wrongs Human Rights Watch

When Robert Taylor bought land and began to build a home in St. John Parish, he envisioned a compound that would house his family for generations to come. Now, Taylor hopes that his grandchildren don’t have to live in this “Sacrifice Zone.” The Taylors’ home is situated in what’s known as Cancer Alley, an 85-mile stretch of land along the banks of the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge that was once home to sugar plantations, but now houses some 200 fossil fuel and petrochemical operations. In 2024, Human Rights Watch issued a report, “We’re Dying Here,” documenting how pollution from the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry affects the health of residents of Cancer Alley, who are predominantly Black. Among other things, the report concluded that residents of Cancer Alley have a cancer risk that is 7 times the national average.  
“The Sacrifice Zone” recounts Robert and his daughter Tish’s experience growing up as the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry encroached on their community and wrought devastating health consequences. Through this ‘porch chat’ conversation, we learn not only about the rare cancers, respiratory ailments, and miscarriages that afflicted their family and friends, but also how the duo is fighting back to stop these pollutants from ruining their environment.  
Robert Taylor: Founder of Concerned Citizens of St. John Parish and long-time resident of St. John Parish, located in Cancer Alley 
Tish Taylor: Member of Concerned Citizens of St. John Parish and daughter of Robert Taylor. 

 
In 2023, Human Rights Watch researcher Nadia Hardman came across a letter the United Nations had sent to the government of Saudi Arabia expressing concern over the killing of Ethiopian migrants who were attempting to enter the kingdom. Migrants from the Horn of Africa had long used the so-called “eastern migration route” through war-torn Yemen in the hope of getting employment in Saudi Arabia – but the UN letter mentioned a mass grave of up to 10,000 in a remote border region. The Saudi government denied the allegations, saying the UN had no dates, and no locations. So, Nadia stepped in to see if she could verify them.  
Nadia couldn’t reach the remote border, so she began interviewing people in Yemen. One of the people she was in touch with began sending her social media videos from the massacre site. Nadia soon called on Human Rights Watch’s digital investigation’s lab for help. In this episode, Host Ngofeen Mputubwele takes listeners through how Human Rights utilized satellite imagery of burial sites, conducted interviews with survivors of the attacks, mined social media, and verified video footage from the border to show how Saudi authorities summarily executed hundreds of unarmed migrants – many of them women and children – in what is likely a crime against humanity.  In the aftermath of the report and the media attention it generated, Germany and the United States ceased funding and training Saudi border guards.  
Nadia Hardman: Researcher, Refugee and Migrant Rights Division at Human Rights Watch 
Sam Dubberley: Managing Director, Digital Investigations Lab at Human Rights Watch 
Devon Lum: Former Assistant Researcher, Digital Investigations Lab at Human Rights Watch 

What happens to cargo ships at the end of their lives? Often, they wind up beached on shores in the global south where untrained and unprotected workers are tasked with breaking them apart in dangerous conditions. In this episode, Host Ngofeen Mputubwele takes listeners to the beaches of Bangladesh where Human Rights Watch recently completed an investigation of the shipbreaking industry. Here, in what the International Labour Organization calls the most dangerous job in the world, workers are hit with nails, maimed by exploding pipes, sickened by exposure to asbestos and have been trapped in burning hulls as they “recycle” the ships that transport consumer goods to Europe, the United States and beyond.  
Julia Bleckner: Senior Researcher at Human Rights Watch. 
Rizwana Syeda Hasan: Bangladeshi environment attorney 
Learn more at HRW.org 
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The Russian military assault on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol between February and May 2022 left thousands of civilians dead and injured, including many in apparently unlawful attacks, and trapped hundreds of thousands for weeks without basic services, Human Rights Watch along with Truth Hounds and SITU research produced a report with extensive findings. It called on Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials should be investigated and appropriately prosecuted for their role in apparent war crimes committed by Russian forces during the fighting there, and Russia should provide reparations to victims of laws-of-war violations and their families.
Host Ngofeen Mputubwele revisits the investigation and walks listeners through experiences on the ground in Mariupol throughout and after the invasion.
Guests:
BelkisWille: Associate Director of Crisis & Conflict division at
Human Rights Watch.
Maryna Slobodyanuk: Head of Investigations at Truth Hounds
Learn more at HRW.org
Support our work at HRW.org/podcast/donate

Teaser: Rights & Wrongs