Laura Mills
Human Rights Watch
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by Laura:
Arizona Legislators Should Reject Immunity for Nursing Homes
This week, Arizona legislators will vote on bill 1377, which would shield nursing homes from civil liability for negligence while providing services during the Covid-19 pandemic. → Read More
New WHO Report Calls Out Global Impacts of Ageism
A groundbreaking report released on March 18 and led by the World Health Organization (WHO) calls out ageism for what it is: a socially-acceptable form of discrimination that impacts older people’s livelihoods, health, and even survival. → Read More
Covid-19 Exposed Need to Protect Older People’s Rights
Susan Robinson, a 68-year-old resident of a United States nursing facility, was lying awake one night in March when she heard her neighbor gasping for breath. “She was dying,” Robinson said. “They took her to the hospital. They didn’t tell us anything.” → Read More
Kazakhstan Draft Law Would Undermine Freedom of Assembly
Despite repeated promises by Kazakhstan’s authorities to reform the country’s restrictive protest law, on March 26, parliament rushed through the first vote on a bill that would ultimately maintain the government’s tight control over peaceful assembly. → Read More
Mass Arrests Cast Doubt on Rights Reform in Kazakhstan
Since coming to power in June, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokaev has claimed a desire to accelerate political reforms and improve human rights in the country. But the mass detention of peaceful protesters over the weekend and other recent large-scale arrests undermine Tokaev’s expressed commitment to reform. → Read More
US: Reject Proposal to Force Pain Patients Off Opioid Medication
Oregon should vote down a dangerous proposal that would force tens of thousands of Medicaid patients off prescription opioids without their consent, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Governor Kate Brown today. → Read More
Minister Lacks Sympathy for Plight of Pensioners in Eastern Ukraine
Ukrainians living in regions controlled by Russian-backed armed groups face many challenges when crossing the line of contact between their homes and Ukrainian-controlled territory. But many have no choice: Half the one million people who cross each month are older people, many of whom do so in order to collect their pensions. → Read More
Acknowledging the Plight of Pain Patients in the US
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) took an important step last week toward acknowledging the suffering of chronic pain patients in the United States who face unnecessary barriers to accessing opioid medications. → Read More
Making Life a Little Easier on Ukraine’s Front Lines
On March 28, Ukraine did away with expiration dates for electronic passes that allow civilians to travel between government-controlled territory and areas controlled by Russia-backed armed groups in the country’s east. This move marks a small but important step toward easing the lives of the estimated one million people who journey across the front lines dividing the → Read More
In US, Oregon Tables Forced Opioid Reductions Vote – For Now
The US state of Oregon announced it will postpone a vote on restricting prescription opioids to a large group of Medicaid patients. If approved, this policy would mark an unprecedented move by a state to mandate involuntary opioid dose reductions across a broad group of patients → Read More
60 Minutes Fails to Represent Pain Patient Perspective
In a February 24 segment, CBS’s 60 Minutes accused the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of igniting the overdose epidemic in the United States with its “illegal approval of opioids for the treatment of chronic pain.” → Read More
Russian Lawmakers Vote to Decriminalize Domestic Violence
Russian lawmakers voted to remove domestic violence from the country’s criminal code, making abuse punishable by fines rather than a prison sentence. → Read More
Russia Says It Has No Compromising Material on Trump
Russia denied it has compromising material on Donald Trump, calling a dossier of unverified allegations an “absolute fabrication” and an attempt to damage U.S.-Russian relations. → Read More
Kremlin Dismisses U.S. Intelligence Report on Hacking as ‘Witch Hunt’
A spokesman for the Kremlin dismissed an assessment by the U.S. intelligence community regarding Moscow’s alleged role in the U.S. elections as “amateur.” → Read More
Vladimir Putin Claims U.S. Democratic Party Ignored Systemic Problems
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. Democratic Party of attempting to blame its recent failure in the presidential election on “external factors” and that it had ignored systemic problems. → Read More
Nationalized Ukrainian Lender Privatbank Has $5.6 Billion Hole in Balance Sheet
Ukrainian lender Privatbank has a $5.6 billion hole in its balance sheet and that lending to companies related to the bank’s shareholders amounted to 97% of its loan portfolio, the country’s central bank governor said. → Read More
Oil-Output Cuts Could Hit Russian Energy Companies
The Russian government is committed to cutting oil production in line with world producers but now comes the hard part: making it happen. → Read More
Russia Says Talks With U.S. Over Syria Breaking Down
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Washington has pulled out of Wednesday’s scheduled talks in Geneva after offering an alternative truce proposal that would ‘bring everything back to square one.’ → Read More
Gazprom Cuts Staff by 20% in London Trading Business, Sources Say
Gazprom has made deep cuts to its London-headquartered trading business, in an early sign of the Russian gas giant’s attempts to adjust to continued weakness in commodity markets. → Read More
Moscow Reaching Out to Trump’s Team to Discuss Syria, Interfax Reports
Russia has started contacting colleagues of President-elect Donald Trump to discuss Syria, says Interfax news agency. → Read More