On July 30, (during the second week of Hezbollah rocket attacks and Israeli responses), HRW issued a major press release (copied without question and headlined in media around the world (1)) labeling an Israel Air Force strike at Qana a few hours earlier as “indiscriminate” and a “war crime”, and quoting eyewitnesses (“survivors”) in this region dominated by Hezbollah, who claimed that “at least 54 civilians have been killed.”(2) This was also the “official” number stated by a Lebanese Government source. A Red Cross statement at the time put the death toll at 28(3) and the Los Angeles Times quoted HRW researcher Lucy Mair as acknowledging that: “The Lebanese Red Cross had reported early on that it had removed 28 bodies from the rubble…‘The original 54 number actually came from the fact that one of the survivors was saying, ‘We were 63 people from two families camped out in the basement.’ They identified only nine living people, and immediately people started doing the subtraction.”(4) In its press release, HRW amplified this claim, rather than admitting that there was insufficient information at the time, or using the more reliable lower estimate. In other words, an HRW official admitted that her organization’s highly influential press release has used casualty claims that were much higher than more reliable estimates.

Furthermore, when this NGO belatedly acknowledged the lower casualty figure, and tacitly admitted that its reliance on unverifiable claims had greatly inflated the reports, HRW officials repeated the allegations of “war crimes” and continued to deny the presence of Hezbollah forces (rockets, fighters, etc.) in the area. In contrast, the evidence indicates that the 28 reported deaths may well have included Hezbollah fighters, and the HRW press statement acknowledged that “IDF claims of Hezbollah rocket fire from the Qana area are correct”. Thus, HRW media condemnations and rhetoric of “war crimes” were unjustified, but as a direct result of HRW campaigning on the basis of these false allegations, Israeli officials declared a 48 hour halt in air strikes that allowed Hezbollah to regroup, and probably prolonged the war and increased casualties.
And this pattern of speculation and greatly inflated claims used consistently by HRW to condemn Israel, has been repeated many times, including the 2004 Razing Rafah publication, and the recent multiple condemnations of Israeli actions in the Gaza conflict. See the pseudo-research report on the IDF use of drones and allegations of “indiscriminate” killing of civilians (6 highly problematic incidents), mixing irrelevant technical data (GPS coordinates and detailed specs of missiles that may not have been used) with discredited eyewitness claims.

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Sources:
1. Marvin Kalb and Carol Saivetz, “The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006: The Media As A Weapon in Asymmetrical Conflict”, Research Paper Series, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, February 2007. p. 10 http://web.hks.harvard.edu/publications/workingpapers/citation.aspx?PubId=4536
2. Human Rights Watch News Release, “Israel/Lebanon: Israel responsible for Qana attack:, (29/07/06), available at: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2006/07/29/israellebanon-israel-responsible-qana-attack
3. International Committee of the Red Cross, Press Release, (30/7/06), http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/lebanon-news-300706?opendocument
4. Kim Murphy, “Warfare in the Middle East: Officials Say 28 Die in Qana not 54,” The Los Angeles Times, (4/8/06) http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/04/world/fg-qana4

I think a line of distinction has to be drawn between focusing attention on Israel and being biased against it. HRW clearly does focus a great deal of attention on Israel/Palestine because it is such a famous and contentious issue. But does this mean it is institutionally predisposed against the Jewish state? I’m not convinced.

I’d be interested to read those studies if you would be willing to provide links.