The Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an independent international non-governmental organisation based in the United States that works to bringing perpetrators of human rights abuse to justice, investigating and exposing human rights violations and challenging governments to end the abusive exercise of power. It was established in 1978 as the Helsinki Watch, a watchdog organisation aimed at monitoring human rights abuses in the former Soviet Union sphere of political influence. Ten years later, in 1988, the organisation became known as the Human Rights Watch, recognizing that systemic human rights abuse was universal. It currently operates in more than 70 countries.

The documents that make up this collection reflect the activities of the HRW with regards to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).