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2004 Defender Biographies
Human Rights Watch is proud to honor Defenders of Human Rights and their work. The following Defenders will be honored in
2004 at the Annual Dinners in Geneva, London,
New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara,
and Toronto. To learn more about each of this year's Defenders and their work, please read the brief biographies
below. You can also find more background information on the country or
human rights issue these Defenders are speaking about, or information about
other human rights defenders.
NEW YORK, SAN FRANCISCO, LOS ANGELES, SANTA BARBARA, and TORONTO:
Habib Rahiab - Afghanistan
Three years ago, Habib Rahiab, an extraordinary Afghan human rights activist, approached Human Rights Watch researchers
working in Kabul and offered his help. Although it is uncommon for Human Rights Watch to hire the activists with whom we work, we made
an exception for Habib, whose courage and skill in such a challenging environment awed our staff. Habib had directed a school for refugee
girls in Pakistan and had headed a human rights documentation group that exposed the oppression of an Afghan ethnic minority, the Hazaras.
While assisting Human Rights Watch, Habib assessed the impact of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan on Afghan civilians. He helped Human
Rights Watch expose the mistreatment of detainees held by U.S. forces in Afghanistan before that issue dominated the headlines. He
also conducted interviews that demonstrated intensifying oppression by local warlords who were put in power after the Taliban was toppled.
Habib’s heroic and tireless efforts to expose human rights abuses in Afghanistan evoked the ire of the warlords, who threatened to kill
him. Habib and his family were forced to flee Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch researchers helped resettle Habib and his family in the
U.S. and found refuge and funding for him at Harvard University. Habib looks forward to furthering his education here in the U.S. and to
returning one day to Afghanistan. We are deeply indebted to Habib for making possible Human Rights Watch’s widely recognized work in
Afghanistan.
More information: Afghanistan,
refugees,
racism and human rights,
"Massacres of Hazaras in Afghanistan"
Natalia Zhukova - Russia
Natalia Zhukova works with one of Russia's most extraordinary grassroots human
rights organizations, the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, which is dedicated
to protecting soldiers in Russia's army from mistreatment. Each year, nearly
one million young men perform obligatory military service in Russia, and thousands
are injured or even die as a result of violent beatings by their senior conscripts
and officers and inadequate nutrition and health care. The abuse is so severe,
and affects so many young men, that even before boys enter puberty, their parents
start looking for ways to prevent their sons from serving. The Committee of Soldiers'
Mothers saves lives every day by providing a safe haven for thousands of abused
conscripts and counseling them and their families. It pushes for policy change
and accountability in an institution that is known for its insularity. The Committee
of Soldiers' Mothers has been Human Rights Watch's primary partner in our research
and advocacy on the abuse of conscripts in Russia.
More information: Russia,
torture and abuse,
"Conscription Through Detention in Russia's Armed Forces"
Maître Honoré Musoko - Democratic Republic of Congo
Maître Honoré Musoko is a Congolese lawyer and founding member of Justice Plus, a local human rights organization
based in Bunia, a town in Ituri province in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. When documenting war crimes and crimes against
humanity in Ituri, Human Rights Watch worked closely with Justice Plus and with Maître Honoré, who demonstrated extraordinary bravery
in exposing atrocities in Congo that might otherwise have gone unknown. Maître Honoré has been arrested and threatened for uncovering
human rights abuses in Ituri. Last year, he was forced to go into exile in Uganda after he refused to remain silent about the crimes
taking place. Maître Honoré ’s local colleagues also were targeted; only after an intervention by Human Rights Watch were they able to
come out of hiding. Maître Honoré more recently has been working as a consultant for the International Criminal Court, which is
considering as its first case war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ituri. He has decided not to remain at the court for fear of
imperiling the human rights work of his Justice Plus colleagues in Bunia. Human Rights Watch could not have documented so compellingly
Congo’s human rights and humanitarian catastrophe, nor prompted international action to address it, without the advice, support, and
knowledge of Maître Honoré and Justice Plus.
More information: D.R. Congo,
International Criminal Court,
international justice,
"Ituri: Bloodiest Corner of Congo"
GENEVA and LONDON:
Dr. Aida Seif El-Dawla - Egypt
Aida Seif El-Dawla is a founding member and chairperson of the Egyptian Association against Torture. The association
works with nongovernmental organizations that provide legal, medical, and social services to ensure that victims of torture and their
families receive support; monitors and reports on cases of torture; and advocates for both prosecutions and legal and social change. A
professor of psychiatry at Cairo's Ain Shams Univeristy, Dr. Seif El-Dawla and three others in 1993 formed the El Nadim Center for the
Psychological Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, the first and, to date, only organization of its kind in Egypt. El Nadim initially
focused on services for men, women, and children tortured by Egyptian police and security forces, but later developed an independent
program for the treatment of female victims of all forms of violence. In 1984 Dr. Seif El-Dawla also helped found the New Woman Research
Center, which, unlike other Egyptian groups at the time, challenged both the government's incrementalist approach to women's rights and
religious fundamentalists' efforts to deny women the most basic freedoms. As Egypt recently has witnessed further restrictions of the
rights of organization, freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly and demonstration, Dr. Seif El-Dawla and the El Nadim center have
been on the front lines, documenting torture of anti-war demonstrators in March and April 2003, assisting in their legal defense, and even
demonstrating in front of Egypt's Prosecutor General's office to demand medical care for those still in prison.
More information: Egypt,
torture and abuse,
women's rights
Tiawan Gongloe - Liberia
Tiawan Gongloe is one of Liberia's leading human rights lawyers. A steady voice calling for the respect for the rule of law and human
rights, he has exhibited incredible courage and strength over the ten years that he has worked closely with Human Rights Watch. Political
detainees, independent journalists, human rights activists, and victims of abuse have relied on Mr. Gongloe to step forward to defend
their rights in the courtroom or demand their release. Outside the courtroom, Mr. Gongloe is a well-known voice in Liberia, regularly
commenting in the media or at meetings on human rights issues. Liberia's former president, Charles Taylor, tried to silence independent
voices to stem criticism of abuses by his government and his security forces. Increasingly under attack and subject to mistreatment and
violence, numerous journalists and human rights activists fled for their lives. But Mr. Gongloe stayed, indefatigably coming to the
defense of persecuted colleagues. In April 2002, Mr. Gongloe was arrested without charge and detained overnight in police custody. By the
following morning, he had been brutalized so severely that he was unable to stand. Following pressure from local and international groups,
the government did transfer Mr. Gongloe to a hospital. Fearing that he would be rearrested and tortured again upon his release from the
hospital, Human Rights Watch helped organize for Mr. Gongloe and his family to leave Liberia. He currently lives in Philadelphia, where
he is still recuperating.
More information: Liberia,
press freedom,
child soldiers
Javier Stauring - United States
Los Angeles native Javier Stauring is a Catholic lay chaplain who has worked to improve the conditions in which juvenile
offenders are incarcerated. Mr. Stauring has served as a chaplain at the Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles since 1995 and is now
co-director of detention ministries for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, a position he has held since January 2003. He also serves as
policy director for Faith Communities for Families and Children, a Los Angeles - area interfaith coalition that advocates on behalf of
youths in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Shocked by abusive detention conditions for youths in Los Angeles's Men's
Central Jail, Mr. Stauring recently mobilized and led a local coalition to press for change. After the coalition publicized abuses in
the jail, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared that Men's Central was unfit for detainees under the age of eighteen.
Mr. Stauring's decision to speak out, however, came at some risk to his professional reputation: When he spoke at a protest in front of
the jail and questioned whether conditions in the jail contributed to two May suicide attempts, the sheriff's department, in an apparent
act of retaliation, revoked his clearance to minister to the youths at Men's Central. Mr. Stauring believes that a holistic approach of
direct ministry, education, and advocacy can better the lives of incarcerated youth and their families. He has worked effectively to
promote creative approaches to crime prevention, alternatives to incarceration, and systemic change of the juvenile justice system.
More information: United States,
prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners,
children's rights
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CCS, Los Angeles
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CCN, San Francisco
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New York
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London
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