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The following articles / commentaries / letters to the editors /testimony were written by the staff of Human Rights Watch. They express our concerns regarding a few of the many pressing human rights issues addressed by the organization on a regular basis. More Blowback from the War on Terror The U.S.-backed Ethiopian military has secreted away scores of "suspects" – including pregnant women and children – and fueled anti-American rancor in Africa. By Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel Published in Salon Ishmael is a victim of a 2007 rendition program in the Horn of Africa, involving Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and the United States. There are at least 90 more victims like him. Most have since been sent home. A few – including a Canadian and nine who assert Kenyan nationality – remain in detention even now. The whereabouts of 22 others – including several Somalis, Ethiopian Ogadenis, and Eritreans--remain unknown. October 1, 2008 Printer friendly version A month after the war By Tanya Lokshina, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Moscow office. Published in Open Democracy The houses of Georgian villagers in South Ossetia are still burning, their aged inhabitants suffering. The Russian army and emergency services should mobilise to protect them, says Tanya Lokshina in a vivid report. September 29, 2008 Printer friendly version Is the U.S. putting mentally incompetent terror suspects on trial? At Guantánamo, bizarre proceedings with the 9/11 suspects raise questions about a prisoner's psychiatric evaluation and the murky role of the CIA. By Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director Published in Salon It was the second day of a round of pretrial hearings in the 9/11 case, and Ramzi Binalshibh, one of five accused al-Qaida operatives, was in an angry mood. He didn't seem upset about facing the death penalty; in a previous round of hearings he had declared that he would embrace martyrdom. What bothered him were his lawyers' efforts to save his life. September 29, 2008 Printer friendly version Separating Image from Substance in Saudi Arabia Published in Middle East Report Saudi Arabia, its image in need of polishing in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, has opened itself up to foreign scrutiny of its notoriously poor human rights record. Members of Congress now make regularly scheduled stops in the kingdom; in February 2008, the Saudis even welcomed the two-week fact-finding mission of the UN special rapporteur on violence against women. The scrutiny tends to be tightly managed: A visit to the government’s Human Rights Commission or the National Society for Human Rights, an NGO, is de rigueur. September 23, 2008 Printer friendly version Discrimination against Muslims in Saudi Arabia By Christoph Wilcke, Senior Researcher, Middle East and North Africa division Published in Guardian online Though tentative steps towards tolerance have been made, the plight of Saudi Ismailis shows how far the country has to go September 22, 2008 Printer friendly version Child soldiers and the China factor By Jo Becker September 12, 2008 Published in International Herald Tribune Myin Win was 11 years old when he was first recruited into Burma's national army. He was picked up by soldiers while selling vegetables at a railway station and sent to a military training camp. He weighed only 70 pounds, or about 32 kilograms, and said that the guns were so heavy he could hardly lift them. September 12, 2008 Printer friendly version South Africa's Human Rights Reputation Tarnished By Carroll Bogert Published in The Sunday Independent As a member of the United Nations security council for two years, South Africa has had many opportunities to speak out forcefully for human rights - or to join those speaking out against them. Again and again, it has chosen the latter course. September 7, 2008 Printer friendly version South Ossetia: Tskhinvali’s Apocalypse By Tanya Lokshina, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Moscow office. Published in opendemocracy.net With the fighting over, Tanya Lokshina hitches lifts between checkpoints around South Ossetia's wrecked capital Tskhinvali chronicling the grieving and burying, looting and burning, the unexploded bombs, disenchanted militias and Russian troops struggling to protect what remains of abandoned Georgian villages. August 29, 2008 Printer friendly version First Prosecution in the United States for Torture Committed Abroad The Trial of Charles ‘Chuckie’ Taylor, Jr. Published in Human Rights Brief, Volume 15, Issue 3 (Spring/Summer 2008) On December 6, 2006, the United States Department of Justice indicted Charles “Chuckie” Taylor, Jr., son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, for committing torture in Liberia. The case, which is scheduled to go to trial in September 2008, is significant on a number of levels. First, it stands in contrast to what has been widespread impunity for human rights violations in Liberia. Second, the charges are brought under a U.S. federal law that has been unique in its criminalization of human rights violations committed outside U.S. territory. Third, although torture committed abroad has been a crime in the United States for more than a decade, the case against Chuckie Taylor is the first prosecution for the crime. August 27, 2008 Printer friendly version A UK Window into CIA Abuses By Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director Published in FindLaw This Wednesday, unless the UK foreign secretary takes rapid action, Britain’s High Court will hold a hearing to assess whether the UK government should be ordered to hand over secret documents to lawyers for a Guantanamo detainee. The detainee in question, Binyam Mohamed, faces possible charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism before a military commission at Guantanamo. August 25, 2008 Printer friendly version Georgia: a challenge for Europe By Tom Porteous, London director Published in Guardian online As Russia withdraws its troops, the EU could help the ceasefire stick by deploying a vital civilian protection mission. August 24, 2008 Printer friendly version Corporal punishment proves to be discriminatory, ineffective By Alice Farmer and Nsombi Lambright Published in The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi) All parents want their children to attend safe schools where the focus is on learning and students of all races are treated fairly. Unfortunately, after months of investigation into the use of corporal punishment in Mississippi, including interviews with dozens of parents, children and educators, we have discovered that neither is true in many of Mississippi's public schools. August 23, 2008 Printer friendly version American credibility on trial Was one of the youngest prisoners at Guantánamo rushed to court by the Bush administration for political reasons? By Jo Becker, children's rights advocacy director Published in Salon.com One of the youngest detainees at Guantánamo Bay, a 23-year-old Afghan named Mohammed Jawad, spent two days in a courtroom here last week as his defense lawyer argued that his case should never go to trial. The attorney, Maj. David Frakt, claimed that his client was repeatedly tortured and abused in U.S. custody, charges that were supported by the testimony of a senior U.S. Army criminal investigator. August 20, 2008 Printer friendly version Russian Attacks in Georgia Show Need for Convention on Cluster Munitions By Bonnie Docherty, Researcher Published in JURIST Russia has not only caused civilian casualties with its use of cluster munitions in Georgia, but it has also blatantly disregarded the international decision to ban the weapons. In the process, Russia has demonstrated that states around the world cannot become complacent about the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which 107 of them adopted in May. They must sign and ratify the treaty as soon as possible so that its obligations enter into force and its stigmatization power grows. August 19, 2008 Printer friendly version The Kashmir tinderbox By Meenakshi Ganguly, senior researcher on South Asia for Human Rights Watch Published in New Statesman Recent unrest in Kashmir has undermined peace prospects between nuclear powers. Meenakshi Ganguly looks at the suffering of Kashmiris caught in a cycle of violence August 19, 2008 Printer friendly version Eight Days in Guantanamo A Buffalonian observes the trial of Salim Hamdan and the degradation of American justice By Julia Hall, senior counsel, Terrorism and Counterterrorism Program Published in Artvoice (Buffalo, NY) Osama bin Laden’s driver, Salim Hamdan, had been detained at Guantánamo Bay for six and a half years when his trial by military commission commenced on July 21, 2008. It would be the first military commission convened by the US government since the Nuremberg trials of 1945-1949 – and, as such, a historic event. Along with a handful of other organizations, Human Rights Watch, was granted permission by the Department of Defense to monitor the trial. August 18, 2008 Printer friendly version The costs of marital rape in Southern Africa By guest author Nada Ali Published in The Independent August 18, 2008 - For years now, women’s groups in Southern Africa have campaigned tirelessly to ensure that the Southern African Development Community adopt the Protocol on Gender and Development. Yesterday, the SADC finally took that historic step. Member states will be obliged to amend their laws to ensure equal rights for women across a wide range of issues, from provisions that require member states to enshrine equality in their constitutions, to firm commitments to reduce maternal mortality by 75 per cent. But while that’s a cause for celebration, the Protocol still does not refer explicitly to domestic violence, and it still doesn’t oblige states to introduce legal provisions that criminalise marital rape. August 18, 2008 Printer friendly version Before any resolution, Zimbabwe first needs justice By Georgette Gagnon, Africa director Published in The Independent Talks in Zimbabwe aimed at breaking the political deadlock in that country cannot succeed unless the human rights violations that are the root cause of the crisis are addressed. August 13, 2008 Printer friendly version The Big Guantánamo Embarassment Why the conviction of Osama bin Laden's driver did nothing to undo the damage caused by Bush's policies in the war on terror. By Carol Chodroff, advocacy director, US Program Published in Salon The US military prison in Cuba has long been perceived as undermining America's image as a champion of human rights and the rule of law, and Salim Hamdan's trial did nothing to undo the damage. Regardless of the jury's determinations, the US may well seek to continue detaining Hamdan indefinitely, beyond the termination of his sentence. The Bush administration asserts that it can hold Hamdan as an "enemy combatant" until the end of the "war on terror" even if he were cleared of all charges. August 12, 2008 Printer friendly version A failed 'experiment' Commissions’ unfair rules deliver a shaky verdict rather than justice. By Kenneth Roth, executive director Published in USA Today Salim Ahmed Hamdan's prosecution highlights yet again the foolishness of the Bush administration's experiment with military commissions. Rather than pursue terrorist suspects through the regular civilian or military courts, the administration stubbornly insisted on building a system from scratch. Predictably, the commissions attract more attention to their unfairness than to the alleged crimes of the suspects before them. August 11, 2008 Printer friendly version |
Commentaire Current Events Human Rights Watch at the AIDS International Conferenece 2006 Swept Under the Rug - Abuses Against Domestic Workers Around the World Democratic Republic of Congo - Triangle of Death: A Place of Horror in Katanga Province |
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