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Albania Human Rights Watch Calls on Congress to Support the “Youth PROMISE Act,” H.R. 3846 Letter to the US House of Representatives Human Rights Watch, an independent, nongovernmental organization dedicated to protecting human rights around the world, submits this letter in support of H.R. 3846, the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education Act (“Youth PROMISE Act”), and in opposition to H.R. 3547, the Gang Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression Act. Human Rights Watch supports the Youth PROMISE Act because it makes sense, comports with scientific research on prevention, intervention, and adolescent brain development, and is consistent with US treaty obligations under international law. In contrast, we oppose H.R. 3547 because its excessive emphasis on overly punitive sanctions—including life without parole sentences for youth —rather than prevention and intervention is contrary to basic principles of juvenile and criminal justice, is inappropriate in light of adolescent brain development research, and violates US treaty obligations under international law. April 7, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version Letter to the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference Urging the Organisation to Improve and Strengthen the 1999 OIC Convention on Combating International Terrorism Human Rights Watch writes to urge Dr. Ihsanoglu to use his position as Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to support measures at the upcoming Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference in Dakar, Senegal on March 13-14 that would improve and strengthen the 1999 OIC Convention on Combating International Terrorism. In particular, we urge the OIC to consider two amendments to the Convention in order to narrow its overbroad definition of terrorism and to make absolutely clear that there is no sanction in Islam for deliberately attacking civilians, whatever the circumstances or justifications. March 11, 2008 Letter Also available in 
Printer friendly version A Human Rights Agenda for a New Kosovo This memorandum identifies seven of the most pressing human rights concerns in Kosovo today. To help identify the key concerns, Human Rights Watch consulted human rights groups across Kosovo’s different ethnic communities February 15, 2008 Memorandum NGO support letter to the Swedish Migration Board on the Adel Akim case A group of nongovernmental organizations write in support of the application of Adel Abdul Hakim for a residence permit on humanitarian grounds in Sweden. The organizations respectfully request that the Swedish Migration Board evaluate the totality of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Hakim’s claim for resettlement and consider that the rights of recognized refugees, the right to family reunification, and the prohibition against torture so clearly implicated in his case strongly favor a positive decision on his application. January 25, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version Kosovo: Criminal Justice System Fails Victims Accountability Must Be Central to Status Talks The criminal justice system continues to fail victims in Kosovo, despite almost seven years of international administration, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Kosovo’s future status is currently the subject of intense negotiations mediated by the international community. May 30, 2006 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version What Will Become of Kosovo? By Julie Chadbourne, Kosovo researcher at Human Rights Watch Published in Der Standard As Kosovo’s Albanians prepare for victory - full independence - in the status talks taking place between Belgrade and Pristina, the province’s fearful minorities are holding their breath, unsure who to trust and how all this will pan out after six years of waiting. If Belgrade agrees to sever ties with Kosovo, it is likely many will leave, unwilling or too afraid to give the Albanians and the international community the chance to make good on promises of their protection - promises that have been broken time and again. March 23, 2006 Commentary Printer friendly version Serbia Fails to Curb Violence Against Minorities Weak Government Response and Lenient Sentences Encourage Extremists The Serbian government is failing to tackle a rising tide of violence against the country’s ethnic and religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today as the European Union enlargement commissioner visits Belgrade. October 10, 2005 Press Release Also available in
Printer friendly version Q & A: Milosevic Trial (ICTY) Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s defense is scheduled to begin at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on August 31. This series of questions and answers provides background information, explains key concepts, evaluates the progression of the trial thus far, and describes what is yet to come. August 27, 2004 Background Briefing Printer friendly version Failure to Protect Anti-Minority Violence in Kosovo, March 2004 This 66-page report documents the widespread attacks against Serbs, Roma, Ashkali (Albanian-speaking Roma) and other minorities that took place in Kosovo on March 17-18. Human Rights Watch details the near-complete collapse during the crisis of Kosovo’s security institutions—the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR), international civilian police from the U.N. Interim Administration Mission to Kosovo (UNMIK), and the locally-recruited Kosovo Police Service (KPS). Based on numerous interviews with minority victims and security officials, the report provides a detailed—and previously unavailable—account of what happened in dozens of communities during the riots. HRW Index No.: D1606 July 26, 2004 Report Download PDF, 325 KB, 68 pgs Purchase online Defending Media Freedom in Albania A Human Rights Watch press release expressing concern about an upsurge in harassment of media in Albania has triggered a lively debate on press freedom in the country. November 1, 2002 Advocacy Impact Freedom of Expression, Free Media and Human Rights Defenders On the Occasion of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, Warsaw Freedom of expression, and media freedoms in particular, are in danger in many OSCE participating states. In too many countries, severe restrictions and abuse afflict brave journalists whose writings focus on sensitive topics, such as abuse of power and corruption. These violations are in and of themselves abhorrent; but they also deserve serious attention because of the detrimental impact they have on efforts to combat corruption—a pervasive inhibitor to the political and economic development of the region. September 12, 2002 Oral Statement Albania: Media Freedoms Still Suffer Government Urged to Curb Violence, Intimidation, Legal and Financial Pressures The media remains far from free in Albania, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Despite progress since the early 1990s, Human Rights Watch said journalists still risk harassment, physical assaults, and charges of criminal defamation, particularly when they report critically about the activities of public officials. June 13, 2002 Press Release Printer friendly version The Cost of Speech: Violations of Media Freedom in Albania The media remains far from free in Albania, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Despite progress since the early 1990s, Human Rights Watch said journalists still risk harassment, physical assaults, and charges of criminal defamation, particularly when they report critically about the activities of public officials.The sixty-page report, "The Cost of Speech: Violations of Media Freedoms in Albania," documents incidents of violence and intimidation of the press, as well as due process and free speech violations in six defamation trials. Human Rights Watch also reports that Albanian government officials misuse state advertising to put financial pressure on media outlets and interfere with their editorial freedom. This report is based on Human Rights Watch interviews with dozens of journalists and media professionals, and analysis of scores of court documents, during a three-week investigation in Albania. HRW Index No.: D1405 June 13, 2002 Report Download PDF Purchase online Albania: Child Soldier Global Report 2001 From the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers In March 1997 a violent anti-government uprising erupted, mainly in the southern part of the country. Opposition supporters were seemingly unorganised and much of the violence appeared to be of criminal rather than political nature. The public order situation improved during 1998. The armed forces of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) had a number of bases in northern Albania and were alleged to have received training there, although the Albanian government denied actively supporting them. During 2000 the 450,000 Kosovar refugees who had sought refuge in Albania at the height of the Albanian crisis returned to Kosovo. June 12, 2001 Multi Country Report Macedonian Government Abuses in Runica Village International Community Should Push for a Full Investigation Macedonian government forces arbitrarily shelled and burned the ethnic Albanian village of Runica and beat some of its civilian inhabitants last week. Six members of one family were wounded by mortar fire and one man was killed. Seven others civilians were severely beaten. May 29, 2001 Press Release Printer friendly version Macedonia Conflict Endangers Civilians Both the Macedonian authorities and the armed ethnic Albanians operating as a group called the National Liberation Army (NLA) must comply with basic principles of international humanitarian law applicable to internal armed conflicts. May 7, 2001 Press Release Printer friendly version Letter to NLA Political Spokesman Ali Ahmeti Dear Mr. Ahmeti, Human Rights Watch is a privately funded international non-governmental organization dedicated to documenting human rights abuses throughout the world. In the past ten years, we have committed substantial time and effort to investigating violations of human rights and humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia. May 4, 2001 Letter Letter to Macedonian Prime Minister Ljupce Georgijevski Your Excellency, Human Rights Watch is a privately funded international non-governmental organization dedicated to documenting human rights abuses throughout the world. In the past ten years, we have committed substantial time and effort to investigating violations of human rights and humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia. We have documented violations of international humanitarian law by all sides of the armed conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and the NATO war with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. May 4, 2001 Letter Yugoslavia: Domestic War Crimes Trials No Substitute for The Hague Human Rights Watch today cautiously welcomed the Yugoslav Army's announcement this week that a reported 183 army members have been charged with committing crimes in Kosovo. April 26, 2001 Press Release Printer friendly version Memorandum on Human Rights and Rule of Law Priorities in Yugoslavia The November 24-25 summit in Zagreb, with the participation of fifteen European Union (E.U.) states and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia, provides a unique opportunity for the E.U. to assess the transition in Yugoslavia and to improve the dialogue with the new authorities in Belgrade on a variety of issues, including human rights. November 17, 2000 Background Briefing |
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