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February 1, 1996

Between War & Peace:

Arms Trade and Human Rights Abuses since the Lusaka Protocol

In updating our 1994 report, Arms Trade & Violations of the Laws of War in Angola, we found that despite the signing of the Lusaka Protocol between the Angolan government and UNITA that led to a cease-fire, sporadic fighting continued in 1995.
January 1, 1996

Return to Violence

Refugees, Civil Patrollers, and Impunity

Tens of thousands of Guatemalans fled systematic army repression between 1980 and 1983, flooding southern Mexico with refugees. Hundreds of thousands more were estimated to be displaced internally. Recent cases of state violence against returning refugees cast serious doubts on the Guatemalan government's commitment to ensure safe repatriation and foster the rule of law in rural areas.
January 1, 1996

Fighting Violence with Violence

Human Rights Abuse and Criminality in Rio de Janeiro

The homicide rate in Rio de Janeiro tripled in the last 15 years and public concern grew apace. The press, prominent civic leaders, and politicians focused particularly on violence related to criminal gangs and drug trafficking. Unfortu-nately, law enforcement efforts to control crime relied on flagrant and numerous human rights abuses.
January 1, 1996

Death By Default

A Policy of Fatal Neglect in China’s State Orphanages

China’s claim to guarantee the “right to subsistence” conceals a secret world of starvation, disease, and unnatural death a world into which thousands of Chinese citizens disappear each year.
January 1, 1996

Children in Combat

Throughout the world, thousands of children are used as soldiers in armed conflicts. Although international law forbids recruiting children under fifteen as soldiers, such young children may be found in government armies and, more commonly, in armed rebel groups.
December 1, 1995

China: Religious Persecution Persists

In the last two years, the Chinese government has issued new directives requiring all congregations to register with religious authorities, stepped up pressure on evangelists, and tightened control on contact with foreigners and distribution of religious materials. Those suspected of linking religion to political activity have been singled out for the harshest treatment.
November 1, 1995

Human Rights in the APEC Region

1995

Covering the human rights situations in 11 of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries, the evidence presented here suggests that economic growth alone has not led to greater human rights protection. Yet human rights was the issue that would not go away for Asia in 1995 as it became an economic issue, a determinant of aid and an irritant to trade from Burma to Indonesia.
November 1, 1995

Weapons Transfers and Violations of the Laws of War in Turkey

Since 1984, the government of Turkey has waged an increasingly bitter war with insurgents of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). To date, the toll is estimated at over 19,000 deaths, including some 2,000 death-squad killings of suspected PKK sympathizers, two million internally displaced, and more than 2,200 villages destroyed mostly by Turkish security forces. In an effort to root out PKK fighters and sympathizers from southeast Turkey, the government has adopted increasingly brutal counterinsurgency measures, in clear violation of international law. The PKK, for its part, has also systematically engaged in violations such as summary executions and indiscriminate fire.This report documents the Turkish security forces’ violations of human rights, and their reliance on U.S. and NATO-supplied weapons in doing so. Drawing on investigations of some 30 incidents that occurred between 1992 and 1995, the report links specific weapons systems to individual incidents of Turkish violations. Supplemented by interviews with former Turkish soldiers, U.S. officials and defense experts, the report concludes that U.S. weapons, as well as those supplied by other NATO members, are regularly used.