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January 31, 1992

Ghana: Revolutionary Injustice

Abuse of the Legal System Under the PNDC Government

Soon after it came to power, Ghana's ruling Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) established a "revolutionary" court system. Consisting of Public Tribunals which operate within the country's judicial system, this parallel system for the administration of justice has shown a cavalier disregard for normal judicial procedures.
January 17, 1992

Human Rights Violations in the New Georgia

Major human rights violations go far to explain the ouster of Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Helsinki Watch hopes that the new rulers of Georgia are mindful of these violations as they consolidate power and establish a new government. There are, however, several disturbing incidents which suggest that this may not be the case.
January 9, 1992

Students Detained for Supporting East-Timor's Independence

Over 60 East Timorese, many of them students, remain in detention in Jakarta and Dili, capital of East Timor in the aftermath of the November 12 massacre in Dili in which upwards of 75 demonstrators were killed when Indonesian troops opened fire. All are facing trial, some on criminal charges, some on charges of subversion. Asia Watch believes that most were in fact arrested for the non-violent expression of their support for East Timor's independence and should be released unconditionally; any who engaged in violence should be charged with an appropriate criminal offense and have all the rights guaranteed to detainees by domestic and international law.
January 9, 1992

Asia Watch Calls for Internation Monitors at Trials of East Timorese

Over 60 East Timorese, many of them students, remain in detention in Jakarta and Dili, capital of East Timor in the aftermath of the November 12 massacre in Dili in which upwards of 75 demonstrators were killed when Indonesian troops opened fire. All are facing trial, some on criminal charges, some on charges of subversion.
January 3, 1992

Timor-Leste: Asia Watch Investigates Killings by Indonesian Forces

Asia Watch has studied the preliminary report of the National Commission of Inquiry prepared by the seven-person team appointed by President Suharto to investigate the killings in Dili, East Timor on November 12, 1991, when Indonesian armed forces opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. It has also reviewed the Indonesian press covering the two and a half week long investigation and interviewed people in Dili at the time the investigation was taking place. Based on these sources, Asia Watch concludes that the National Commission's investigation was fatally flawed by the Commission's government ties and by the lack of experience of those involved in conducting investigations of this kind.
January 3, 1992

Asia Watch Criticizes Commission Report On East Timor

Asia Watch has studied the preliminary report of the National Commission of Inquiry prepared by the seven-person team appointed by President Suharto to investigate the killings in Dili, East Timor on November 12, 1991, when Indonesian armed forces opened fire on unarmed demonstrators.
January 1, 1992

Nothing Unusual

The Torture of Children in Turkey

Helsinki Watch has documented scores of cases of torture in Turkey since 1982, and Turkish lawyers who represent detainees claim that police routinely torture between 80 and 90 percent of political suspects and about 50 percent of ordinary criminal suspects, including children. Nothing Unusual documents the torture of children under the age of eighteen in Turkey.
December 27, 1991

Conflict in Georgia

Human Rights Violations by the Government of Zviad Gamsakhurdia

Helsinki Watch has sent two fact-finding missions to Georgia in recent months that have documented severe violations of human rights on the part of the Gamsakhurdia government, including violations of freedom of speech and the press, violations of the right to free assembly, the imprisonment of political opponents, some of whom have not used or incited others to violence, the torture and mistreatm
December 13, 1991

The Jesuit Trial

An Observer's Report

The trial of nine Salvadoran army soldiers and officers accused in the November 1989 murders of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter took place in San Salvador on September 26-28, 1991, in front of a host of international observers including Americas Watch.
December 12, 1991

East Timor: The November 12 Massacre And Its Aftermath

On November 12, 1991 in Dili, the capital of East Timor, anywhere from 75 to 200 people are estimated to have been killed when Indonesian troops opened fire on a demonstration. The demonstrators were calling for the independence of East Timor, the former Portuguese colony of some 700,000 people on the eastern half of the island of Timor, off the north Australian coast.