• Fund Cites Persecuted Writers
    May 20, 1991

    At the request of the estates of the American writers Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett, the Fund for
    Free Expression administers a special fund for writers of fiction or non-fiction, anywhere in the world, who are in
    financial need as a result of political persecution. The grants are made annually by a five-member selection

  • Indonesia: Criminal Charges For Political Caricatures
    May 11, 1991

    Indonesian authorities are about to bring at least two young men to trial on charges of insulting public officials for having distributed a calendar that caricatured government leaders.

  • Kashmir Under Siege
    May 1, 1991

    Since the partition of India in 1947, Kashmir, with a predominantly Muslim population, has been the site of militant unrest and a cause for war with Pakistan.

  • Human Rights Crisis as Central Power Crumbles
    Apr 30, 1991

    Ethiopia is in the midst of a massive political upheaval. Government forces have been defeated in recent rebel offensives, endangering the survival of the government of President Mengistu Haile Mariam.

  • Guatemala: Slaying of Rights Activists, Impunity Prevail Under New Government
    Apr 14, 1991

    The violent events of February 17, 1991, and their aftermath suggest that egregious violations continue to be committed with impunity by agents of the Guatemalan state and that human rights activists, who risk their lives to protect others, continue to be severely persecuted.

  • Indonesia's Salman Rushdie
    Apr 10, 1991

    On April 8, 1991, Arswendo Atmowiloto, a young newspaper editor in Jakarta was sentenced to five years in prison. His arrest, trial and conviction on charges of insulting a religion raise questions about the relationship between freedom of expression, religious sensitivity, and political manipulation in an overwhelmingly Muslim society.

  • Human Rights in Post-Invasion Panama
    Apr 7, 1991

    The ouster of General Manuel Noriega in December 1989 and the installation of the democratically-elected coalition government of President Guillermo Endara brought high hopes in Panama that a long period of disrespect for law and the civil rights of the Panamanian people had come to an end.

  • Since the Revolution
    Apr 1, 1991

    Shortly after the December 1989 revolution in Romania, many of the most repressive practices of the Ceausescu era were abolished. As Romanians looked forward to 1990, there was much to celebrate. However, the initial euphoria was quickly followed by a bitter realization that, although Ceausescu was gone, he had left his mark on every institution and every citizen.

  • Albania
    Apr 1, 1991

    In advance of Albania’s first contested elections under Communist rule on March 31, we took part in a fact-finding mission from March 7 to March 12 as part of the first team of independent human rights investigators to have officially visited the country.

  • Prison Conditions in India
    Apr 1, 1991

    Despite the checks and balances inherent in India’s democratic structure designed to curb government lawlessness, the institutional basis for the prison system has become grossly unfair.