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MISSIONS
Human Rights Watch/Africa
January-February/ South Africa: Followed up previous work by investigating violence in Natal and abuses of freedom in Bophuthatswana.
January-February/ Burundi: Investigated massive human rights abuses as a part of an international commission.
March/ Ethiopia: Investigated issues of accountability for human rights violations by officials of the previous regime, and questions of freedom of association and press under the present government.
April-May/ Liberia: Conducted a fact-finding mission to investigate the use of child soldiers by the warring factions in Liberia for a joint project with the Children's Rights Project. The mission also investigated the human rights abuses associated with the ongoing fighting, especially involving the Liberian Peace Council.
May-June/ Angola: Conducted a joint mission with the Arms Project. This was the first visit by Human Rights Watch into UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) zones.
July-August/ Nigeria: Investigated human rights abuses directed against women, focusing on widows in the south, as part of a joint project with the Women's Rights Project.
September/South Africa: Followed up information from the May-June mission to Angola.
September/Kenya: Investigated progress made by the UNHCR in the North East Province since the 1993 issue of a report on rape of Somali refugees.
October-November/Nigeria: Investigated human rights abuses directed against women, documenting abuses against child brides in the north, as a part of a joint project with the Women's Rights Project.
Human Rights Watch/Americas
January/ El Salvador: Investigated the status of human rights and death squad killings prior to the March 1994 elections.
February/ Nicaragua: Evaluated the work of the Tri-partite Commission on political violence in Nicaragua.
February/ Haiti: Investigated increasingly widespread human rights violations, including a rise in the use of terror tactics such as rape by state agents, and to study internal displacement and refugee flight.
February/ Mexico: Investigated violations of the laws of war during the Chiapas uprising.
March/ Guatemala: Gathered material for a report on the first year of the government of President De Leòn Carpio. Spanish translation was released in September.
March/ Brazil: Researched violence against indigenous communities, particularly the Wapixana and Macuxi peoples in the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous area and the Northern Roraima state.
June/ Colombia: Investigated reports of political violence against children. Report released in November.
June/ Peru: Performed advocacy work on several outstanding cases of human rights abuses via meetings with government officials and national press.
June/ Mexico: Investigated political rights as they pertained to the up and coming national election.
June/ Miami: Investigated incidents of violent harassment and intimidation against moderate Cuban-Americans in the wake of their participation in a Havana conference in April.
July/ Peru: Investigated special courts set up to try treason and terrorist cases, as well as "popular trials" carried out by the Shining Path.
July/ U.S.-Mexico Border: Investigated new cases of human rights abuses committed by U.S. Border Patrols and examined efforts by the INS to improve the complaint, review and disciplinary procedures intended to hold abusive agents accountable.
August-September/ Brazil: Updated information concerning cases pending before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the OAS and updated information on violence against children and adolescents.
September-October/ Haiti: Raised the profile of issues related to accountability for human rights violations, with particular emphasis on the scope and content of an amnesty law under consideration in the first weeks of the U.S.-led armed intervention. Investigated the formation of an interim police force and plans to establish a new national civilian police. Monitored the efforts of the multinational force to disarm and dismantle paramilitary groupings.
November/ Guatemala: Attended the exhumation of remains of a disappearance victim, at the request of the family, and pressed the government to resolve that and other disappearance cases.
Human Rights Watch/Asia
February-March/ Nepal: Investigated reports of forced trafficking of Nepalese women and girls into brothels in India. Interviewed trafficking victims who had managed to return home, police and government officials; met with lawyers and human rights workers.
March/ Cambodia: Investigated foreign support for the Khmer Rouge, violations of the laws of war and military abuses, including allegations that secret prisons continued to operate in Battambang province under the direction of military intelligence units.
March/ Japan: Continued dialogue with government officials, Diet members, and others on Japan's human rights policies.
March/ Japan: (with the Women's Rights Project) Began an investigation of the trafficking of women from Southeast Asia in Japan.
May-June/ Thailand: Visited ethnic Mon refugees in Thailand. A report scheduled for publication in late November analyzed the reasons why refugees continued to leave Burma and their treatment by Thai authorities.
May-June/ India: Researched role of political forces in communal conflict in Bombay and Gujarat.
June/ Indonesia: Visited East Java, West Java and Kalimantan to investigate human rights abuses research and discuss advocacy strategies with NGOs.
July/ Japan: (with the Prison Project) Sent a delegation to assess conditions in Japanese penal institutions. Report expected in early 1995.
July-August/ India: Visited Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore to continue investigation of forced trafficking of Nepalese women and girls into brothels in India.
August/ Cambodia: Assessed new laws and regulations pertaining to immigration, control of the press and NGOs, and the government's willingness to investigate and punish military abuses.
July-December/ India: Began a long-term project to research the relationship between human rights and HIV/AIDS in India.
November/ Japan: Met with Japanese officials to discuss Japan's human rights policies as Asia's largest donor nation.
Human Rights Watch/Helsinki
March-April/ Serbia and Croatia: Investigated the trials of alleged war criminals.
March-April/ Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh: Investigated laws of war violations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
March/ Moscow and Tajikistan: Opened the Human Rights Watch/ Helsinki office in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The Tajikistan office officially opened on April 1, 1994.
April/ Turkey: Investigated the cause of the Democracy Party (DEP) parliamentarians who had been stripped of their immunity and were being charged with sedition.
May/ Romania and Bulgaria: Investigated mob violence and police brutality against Roma, as well as the response of investigatory and prosecutorial bodies.
May/ Kazakhastan: Participated in an international human rights conference.
May-June/ Bosnia-Herzegovina: Investigated rules of war violations in eastern Bosnia and Sarajevo.
June/ Georgia: Documented civil and political violations.
August/ Georgia: Monitored a trial, held a press conference and released the report Torture and Gross Violations of Due Process in Georgia, based on the trial.
August/ Russia: (Ingushetia, North Ossetia) Investigated rules of war violations in the conflict between North Ossetia and Ingushetia in the North Caucus region of Russia.
September/ Turkey: Investigated fighting between the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Turkish government, and forced civilian displacement in Southeast Turkey.
August-October/ Bosnia-Herzegovina: Investigated rules of war violations in eastern Bosnia and the status of human rights and accountability for past crimes in the Muslim/ Croat federation.
September/ Uzbekistan: Participated in a Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) seminar.
Human Rights Watch/Middle East
December/ United Arab Emirates: Participated in a one-day symposium organized by the Cultural Foundation of Abu-Dhabi on Universal Human Rights and Cultural Relevance in the Middle East.
December-January/ Kuwait: Observed trials before the State Security Court, to investigate conditions of the Bedoons; followed up on the fate of local human rights groups and the plight of Asian maids; and discussed the above issues with government officials and members of Parliament.
January/ Jordon: Participated in a one-week program arranged by the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists for human rights groups in the Middle East.
March/ Israel and the Occupied Territories: Interviewed Palestinian ex-detainees on their experience under interrogation, and investigated the government's response to settler violence in occupied territories.
April/ Paris: Met with Syrian human rights advocates.
June/ Israel and the Occupied Territories: Released Torture and Illtreatment reort, began investigating human rights in the Palestinian self-rule areas.
June-July/ Egypt: Investigated security forces practices; government crackdown on lawyers and the death-in-custody of lawyer Abel Harith Madani.
August/ Sweden: Participated in the Fifth Congress of the International Federation of Iranian Refugees and Immigrants Council.
September/ Israel and the Occupied Territories: Attended a conference on human rights enforcement and continued investigation of human rights in the Palestinian self-rule areas.
October/ Israel and the Occupied Territories: Met with local human rights organizations.
October/ Syria: Met with Syrian government officials to discuss human rights concerns and a fact-finding mission by Human Rights Watch/ Middle East.
The Arms Project
February-March and August/ Cambodia: Investigated violations of the laws of war in the fighting between the Cambodian government and the Khmer Rouge; uncovered evidence of the transfer of weapons, military aid and other services by Thailand, Indonesia and other governments to both parties.
May-June/ Angola: Investigated arms flows into Angola and violations of the laws of war by both the government and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) forces since the September 1992 elections.
The Children's Rights Project
April/ Liberia: (with Human Rights Watch/ Africa) Investigated the use of children as soldiers in the ongoing conflict.
June/ Jamaica: (in cooperation with Human Rights Watch/ Americas) Investigated the conditions in which children are held in detention with adults.
June/ Northern Ireland: (in cooperation with Human Rights Watch/ Helsinki) Investigated the abuse of children by security forces and paramilitaries.
October/ Geneva: Presented reports on Jamaica and Northern Ireland to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
November/ Colombia: (with Human Rights Watch/ Americas) Held press conferences in Bogotà and Medellìn to release report on the killing of street children.
The Prison Project
January/ Venezuela: Conducted an emergency mission following a prison massacre in Maracaibo.
February and April/ United States: (with Human Rights Watch/ Women's Rights Project) Interviewed victims of sexual abuse in prisons in Georgia and New York for a study of sexual abuse in US prisons.
February/ The Hague: Worked on a guide to prison standards.
February/ Vienna: Attended a preparatory meeting for the Ninth UN Congress on Crime and the Treatment of Offenders.
February/ Geneva: Presented Human Rights Watch oral intervention before a Commission on Human Rights.
May/ Geneva: Gave a presentation at the invitation of the ICRC at their teaching seminar for Detention Division field coordinators.
July/ Japan: Conducted a two-week fact finding mission of Japanese penal institutions, with a report expected in early 1995.
October/ Geneva: Participated in the UN Working Group on the Draft Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.
November/ the Hague: Participated in an international conference on prisons.
The Women's Rights Project
February/ Haiti: Examined the use of rape and sexual assault as political weapons under the Cédras regime.
March/ Russia: Documented employment discrimination against women and domestic violence.
April/ Japan: Researched trafficking and forced prostitution of Southeast Asian women and girls.
June/ Brazil: Gathered information on trafficking and forced prostitution of Brazilian women.
August and October/ Nigeria: Investigated abuses against widows and child brides.
September/ Kenya: Conducted a follow-up mission on rape and sexual abuse of Somali refugee women.
Year long/ United States: Investigated sexual and physical abuse of incarcerated women in US prisons.
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