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Published before 1998 Bahrain: Human Rights Developments (Overview of 1997) The human rights situation in Bahrain showed no improvement in 1997 and in some respects worsened. Street protests and clashes between security forces and demonstrators calling for political reform, which had first erupted in December 1994, continued throughout the year, intensifying in June 1997. Shaikh Abd al-Amir al-Jamri and seven other Shi`a community leaders, arrested inJanuary 1996, remained in detention without charge. The government continued to prosecute persons on security-related charges in the State Security Court, where procedures did not meet basic fair trial standards and whose verdicts were not subject to appeal. The exercise of the freedoms of assembly and political association remained effectively outlawed under the terms of the penal code and the law of societies and clubs. December 10, 1997 Background Briefing Purchase online Transition and Human Rights Violations in Congo In its bid to monopolize power, the government of the Congo severely cracked down on those political parties with any credible claim of popularity and national presence. Police and a plethora of security agencies attacked their meetings, public and private, and arrested their supporters and often subjected them to torture and ill-treatment. The attacks were strategically targeted to cripple the infrastructure of these parties, and frighten away their militants, particularly those in the youth branches and the student movement who to a large extent give the opposition its vitality and credibility. Human rights defenders who stepped forward to denounce the abuses themselves became the targets of arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment.The Congolese government's promise to organize elections within two years appears to have been accepted uncritically by certain members of the international community as democratic credential, deserving immediate international recognition. HRW Index No.: A909 December 1, 1997 Report Purchase online Torture and Political Persecution in Peru In the past few years, the human rights panorama in Peru has brightened considerably because of the decline in the massive "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions that has accompanied reduced political violence. Despite this positive trend, however, serious human rights violations continue, chief among them the use of torture. With the success of the Alberto Fujimori administration in substantially crippling the armed opposition groups' military capacity, counterinsurgency efforts are now conducted principally through a system of special anti-terrorism courts and military tribunals, backed by a ubiquitous intelligence apparatus. Institutionalized torture plays a key role in this system. Torture is also routine in the interrogation of suspects in cases of common crime. The army has even used torture against its own members who came under suspicion of endangering national security. Two armed opposition groups, the Communist Party of Peru-Shining Path (Partido Comunista del Perú-Sendero Luminoso, PCP-SL), known as the Shining Path, and the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru, MRTA), both consistently breach basic principles of international humanitarian law. The Shining Path commits selective assassinations of its civilian opponents and carries out indiscriminate attacks, killing and maiming civilians. The MRTA, on a lesser scale, has also resorted to executions and indiscriminate attacks, and has kidnaped civilians and taken them hostage for lucrative ransoms or to force the government into releasing imprisoned cadres. Both organizations have resorted to torture, usually as a prelude to execution. December 1, 1997 Report Purchase online Communal Violence in West Kalimantan The Indonesian government made a series of serious missteps leading to human rights violations in its handling of one of the worst outbreaks of ethnic conflict the country has seen in decades, according to a new report, Communal Violence in West Kalimantan. The new report, issued as the first anniversary of the violence approaches, documents the conflict that erupted in late 1996 and early 1997 between indigenous Dayak people and immigrants from the island of Madura who settled in the province of West Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo site of the forest fires that are currently wreaking environmental havoc across Southeast Asia. Based on investigations in the province in January and July, the report gives a lower death toll than most previous accounts, documenting about 500 deaths rather than 1,000 or higher as was initially reported. It notes that major questions remain unanswered almost a year later about how the conflict spread and about army and police actions that may have exacerbated the conflict. The report itself does not come to any conclusion about a central question: whether the worst of the violence was spontaneous or manipulated. Human Rights Watch does state, however, that in two short visits, it was unable to find any hard evidence of provocateurs. Instead, it outlines the kind of information that would have to be collected before such a judgment can be made and stresses the importance of a thorough and impartial investigation if another round of violence is to be avoided. One year later, the situation remains explosive. December 1, 1997 Report Purchase online Rural Unrest in Vietnam The 15-page report, "Rural Unrest in Vietnam," documents the causes and implications of continuing protests against corruption, land disputes, and compulsory labor in Thai Binh province beginning last May, as well as violent unrest in the largely Catholic district of Thong Nhat in Dong Nai province last month, initially sparked by expropriation of church land by corrupt local authorities. December 1, 1997 Report Purchase online Too Little: Too Late State Response to Violence Against Women In March 1995, Human Rights Watch released Neither Jobs Nor Justice, a report documenting widespread employment discrimination on the basis of sex that was practiced, condoned, and tolerated by the Russian government. The report also described how Russian law enforcement agencies routinely denied women their right to equal protection of the law by failing to investigate and prosecute violence against women. HRW Index No.: D913 December 1, 1997 Report Purchase online Ethiopia- The Curtailment of Rights With the legacy of the Derg behind it, the EPRDF proclaimed, as it instituted a four-year transitional period (1991-1995), its commitment to democratization and respect for the rule of law and pledged to establish human rights in the country. The transitional legislature ratified the major international human rights treaties. The constitution of today's Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia offers detailed basic human rights guarantees and provides for the incorporation into domestic laws of all the human rights treaties to which Ethiopia is party. New laws were enacted that guarantee the respect of human rights and civil liberties, institute the independence of the judiciary and the press, and provide for multipartyism and free universal suffrage, theoretically allowing the convening of competitive elections for the first time in the country's history. HRW Index No.: A908 December 1, 1997 Report Purchase online Ethiopia The Curtailment of Rights In May 1991, the Ethiopian People=s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took power in Ethiopia, having defeated the Derg military dictatorship after almost two decades of civil war. The Derg had presided over one of the darkest periods in recent Ethiopian history, a time in which security forces orchestrated the elimination of thousands of suspected members of urban opposition groups. In rural areas, government attempts to repress rebellious ethnic groups and regions translated into indiscriminate military campaigns that targeted unarmed civilians in total disregard of basic norms of international humanitarian law. Economic mismanagement and tight state=s control over the economy further exacerbated the vulnerability of the rural population. An estimated one million people succumbed to starvation and disease during the tragic famine of the mid-eighties, a disaster due in large part to misguided government policies. Thousands of impoverished peasants died as the government forced the entire populations of famine-affected regions to relocate. The Derg=s interest in its own political survival was, however, more central in the ill-fated move than humanitarian concerns. December 1, 1997 Report Download PDF, 479 KB, 71 pgs Printer friendly version Behind Vietnam's Open Door:A Climate of Internal Repression While the Vietnamese government pursues this open-door policy and continues to woo foreign investment, domestically it is strengthening Communist Party control, repressing dissent and stifling any development of civil society. November 11, 1997 Background Briefing Human Rights Under the Palestinian Authority The first three years of Palestinian self-rule have been characterized by widespread arbitrary and abusive conduct by the PA and its mushrooming security agencies. Hundreds of arbitrary detentions were carried out that violated defendants' most elemental due-process rights. Those who were interrogated were commonly tortured. Physical abuse caused or contributed to many of the fourteen deaths that occurred in custody. October 3, 1997 Report Purchase online Transition or Travesty: Nigeria's Endless Process of Return to Civilian Rule In November 1995, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (chogm), convened in Auckland, New Zealand, suspended Nigeria from membership in the Commonwealth pending its compliance with the principles of the 1991 Harare Declaration, which commits Commonwealth members to democratic political processes and respect for human rights and the rule of law. The suspension was in protest over the arbitrary execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (mosop) on November 10, 1995, while chogm was in session, and also over the persistent hold of Nigeria's armed forces on government and their failure to return the country to civilian rule. The heads of government stated that if no demonstrable progress was made towards respect for the Harare Declaration, including the release of political prisoners, Nigeria would be expelled from the Commonwealth. Two years later, the Nigerian military government led by Gen. Sani Abacha has failed to make progress with regard to any of the principles set out in the Harare Declaration. Over the last two years, international criticism of Nigeria has become more muted. While measures imposed in 1993 and 1995 remain in place, certain countries have expressed frustration with the failure of sanctions to achieve instant results and have indicated that they should therefore be relaxed. Human rights and opposition activists in Nigeria, however, are convinced—as is Human Rights Watch— that the situation in Nigeria would be far worse if these sanctions had not been imposed. Nigeria's international isolation should be maintained pending the installation of a civilian government elected following a transition program that allows all parts of the Nigerian political spectrum to participate and that respects certain basic minimum standards, as set out below. Accordingly, Human Rights Watch recommends to chogm that Nigeria be expelled at the meeting in Edinburgh, taking place in October 1997, two years after Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth at Auckland. October 1, 1997 Report Purchase online Emerging From Destruction On July 19, 1997, Liberia's seven-year war was finally ended through an election that swept former faction leader Charles Taylor and his party, the National Patriotic Party (NPP), into power with 75 percent of the vote. Due to the system of proportional representation used in the 1997 Liberian election, Charles Taylor also garnered a corresponding 75 percent majority in the legislature, giving him seventy of the ninety legislative seats. The new government is beginning the process of establishing and consolidating its authority in the face of enormous challenges. Tens of thousands of Liberians were killed during the fighting. Almost half the population is displaced, and the country's infrastructure is virtually destroyed. Ultimately, over a dozen peace accords and almost twenty cease-fire agreements were signed during the countless negotiations for peace. The repeated breakdown of the peace process can be attributed to a number of factors including the internal factionalization of the warring factions along ethnic lines, and their economic and political incentives for continuing the war. The proliferation of these groups was encouraged by the creation and support of anti-Taylor factions by the former government army and the regional peacekeeping force. Moreover, the lack of adequate leadership, training, and financing of the regional peacekeepers, and the unwillingness of the U.N. military observer mission to address the weaknesses of the regional peacekeeping force further contributed to the country's problems. October 1, 1997 Report Purchase online Without Status or Protection: Lebanese Detainees in Israel This report concerns twenty-one Lebanese imprisoned in Israel and the conditions and indefinite prolongation of their detention. These detainees have been held for up to ten years, some of them in secret locations, denied even the guarantees of due process and humane treatment required by the laws of war. Some of them "disappeared" after their transfer to secret detention in Israel, their custody denied for up to two years by Israeli officials. All of the detainees were initially held incommunicado, in conditions in which ill-treatment and torture by Israeli security forces is known routinely to occur. Two of the detainees continue to be held in utter secrecy and isolation in undisclosed locations; one of them has been in this situation since 1989. Others among these prisoners completed prison sentences in Israel up to nine years ago: orders for their deportation upon release were suspended without explanation and their long imprisonment under administrative orders began. All of the twenty-one were captured inside Lebanon by Israeli troops or Lebanese militia with close ties to Israel, such as the Lebanese Forces and the South Lebanon Army SLA). October 1, 1997 Report Purchase online France: Toward a Just and Humane Asylum Policy For over a year, Human Rights Watch investigated and monitored French asylum policies, conducting numerous interviews with lawyers, human rights advocates, refugee assistance organizations, asylum seekers, and government officials. In the course of this work, we have identified several aspects of French asylum policy that contravene governing international standards. In particular, we have found deficiencies in access to the asylum procedure, the procedural rights accorded during that procedure, and the jurisprudence interpreting the scope of France's obligations under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the "Refugee Convention"). We therefore welcome the Jospin government's plans to include asylum policy within its reform effort, and we urge it to seize this opportunity to bring France's policies and practices in line with its international commitments. October 1, 1997 Report Purchase online What Kabila is Hiding: Civilian Killings and Impunity in Congo The Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) and the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL) carried out massive killings of civilian refugees and other violations of basic principles of international humanitarian law during attacks on refugee camps in the former Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) that began in late 1996, and in the ensuing seven months as war spread across the country. The war pitted the ADFL, used here to mean all forces under the nominal command of Laurent-Desiré Kabila, with important backing from Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola and other neighboring states, against a coalition of then President Mobutu Sese Seko's Zairian Armed Forces (FAZ), former Rwandan Armed Forces (ex-FAR), Rwandan Interahamwe militia, and mercenaries. In addition to overthrowing former Zairian President Mobutu, the RPA and ADFL sought to disperse the refugee camps in Eastern Zaire, home to hundreds of thousands of civilian refugees as well as the ex-FAR and Interahamwe. Since the beginning of the war in the former Zaire gross violations of international humanitarian law have been committed by all parties to the conflict. HRW Index No.: A905 October 1, 1997 Report Purchase online Cold Storage Super-Maximum Security Confinement in Indiana In the United States, correctional authorities are relying increasingly on special super-maximum security facilities to confine disruptive or dangerous prisoners. Prolonged confinement in these conditions can be devastating psychologically. While recognizing legitimate security considerations in the housing of prisoners who break prison rules, Human Rights Watch concludes that security cannot justify conditions that constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This report is the first comprehensive assessment under international human rights law of super-maximum security facilities in the United States which house prisoners who will someday be released back into society. HRW Index No.: 1-56432-175-4 October 1, 1997 Report Purchase online Flawed Justice The Execution of `Abd al-Karim Mara`i al-Naqshabandi In stark contrast to the worldwide trend toward abolition of the death penalty, in Saudi Arabia its use has become increasingly frequent. Since 1990 at least 540 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia, usually by public beheading; at least one hundred people were reported executed in the first nine months of 1997 alone. Most of these were foreigners accused of any of a variety of offenses, including drug-trafficking, murder, armed robbery, and sexual offenses. In at least some cases there was ample evidence to support victims' claims of innocence. HRW Index No.: E909 October 1, 1997 Report Purchase online STATE CONTROL OF RELIGION Religion is becoming more and more important in China. In a country that remains officially atheist, conversions to Christianity have risen sharply, the country's 19 million Muslims are attracting the attention of their co-religionists elsewhere, and Buddhism is the fastest growing religion of all. The Chinese government acknowledges 100 million believers of all faiths out of a population of 1.2 billion, but it has been using the 100 million figure since the mid-1950s. In the kind of intrusive control the Chinese government exercises over religious activities, it violates the rights to freedom of association, assembly, and expression as well as freedom of religion. The only limitations that a government can impose, according to the declaration, are those necessary to secure "due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others" and protecting "morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society." The peaceful gathering of unregistered groups is no threat to morality, public order, or general welfare; China's onerous registration requirements are clearly an unnecessary limitation on freedom of religion, particularly when failure to register results in some of the penalties outlined above. HRW Index No.: 2246 October 1, 1997 Report Purchase online France Toward a Just and Humane Asylum Policy When he took office in June, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin promised to revisit some of the most restrictive elements of immigration and asylum policy adopted in recent years. Acting promptly on this commitment, in July he appointed academic Patrick Weil to head a commission to examine the entire immigration and asylum system and make recommendations for its reform. The Weil report, released on July 31, contains proposals that have been transposed into draft legislation currently under consideration by the French government. For the past year, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki has investigated and monitored French asylum policies, conducting numerous interviews with lawyers, human rights advocates, refugee assistance organizations, asylum seekers, and government officials. In the course of this work, we have identified several aspects of French asylum policy that contravene governing international standards. In particular, we have found deficiencies in access to the asylum procedure, the procedural rights accorded during that procedure, and the jurisprudence interpreting the scope of France's obligations under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the ARefugee Convention). We therefore welcome the Jospin government's plans to include asylum policy within its reform effort, and we urge it to seize this opportunity to bring France=s policies and practices in line with its international commitments. October 1, 1997 Report Download PDF, 282 KB, 33 pgs Printer friendly version Iran: Religious and Ethnic Minorities Discrimination in Law and Practice The situation of religious and ethnic minorities is a neglected aspect of the human rights picture in Iran. With the exception of the persecution of the Baha'i religious minority, little has been written about human rights problems experienced by minorities. Yet, as this report shows, ethnic and religious differences underlie some of the most persistent and serious human rights problems in Iran today. Gathering information about the situation in parts of Iran that are particularly inaccessible to the international media and human rights researchers, such as the Kurdish region of the northwest or the Baluchi region of the southeast, presented particular problems when preparing this report. Information provided by political opposition groups active in these regions is often difficult to verify. Some minority religious communities, apparently out of fear, tend to prefer not to call attention to discrimination against them, making information harder to collect. This appears to be the case with Jews and Zoroastrians. Even activists living abroad are reticent in providing specific information because they fear that if they are identified as the source, they or their relatives still living in Iran will become the target of government reprisals, or that reprisals may be taken against their relatives still living in Iran. Iranian government attacks against its opponents overseas continue to justify such fears. For this reason, several of the activists who provided information to Human Rights Watch are, at their own request, not identified in the report. Human Rights Watch visited Iran at the invitation of the government in January 1996. While in Iran, it heard unverified reports of human rights violations directed against Sunni Muslim Baluchi activists. In April 1997, Human Rights Watch wrote to the government requesting permission to visit Iran in order to research the status of minorities. This letter also requested answers to specific questions about cases of alleged violations of human rights relating to religious and ethnic minorities. The government has not responded to the letter. September 1, 1997 Report Purchase online |
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