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Human Rights Watch ----
---- Human Rights Watch has mobilized an emergency response to the unfolding conflict in Iraq. Human Rights Watch does not take a position on the legality of the war, in order to maximize our effectiveness in protecting noncombatants in the course of war. Drawing on our experience with previous conflicts, from the 1991 Gulf War to the most recent military action in Afghanistan, we will be closely monitoring the conduct of all the warring parties and bringing human rights and humanitarian concerns to the attention of the international community. Human Rights Watch has deployed researchers to Iraqi Kurdistan and neighboring countries to gather first-hand information on human rights developments and ensure that abuses are brought to light. In the opening stages of the conflict, we have:
Human Rights Watch bulletins have received extensive press coverage. Regular news, information and appeals on Iraq can be found on our Web site at: http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/iraq ---- On March 13, the Guatemalan government and human rights advocates reached a historic agreement to establish a three-member commission of inquiry to investigate clandestine groups that are responsible for attacks on human rights defenders, justice officials, witnesses in key cases, and civil society leaders. The commission, which addresses one of the worst legacies of Guatemala's civil war, will also examine these groups' alleged links to both state agents and organized crime. The agreement was reach after several weeks of negotiations facilitated by Human Rights Watch aimed at finding common ground between the government, Guatemalan rights groups, and the Guatemalan government's human rights ombudsman. We also helped the parties to draft the language of the final accord. The agreement will be implemented in six months and will be monitored by Human Rights Watch. Find out more about human rights in Guatemala at http://hrw.org/americas/guatemala.php A cease-fire agreement signed on December 3, 2002 was supposed to end the civil war in Burundi, but its vague wording and lack of implementation left the way open to continuing clashes. On February 21, 2003, the rebel force, National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (Conseil National pour la Dˇfense de la Democratie-Forces pour la Dˇfense de la Democratie, CNDD-FDD), renounced the agreement and broke off negotiations with the government. On February 28, to coincide with a visit to Burundi by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch released a briefing paper, "Burundi: Civilians Pay the Price of Faltering Peace Process," documenting a recent massacre of civilians by the Burundian military. Government soldiers also reportedly raped women and burned and pillaged villages in the neighboring communes of Kinyinya and Nyabitsinda. The military has prevented local residents, who were forced to flee, from returning to their homes. Claiming security concerns, the military has also refused to allow humanitarian aid organizations to enter large areas of Ruyigi province since mid-January. After HRW released the briefing paper, Burundian authorities informed the United States that it would facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid to eastern Burundi. Although Burundi officials did let Mˇdecins Sans Fronti¸res into the region, access lasted for only one day and has since been blocked. Human Rights Watch is following up. In the briefing paper, Human Rights Watch also documented the egregious flaws in the military trial of two officers for the massacre of 173 civilians in Itaba on September 9, 2002. The court found the officers guilty only of "failure to follow orders," and imposed a sentence of four months, less than the time already served. Thanks to Human Rights Watch's work tracking down the location and time of the trial, local and international observers were present to monitor the proceedings. On his departure from Burundi, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a press release that incorporated many of Human Rights Watch's findings and stressed that the trial for the Itaba massacre fell short of international standards. Five days later, the European Union called on the Burundian government to create a neutral investigative commission to prepare a new case because the previous trial was so inadequate. Read the briefing paper at http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/burundi/burundi0203.htm For more on Human Rights Watch's work on Burundi, visit ---- Human Rights Watch helped to draft and collect signatures for a letter sent by members of the United States Congress requesting the immediate release of two prisoners, Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang, from the Liaoyang area of Liaoning province in northeast China. In March 2002, they were charged with subversion, a crime that could carry the death penalty or a life sentence, apparently for organizing factory workers to peacefully seek an end to corruption and improvements in the treatment of laid off workers. Workers in Liaoyang have brought longstanding grievances to the government regarding pensions, insurance premiums, and back pay of workers, as well as managerial corruption at area factories. The letter expressed concern that such detentions violate rights guaranteed to citizens under the Chinese Constitution, as well as international treaties that China has signed or ratified, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The letter was hand-delivered by U.S. Representative Bernie Sanders to President Jiang Zemin on January 15, the date of the trial. As of today, no verdict has been announced. Read more about human rights in China at http://hrw.org/asia/china.php ---- Barbara Boxer, a Democrat senator from California, who has been a prominent advocate for women in Afghanistan, questioned Afghan President Hamid Karzai when he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the last week of February. She spoke to President Karzai about the situation of women and girls who are detained by the police for being caught alone with unrelated men and are then subjected to medical examinations to determine whether they had engaged in sexual relations. These and other abuses were documented in Human Rights Watch's recent report, "We Want to Live as Humans: Repression of Women and Girls in Western Afghanistan," which Senator Boxer referred to repeatedly during the Committee session. Read the report online at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/afghnwmn1202/ ---- Uzbek opposition figure Ergash Bobojanov, arrested and charged with criminal defamation, was released under a presidential amnesty on February 26, the day after Human Rights Watch issued a press statement calling for his release. Police arrested Bobojanov, a member of the opposition movement "Birlik" (Unity), at his home in the Fergana Valley on February 17. The police beat him and charged him with criminal defamation for writing newspaper articles, published in 1999 and 2001 respectively, that criticized the government and highlighted local official corruption. Bobojanov is only one of many victims of the Uzbek government's continued intolerance of criticism. On February 22, police in Tashkent detained Oleg Sarapulov, an assistant to an independent journalist, and held him for two days without access to a lawyer or family and friends. He was questioned about two Internet articles in his possession that were critical of the Uzbek government and that he allegedly distributed to others. More recently, on March 7, Husnidin Kutbidinov of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Yusuf Rasulov of Voice of America were attacked and beaten by a group of approximately twenty men, who were allegedly acting under orders from the Tashkent city police. The two journalists were covering a protest by women relatives of religious prisoners. The police took away their recording equipment and their taped interviews with the women. Uniformed police officers standing nearby had looked on without interfering with the assault. And on March 13, authorities dismissed the editor-in-chief of Khuriat, one of the main newspapers in Uzbekistan, apparently for publishing articles about children's rights. The above incidents of harassment, arrests, and assault give rise to serious concern about the prospects for a productive annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), scheduled to take place in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, in early May. Human Rights Watch and more than fifty partner NGOs have been calling on the Bank to condition the holding of the meeting on concrete improvements in human rights and democracy, in order to ensure that the meeting is not interpreted as an endorsement of the Uzbek government's repressive policies. In its new country strategy for Uzbekistan, released on March 16, the Bank set specific benchmarks for human rights improvements that the Uzbek government needs to fulfill, but failed to link progress in satisfying these benchmarks to the forthcoming annual meeting. Read more about campaign at http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/uzbekistan/ ---- After first-round voting in Armenia's presidential elections, held February 19, police arrested up to two hundred opposition campaign officials and supporters in an obvious attempt to intimidate and disable the opposition before the run-off. A press release by Human Rights Watch contributed to a groundswell of domestic and international criticism, which led to the release of at least 32 of the detainees. About seventy-five opposition activists were handed fifteen-day terms of imprisonment under Armenia's controversial Soviet-era Code of Administrative Offenses, for alleged public order violations prior to the second-round vote. In September 2002, the Council of Europe called on Armenia to repeal the code, citing its abusive enforcement. Human Rights Watch documented widespread abuses, including ballot-stuffing, intimidation, and arbitrary arrests, that marred the March 5 run-off vote. In an unusually strong statement issued on March 6 at a press conference in Yerevan, the International Election Observation Mission, consisting of monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe, said the election fell short of international standards, and cited "widespread incidence of ballot stuffing throughout the country." Read HRW's press release at http://hrw.org/press/2003/03/armenia030703.htm ---- From March 28 to April 3, the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival will be co-presenting the First Annual Festival on Human Rights in Geneva, to coincide with the 59th working session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. The festival opens with "Bloody Sunday," Paul Greengrass's passionate and suspenseful retelling of the tragic events that took place in Derry, Northern Ireland, in January 1972. Other highlights of the festival include Eugene Jarecki's powerful and controversial documentary, "The Trials of Henry Kissinger," Nicolas Rossier's insightful documentary on Arabs and Muslims living in the United States post-September 11th, and Masoud Raouf's moving portrait of Iranian immigrants currently living in Canada. All festival screenings will be followed by panel discussions with human rights experts. On another note, the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival enjoyed its seventh annual run in London from March 12 to 20, 2003. Find out more at http://www.hrw.org/iff/ ---- Your contribution to Human Rights Watch will allow us to continue to investigate human rights conditions in more than 70 countries and to generate pressure to end abuses. HRW does not accept financial support from any government or government agency. Every investigation we undertake, every advocacy campaign we embark on, and every report we produce is funded solely by generous private contributions. To find out more about membership, or to make a donation online, by phone, or by postal mail, visit http://www.hrw.org/donations// |
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