November-December 2004
Millions of Landmines Destroyed with Help of Global Treaty
A 5-year study from the
International
Campaign
to Ban Landmines (ICBL) shows
that since the international treaty to ban antipersonnel mines took effect five
years ago, 65 countries have completely destroyed their stockpiles, collectively
eradicating more than 37 million antipersonnel mines. Human Rights Watch is a
founding member of the ICBL—which received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize—and
is the lead agency for the Landmine Monitor project. Of the more than 50 countries
known to have manufactured antipersonnel mines in the past, all but 15 have officially
halted mine production, and several have not produced them in a number of years.
Only Russia and Burma have used antipersonnel mines regularly since 1999.
Learn
more.
South Africa: Government Responds to Human Rights Watch Criticism of
Education Policies
Our June report, Forgotten Schools: Right to Basic Education
for Children in Farms in South Africa, spurred government
action to improve the right of South African children to obtain an education.
The report highlighted the government’s neglect of farm schools,
which provide the only educational opportunity for many of South Africa’s
rural children. Citing our report, and relying extensively on our research,
the South African government appointed a committee to specifically examine
schools on commercial farms. This issue, largely unknown before the release
of our report, has motivated the press and public alike. After reading
about our report in the media, one private U.S.-based company donated
desks to a South African school. The same company is organizing large-scale
corporate donations to farm schools in several South African provinces.
Uganda: Torture Findings Confirmed by Human Rights Commission
Last month, the Ugandan Human Rights Commission vindicated our March
report, State of Pain: Torture in Uganda, by confirming the widespread
torture of political opposition members by Ugandan security and intelligence
forces. The Commission’s report states that torture is “presented
as part of training” and is “indispensable” to the
operations of some Ugandan security agencies. Our report—which
the government had attempted to deny—revealed that political
opposition members and supporters are often detained indefinitely in
converted “safe houses,” severely beaten and tortured,
and threatened with death.
Chile: Mapuche Defendants Acquitted of Unjust Terrorism Charges
Marking a victory for justice—and immediately following a Human
Rights Watch report on the subject—seven members of the indigenous
Mapuche community, and a non-Mapuche sympathizer, were acquitted on charges
of terrorism in Chile. The court concluded unanimously that evidence
against the defendants was too weak to sustain the charges. Since the
1990s, the Mapuche have clashed, sometimes violently, with forestry companies
and landowners over land that they claim is theirs. Our report, Undue
Process: Terrorism Trials, Military Courts and the Mapuche in Southern
Chile, exposed the unjustified and disproportionate use of Pinochet-era
antiterrorism laws to punish the Mapuches for common crimes. Judges on
the panel said they read our report carefully, and the lead defense lawyer
in the case also cited our report in his statements. Read
more about this issue and the court’s decision.
Turkey: Kurdish Activist Will Not Be Extradited from Netherlands
Nuriye Kesbir, a Kurdish rights activist who has expressed nonviolent
dissident opinions, will not be extradited to Turkey, where she could
face torture if she were returned. Kesbir sought asylum in the Netherlands
in 2001. In its reasoning, the District Court at The Hague prohibited
extradition of Kesbir to Turkey and explicitly referred to letters
and reports from Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch has worked
to press the government of Turkey to uphold the rule of law and to
eliminate the use of torture, particularly in light of the country’s
efforts to join the European Union. More on the topic can be found
at: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/10/04/turkey9434.htm
IN THE NEWS:
Bring
the Darfur Killers to the ICC
In an article for The Financial Times,
Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth argues that those responsible
for the ethnic cleansing
in Sudan
should
be brought before the International Criminal Court.
Canada's Darfur Imperatives
In an article for The Globe and Mail, Georgette Gagnon, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Africa Division, urges Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin to use his trip to use his trip to Sudan to advance his stated quest to define a new, more activist, international role for Canada.
Now, Protect Ivoirian Civilians
Senior
Africa Researcher Corinne Dufka writes on the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire
for The International Herald Tribune.
Fair Housing
Read why The New York Times endorsed
the findings of our report on housing discrimination.
All Jamaicans Are Threatened by a Culture of Homophobia
HIV/AIDS researcher Rebecca Schleifer presents the findings of her report for
London’s Observer.
