Human Rights Watch Background Briefings - 1999
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Human Rights Watch Background Briefings - 1999 |
| Last Updated February, 2001 | |
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Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam headed the junta which in 1974 overthrew the government of Emperor Haile Selassie in a bloody coup. Known as the "Derg" or "Dergue," the "committee," the junta consisted of about a hundred junior officers drawn from all regions of Ethiopia. Ethiopian Dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam November 24, 1999 Reforming Bulgaria's Arms Trade November 15, 1999 For the last two years, the government of Bulgaria has pledged to control the country's notorious arms trade as part of its strategy to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (E.U.). Sofia has taken important steps toward reform, but further improvements are urgently needed to ensure that the legacy of irresponsible weapons dealing is put to rest. Human Rights and Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean Prepared for the Ibero-American Summit: Havana, 15-16 November 1999 Multi-party democracies remain stable throughout most of Latin America and the Caribbean, with the notable exception of Cuba, where the government of Fidel Castro celebrated its fortieth anniversary in power with no sign of a significant political opening on the horizon. But while elected government may be a precondition for human rights to be respected, the region's dismal record shows that it is by no means sufficient. Indeed, serious human rights violations plague the region, effecting countries as diverse as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. In far too many places, massacres, extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture, police brutality, and inhumane prison conditions endure. HUMAN RIGHTS DEVELOPMENTS IN CHINA (Press Backgrounder for President Jiang Zemin's Visit to the U.K. and France, October 15, 1999) Controls on basic freedoms were tightened during the year, in part because of the Chinese government's desire to ensure stability on several sensitive dates. These included the fortieth anniversary of the March 10, 1959, Tibetan uprising, the tenth anniversary of the crackdown in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, and the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949. Indonesia: Why Aceh is Exploding (August 27, 1999, New York)—The twenty-four year conflict in East Timor may be nearing the end game with voters there choosing on August 30 between autonomy under Indonesian sovereignty and independence. But a potentially much more dangerous conflict is spiraling out of control in Aceh, the resource-rich region on the northern tip of Sumatra. The international community should be pressing Indonesia to address three of the key underlying causes of the conflict: failure to prosecute past abuses; failure to reduce a hated military presence; and diversion of locally-produced revenues to Jakarta. Testimony of Bronwen Manby, Human Rights Watch to the House Subcommittee on Africa August 3, 1999 The situation in Nigeria has substantially improved over the last year. Following the death of Gen. Sani Abacha in June 1998, the unprecedented repression he visited on the Nigerian people was relaxed during the interim government of Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. The inauguration of President Olusegun Obasanjo on May 29, 1999, brings some hope that the long series of military governments in Nigeria may be over. Human Rights and Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean (June 1999) HRW Backgrounder prepared for the Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean: Rio de Janeiro, 28-29 June 1999. Child Soldiers and the Child Labor Convention The Global Use of Child Soldiers: An estimated 300,000 children under the age of eighteen are currently participating in armed conflicts in more than thirty countries on nearly every continent. While most child soldiers are in their teens, some are as young as seven years old. While many child soldiers start out as cooks, messengers, porters or guards, too often they end up on the front lines of combat. Israeli High Court of Justice Torture Trial (Background Briefing, May 1999) On Wednesday, 26 May 1999 the Israeli Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, will hear testimony challenging the legality of secret interrogation procedures used by the Israeli General Security Service (GSS). Since the government-appointed Landau Committee first provided official authorization for these procedures in 1987, GSS torture techniques have caused the death of at least one Palestinian detainee and many more cases of permanent injuries. NATO's Use of Cluster Munitions in Yugoslavia HRW Backgrounder, May 11,1999 Though probably no more than a few hundred air-delivered cluster bombs have been used to date in Yugoslavia, there reportedly already have been civilian casualties. A NATO airstrike on the airfield in Nis last week went off target, hitting a hospital complex and adjoining civilian areas. In an earlier incident on April 24, five boys were reported to have been killed and two injured when what was evidently a cluster bomb submunition exploded near the village of Doganovic, fifteen kilometers from Urosevac in southern Kosovo. The munition was described as having a yellow-colored jacket, identical to that of the CBU-87 or RBL755 bomblets. Kosovo Backgrounder: Sexual Violence as International Crime May 10, 1999 Acts such as rape, sexual assault, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced sterilization, forced abortion, and forced pregnancy may all qualify as crimes under national and international laws. It is possible for an individual perpetrator to be charged under national law with a common crime, such as rape, and also charged under international law for an international crime such as genocide or crimes against humanity, without double jeopardy. Even if the two charges are grounded on the same assault, each requires proof of different elements at trial, particularly on the issue of intent. Indonesia: The May 4, 1999 Killings in Aceh May 1999 Aceh, unlike East Timor, is critical to the survival of Indonesia as a nation. East Timor was never part of the Indonesian nationalist struggle, and its departure from the Indonesian republic, to which it was illegally annexed in 1976, will not shake the concept of Indonesian nationhood. Aceh was not only at the forefront of the nationalist struggle against the Dutch colonial government, but it is vital to Indonesia politically, strategically, and economically. If violence continues to escalate and demands for independence grow stronger, the government in Jakarta will face immensely difficult choices. HRW Background Paper on Human Rights and Algeria's Presidential Elections April 1999 Human rights issues have occupied a prominent place in Algeria's election campaign, now in its final week. At rallies, in interviews, and in speeches broadcast on national radio and television, several of the seven presidential candidates have spoken about the need to ensure the rule of law and independence of the judiciary, to end the state of emergency, address the fate of Algerians who have "disappeared,"and improve the status of women within society. HRW Background Paper on Slavery and Slavery Redemption in the Sudan March 12, 1999 Human Rights Watch has long denounced the contemporary form of slavery practiced in Sudan in the context of the fifteen-year civil war. This practice is conducted almost entirely by government-backed and armed militia of the Baggara tribe in western Sudan, and it is directed mostly at the civilian Dinka population of the southern region of Bahr El Ghazal. Human Rights Watch Backgrounder: Attorney General Reno In Colombia, March 3-4 Human rights defenders are under intense and violent attack. The new administration of President Andrés Pastrana has done little to sever continuing ties between Colombia's military and the paramilitary groups responsible for most of the nation's egregious human rights violations, including numerous violent attacks on human rights defenders. Secretary of State Albright's trip to Asia: China, Indonesia and Thailand, Background Briefing: China During her visit to Beijing, Albright will lay the groundwork for Premier Zhu Rongji's summit meetings in Washington, D.C. in early April. Albright is expected to raise human rights issues brought up by President Clinton during his visit to China last year on which there has been no progress, and in some cases, major setbacks have occurred. |
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