(New York - July 10, 1997) --A coalition of leading human rights groups today announced the launch of a world-wide "Arrest Now!" campaign to press western leaders to order the arrest of the persons indicted for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. The launch, joined by organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Federation Internationale des Droits de l'Homme, the International Helsinki Federation and the Coalition for International Justice, is timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the July 11, 1995 fall of the so-called "safe area" of Srebrenica which was followed by the massacre of thousands of its inhabitants.
(New York, July 9)--In a letter to Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, dated July 7, 1997, the Academic Freedom Committee of Human Rights Watch urges the Tunisian government to restore immediately the personal liberties of Professor Moncef Ben Salem, formerly of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Sfax in Tunisia.
(New York, 8 July 97) Human Rights Watch today called on the international community to unequivocally condemn the coup in Cambodia on Saturday by Cambodian Peopleµs Party leader and co-Prime Minister Hun Sen against his coalition partner, Prince Ranariddh of the royalist FUNCINPEC party, and to take all necessary measures to prevent the CPP from carrying out a massive purge of its opponents.
(New York, July 8, 1997)--In a letter to President Boris Yeltsin today, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki urges him not to sign the draft of a highly discriminatory Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations which was adopted by the Russian parliament last week.
"If the president signs this law, it will be the first time since the Soviet era that Russia replaces a federal law which adequately protects the rights and freedoms of citizens with a highly restrictive one," declared Holly Cartner, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. She added:"The adoption of this law would be a real setback, not only in the field of religious freedom but also for respect for human rights in Russia in general. It will set a dangerous precedent."
(Washington, D.C., July 4)--In a report issued today, Human Rights today calls on the Government of Israel to withdraw a draft law that would exempt the State and its security forces from liability for the wrongful injury and killing of Palestinians during the intifada. The law, if adopted by the Knesset, would prevent Palestinians from seeking damages in Israeli courts, and instead direct them, in a limited number of cases, to seek compensation from a government committee.
(New York, July 3, 1997) In a letter to President Laurent Kabila, Human Rights Watch today calls on the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to retract threats against student activists who organized a political rally at the University of Kinshasa on June 26 that featured veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi. Government troops raided the house of Tsheskedi late on the night of the rally and arrested him along with some members of his family. He was released on the next day, after warnings to stay out of politics because he "bothers the country's new authorities." As has become widely reported, the new government has decreed a ban on all political activities in violation of international norms.