The Latest News from Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch
The Latest News

Last updated
Friday, June 30, 2000

Current Events
Focus on Human Rights

Elaborating Crimes and Rules - 5th PrepCom (International Criminal Court) (June 30)

Mexico Elections (June 29)

United States: Protect Child Farmworkers (June 23)

Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs - United States (June 8)

Sierra Leone: Violations of the Peace Accord (June 5)

Beijing+5: Stop Violence Against Women Now (June 6)

Chechnya: Renewed Catastrophe (June 2)

Lebanon Pullout: The Human Rights Dimensions (May 30)

China, Trade and Human Rights (May 24)

China: Human Rights Deteriorate (May 23)

The Pinochet Prosecution (May 17)

Indonesia: Transition and Regional Conflict (May 12)

Race and Human Rights (May 3)

56th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights - Geneva (April 27)

Violence in East Timor (April 21)

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Latest Reports from Human Rights Watch

U.S. Thwarted in Effort to Weaken War Crimes Court
(New York, June 30, 2000) - The latest effort to win exemption for U.S. nationals from the international criminal court has not succeeded, Human Rights Watch said today.

Mexico Elections Won't Resolve Human Rights Issues
(New York, June 29, 2000) -- Despite progress toward freer elections in Mexico, the country's human rights performance is lagging behind, Human Rights Watch said today.

Indonesia Must Control Troops
(New York, June 29, 2000)-Human Rights Watch today called on Indonesian authorities in the troubled Moluccan island region to take immediate action against troops believed to have taken sides in the communal conflict there. A recent spate of clashes between members of Muslim and Christian communities has left more than 300 people dead since June 21, 2000. Nearly 3,000 have been killed since communal violence first flared up in the region in January 1999.

China: Foreign Companies Should Protest Internet Detention
(New York, June 26, 2000) -- Human Rights Watch today called on foreign companies involved in developing China's Internet to strongly protest the detention of Huang Qi. Huang, who had maintained an Internet website exposing human rights abuses in China, has been detained since June 3, 2000, in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province.

Democracies Urged to Protect Rights
(Warsaw, Poland, June 24, 2000) - Human Rights Watch today expressed dismay that a number of one-party states and governments restricting political freedom are attending the Community of Democracies Conference in Warsaw on June 26 and 27. Human Rights Watch questioned the participation of non-democracies such as Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Kenya, and Kuwait.

Hizballah Implicated in South Lebanon Kidnappings
(New York, June 26, 2000) -- Persons identifying themselves as members of Hizballah abducted twenty men from their homes in Aitaroun village in the former Israeli-occupied zone on the night of June 6-7, Human Rights Watch said today.

The IMF and Angola: Oil and Human Rights
The International Monetary Fund and the Angolan government reached an agreement in April 3, 2000 on reforming the Angolan economy. Part of that agreement includes a plan to monitor the government's oil revenues.

Israel Seeks to Legalize War Crimes
(New York, June 22, 2000)-- Human Rights Watch condemned today Israel's introduction of legislation permitting the holding of hostages, a war crime. The draft "Imprisonment of Combatants not Entitled to Prisoner of War Status Law" passed its first reading in Israel's Knesset yesterday by a vote of 22 to 6.

Uzbek Poet Jailed, Tortured
(New York, June 22, 2000) Human Rights Watch today cautioned that imprisoned Uzbek poet Mamadali Makhmudov is in dire physical condition and at possible risk of death. Makhmudov, 57, was jailed in 1999 for supporting a banned opposition political party.

Decisive U.N. Action on Sierra Leone Urged
(New York, June 20, 2000)—In a letter to the members of the United Nations Security Council, Human Rights Watch today urged decisive action to bring war criminals in Sierra Leone to justice.

USA: Bush Should Halt Texas Execution
(New York, June 20, 2000) — Human Rights Watch today urged Texas Gov. George W. Bush to halt the execution of Gary Graham (now known as Shaka Sankofa). Graham, who was convicted of murder at the age of seventeen, is slated to be executed on Thursday evening unless Gov. Bush intervenes.

Abusive Child Labor Found in U.S. Agriculture
(New York, June 20, 2000) -- Hundreds of thousands of child farmworkers are laboring under dangerous and grueling conditions in the United States, Human Rights Watch charged in a report released today.

Burmese Refugees Forced Back
(New York, June 16, 2000) -- Human Rights Watch today denounced the Thai government's forced repatriation of ethnic minority Karen refugees to Burma. On June 12, the Thai authorities expelled 116 refugees from Don Yang refugee camp in Kanchanaburi Province to Burma's Mon State.

Tibet Since 1950: Silence, Prison, or Exile
(New York, June 15, 2000) - Fifty years of repression and human rights abuse in Tibet are depicted in an unusual new report released today, a joint publication of Human Rights Watch and Aperture.

‘Scare Tactics'on International Court Denounced
(New York, June 14, 2000) -- Human Rights Watch today strongly criticized legislation being introduced in the U.S. Congress to punish countries that support the international criminal court.

U.S. Senator Can't Stop Human Rights Tribunal
(New York, June 13, 2000) -- U.S. Senator Jesse Helms may rage against the international criminal court, but he cannot stop it, Human Rights Watch said today.

United States: Stark Race Disparities in Drug Incarceration
(New York, June 8, 2000) -- The U.S. war on drugs has been waged overwhelmingly against black Americans, Human Rights Watch charged in a new report released today. The report, "Punishment and Prejudice: Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs," includes the first state-by-state analysis of the role of race and drugs in prison admissions. All of the 37 states Human Rights Watch studied send black drug offenders to prison at far higher rates than whites.

Women's Rights Under Attack at U.N.
(New York, June 6, 2000) -- The gains in women's rights made at the Beijing conference five years ago are at risk of being rolled back, Human Rights Watch warned today.

New Testimony of Rape Committed by Sierra Leone Rebels
(Freetown, Sierra Leone, June 5, 2000)—Human Rights Watch today accused rebels from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leone of committing numerous rapes against women and girls in the RUF controlled town of Makeni and at least three other towns briefly under RUF control during military operations in May.

Governments Urged to Stop Violence Against Women
(New York, June 2, 2000) -- On the eve of a five-year review of the United Nations women's conference, Human Rights Watch today criticized many governments for tolerating widespread violence against women while spouting rhetoric in favor of women's rights. The group called on governments to implement specific measures to fight violence against women.

Russian Atrocities in Chechnya Detailed
(New York, June 2, 2000) -- As U.S. President Bill Clinton arrives in Moscow for a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Human Rights Watch has released a report detailing the massacre of at least sixty Chechen civilians in the Grozny suburb of Aldi in February.

Serbia: Crackdown on Students Condemned
(New York, June 1, 2000) The government of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has intensified its efforts to silence the political opposition in recent weeks, Human Rights Watch said today.

Elections in Peru: Democracy at Risk
(Washington DC, May 31, 2000) Today the OAS is facing a big test of its commitment to act collectively to protect and promote democratic values and human rights. Peru has just concluded a presidential election with a single candidate, which was plagued by irregularities.

Sierra Leone Rebels Forcefully Recruit Child Soldiers
(Freetown, Sierra Leone, May 31, 2000)—The rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leone is forcing children, including demobilized child soldiers, to join its ranks and engage in combat, Human Rights Watch said today. The rights group has documented abductions of children as recently as early May.

Vietnam: Release Pro-Democracy Activist
(New York, May 31, 2000) -- Human Rights Watch today called for the immediate release of Vietnamese dissident Ha Sy Phu. Police in Lam Dong province put Mr. Ha under house arrest on May 12, 2000, and threatened to charge him with treason under Article 72 of Vietnam's Criminal Code. If put on trial and convicted, Mr. Ha could face a sentence from seven years imprisonment to the death penalty.

Bosnia: Bijeljina's Minorities Unable to Return Home
(New York, May 31, 2000) More than four and a half years after the war ended in Bosnia and Hercegovina, many ethnic minorities are still unable to repossess their homes in the Bosnian Serb town of Bijeljina, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

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