Explosive Weapons’ Effects in Armed Conflict and Measures to Strengthen Protection
The 80-page report, “Destroying Cultural Heritage: Explosive Weapons’ Effects in Armed Conflict and Measures to Improve Protection,” details both the immediate and long-term harm from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas on cultural heritage, such as historic buildings and houses of worship, museums and archives, public squares, and performance centers. It shows that the Declaration on explosive weapons could serve as a valuable tool for addressing the problem.
One Party State in KwaZulu Homeland Threatens Transition to Democracy
In examining the human rights record of the government of the KwaZulu homeland in Natal province of South Africa, we found that it does not support Chief Buthelezi’s claim that he is a democrat. KwaZulu is a one-party state, in which the institutions of Inkatha and those of the homeland administration are virtually indistinguishable.
On September 13, 1993, as Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization met in Washington to sign an interim self-rule accord for Gaza and Jericho, protestors against this agreement were killed and injured in Beirut by Lebanese Army troops. The demonstration was held in defiance of an indefinite Lebanese government ban against all assemblies and processions.
The Report of the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador
The Salvadoran peace process, fostered and shepherded by the United Nations, has been unique in the central place afforded human rights. A comprehensive human rights accord signed in July 1990 was a stepping-stone on the path to a broader agreement, and set the stage for United Nations verification of the peace process.
Hundreds Arrested and Press Muzzled in Aftermath of Election Annulment
On June 12, 1993, Nigerian citizens overcame ethnic and regional rivalries in an effort to rid themselves of military rule and hold a legitimate presidential election. Gen. Babangida and his cronies, however, have shown no intention of allowing civilians a significant voice in government and annulled the election and postponed his exit from politics.
Helsinki Watch Releases Eight Cases for War Crimes Tribunal on Former Yugoslavia
With great fanfare, the U.N. Security Council, in February 1993, called for the establishment of an international tribunal to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of war crimes in the Balkan conflict.
Poland's transition to democracy is endangered by government and private restrictions on freedom of expression. In a distressing series of arrests and prosecutions for "slandering" the state, President Walesa has relied upon a repressive Communist-era law to punish government critics.
Israeli Undercover Operations Against “Wanted” and Masked Palestinians
Undercover units of the Israeli army have been responsible for over 120 killings in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1988. Many of the victims were shot while posing no serious imminent threat to soldiers or others.
In August 1993, the Indian government repatriated nearly 7,000 of the more than 80,000 Sri Lankan Tamils then residing in government-run refugee camps in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The refugees fled northeastern Sri Lanka in June 1990 after fighting broke out between government forces and a guerrilla army.
The apparent intensity of public debate, variety of publications and the wealth of artistic achievements in the Islamic Republic of Iran create an illusion of unrestricted discourse. The limits on expression are defined, however, in complex and often arbitrary ways by a government beset by internal power struggles and intolerance.
Racism and racially motivated violence against the Rima (Gypsy) minority in Bulgaria has escalated dramatically since 1994. The violence ranges from police torture to mob attacks — including violent attacks by guards employed by private security firms.
Under the anti-terror law, which was introduced in 1991, many left-wing and pro-Kurdish journalists, writers and publishers continue to be tried, and many go on to be sentenced to prison terms and fines. Penal Code provisions that make it a crime to insult Ataturk, secularity, Islam, the security forces and the president continue to be used to restrict free expression.
Initial attempts to purge former Communists from public life in Bulgaria were relatively weak when compared to similar laws passed in the former Czechoslovakia or the former German Democratic Republic. Efforts to initiate a decommunization program gained momentum, however, after the election victory of the Union of Democratic Forces in October 1991.