Abuses, Unanswered Questions, and US-Ecuador Security Cooperation
The 94-page report, "A Dangerous Partnership: Abuses, Unanswered Questions, and US-Ecuador Security Cooperation," documents serious human rights violations in a rural community on the Colombia-Ecuador border, as well as attacks on and the disappearance of fishermen at sea near the Galápagos Islands. Each incident either clearly implicates the US-Ecuador security partnership or surfaces questions about responsibility. Ecuadorian forces tortured and arbitrarily detained four farm workers, and later burned and struck a dairy farm, during what the United States called a “partnered operation.” And drones of unknown origin attacked two fishing vessels, injuring several crew members. A third vessel remains missing.
The Niger Delta has for some years been the site of major confrontations between the people who live there and the Nigerian government's security forces, resulting in extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, and draconian restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly.
On Thursday, May 20, Human Rights Watch and three other human rights organizations released a document that was smuggled out of Guatemalan military files. The document reveals the fate of more than 180 individuals "disappeared" by Guatemalan security forces between August 1983 and March 1985.
Human Rights Watch commends Governor Pataki for placing reform of the state's drug sentencing laws on the legislative agenda for 1999. He has taken a step in the right direction by recognizing the need to lower the highest sentences imposed under the current laws and to increase the number of addicted defendants placed in drug treatment programs.
The U.S. Defense Department at the end of April announced a move toward the use of more "area weapons" in Operation Allied Force. At the same time, there are reports of NATO's growing shortage of precision-guided weapons. These factors suggest NATO may increasingly rely on unguided ("dumb") weapons, including so-called cluster bombs.
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.
The treatment of inmates at Red Onion State Prison, Virginia's first super-maximum securityfacility, raises serious human rights concerns. The Virginia Department of Corrections has failed to embrace basic tenets of sound correctional practice and laws protecting inmates from abusive, degrading or cruel treatment.
Human Rights, Justice, and Toxic Waste in Cambodia
In November 1998, nearly 3,000 tons of Taiwanese toxic waste were dumped in a field in the southern port of Sihanoukville. At the time, there was no law banning such dumping, but Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said publicly and repeatedly that toxic waste imports were prohibited in Cambodia and a national policy to that effect was in force. Local people panicked:thousands fled the city.
The violence in East Timor on April 17 was sparked by a rally of an estimated 3,000 pro-Indonesia militia members on the grounds of the East Timor governor's office in the capital, Dili. The rally was attended by the governor, Abilio Soares, senior military officers, and the district heads of East Timor's thirteen districts.
Human Rights Watch issued a call today for human rights issues to occupy a central role in Algeria's presidential elections and in the post-election period.
This report examines the state of free expression in Turkey. It focuses largely on the print and broadcast media, and to a lesser extent on freedom of speech in politics.
Bulgaria has earned a reputation as an anything-goes weapons bazaar where Kalashnikov assault rifles, mortars, antitank mines, ammunition,explosives and other items are available for a price — no matter who the buyers are or how they might use the deadly wares.
As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) celebrates its 50th anniversary and welcomes its three new members—the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland—one of the likely consequences of the Alliance’s enlargement eastwards remains largely unexplored: a firesale of stocks of old weapons.
The rebel group which is suspected in the killings of the eight foreign tourists has been active in Southwestern Uganda for more than a year, and according to local news reports has been responsible for numerous attacks on local villagers.
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno's March 3 to March 4 visit comes at a moment of crisis for the rule of law and human rights in Colombia. Human rights defenders are under intense and violent attack.
