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Nadia, a Sudanese refugee who has fled the violence in Sudan's Darfur region, hugs her friend Khadidja, beside makeshift shelters near the border between Sudan and Chad in Koufroun, Chad on May 11, 2023. 

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  • March 1, 1999

    Broken People

    Caste Violence Against India's "Untouchables"

    More than one-sixth of India's population, some 160 million people, live a precarious existence, shunned by much of society because of their rank as "untouchables" or Dalits-literally meaning "broken" people[4]-at the bottom of India's caste system.  Dalits are discriminated against, denied access to land, forced to work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused at the hands of the police and of higher-caste groups that enjoy the state's protection.  In what has been called India's "hidden apartheid," entire villages in many Indian states remain completely segregated by caste.  National legislation and constitutional protections serve only to mask the social realities of discrimination and violence faced by those living below the "pollution line."

  • March 1, 1999

    Background Paper on Slavery and Slavery Redemption in the Sudan

    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.
  • March 1, 1999

    Second Class Citizens

    The Serbs of Croatia

    On January 15, 1998, the United Nations transferred authority over Eastern Slavonia, Baranja andWestern Sirmium (hereafter, Eastern Slavonia) to the Croatian government, bringing the lastremaining Serb-held territory of Croatia back under Croatian control Despite positivedevelopments in terms of the repeal of some discriminatory legislation, and a generally stablesecurity situation, Serbs remain s
  • March 1, 1999

    Indonesia/EastTimor: The Violence in Ambon

    On January 19, 1999, as Muslims around the world were celebrating the end of the fasting month,a fight broke out on the island of Ambon, in Maluku (Molucca) province, Indonesia, between a Christian public transport driver and a Muslim youth. Such fights were commonplace, but thisone escalated into a virtual war between Christians and Muslims that is continuing.
  • March 1, 1999

    Broken People

    Caste Violence Against India’s “Untouchables”

    Some 160 million people in India live a precarious existence, shunned by much of society because of their rank as "untouchables" or Dalits—literally meaning "broken" people—at the bottom of India's caste system.
  • February 23, 1999

    The Price of Oil

    Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights Violations in Nigeria’s Oil Producing Communities

    This report is an exploration of human rights violations related to oil exploration and productionin the Niger Delta, and of the role and responsibilities of the major multinational oil companies inrespect of those violations.
  • February 15, 1999

    Secretary of State Albright's trip to Asia: China, Indonesia and Thailand

    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.
  • February 1, 1999

    Casualties of War

    Civilians, Rule of Law, and Democratic Freedoms

    With the disintegration of the rule of law in Congo and elsewhere in the region, Congo has become the battle ground for the interests of its neighbors and a Congolese political and military elite—all at the expense of Congolese civilians.
  • February 1, 1999

    Famine in Sudan

    The Human Rights Causes

    This report charges that the Sudanese government's abusive tactics, and the predatory practices of rebel forces and government-sponsored tribal militia, have turned this famine into a disaster requiring the largest emergency relief operation in the world in 1998,and the largest airlift operation since the Berlin airlift.
  • February 1, 1999

    A Week of Terror in Drenica

    Humanitarian Law Violations in Kosovo

    This report documents serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by Serbianand Yugoslav government forces in Kosovo's Drenica region during the last week of September1998.
  • January 16, 1999

    Briefing Paper for the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland

    The historic Good Friday Agreement states that the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland must work to ensure that future policing structures and arrangements result in a policing service that "operates within a coherent and co-operative criminal justice system, which conforms with human rights norms." This imperative exemplifies the parties' commitment to a number of basic princi
  • January 1, 1999

    Systemic Injustice

    Torture, “Disappearance,” and Extrajudicial Execution in Mexico

    Torture, "disappearances," and extrajudicial executions remain widespread in Mexico, despitenumerous legal and institutional reforms adduced by successive Mexican governments asevidence of their commitment to protecting human rights. Indeed, reforms have taken place, butthey have failed to abate, much less resolve, these serious, seemingly intractable problems.
  • January 1, 1999

    Deepening Authoritarianism in Serbia

    The Purge of the Universities

    Under the pretext of “depoliticizing” the campuses, the Serbian parliament in May 1998 enacted a law that removed basic protections for academic freedom and destroyed the autonomy of universities in Serbia.
  • January 1, 1999

    Greece: The Turks of Western Thrace

    This report examines the situation of the ethnic Turkish minority of Thrace, a region of Greece. It serves as a follow-up to two earlier reports issued by Human Rights Watch, Destroying Ethnic Identity: The Turks of Greece (August 1990) and "Greece: Improvements for Turkish Minority;Problems Remain" (April 1992).
  • January 1, 1999

    "Nobody's Children"

    Jamaican Children in Police Detention and Government Institutions

    In the island nation of Jamaica, many children-often as young as twelve or thirteen-are detained for long periods, sometimes six months or more, in filthy and overcrowded police lockups, in spite of international standards and Jamaican laws that forbid such treatment.