Discrimination and Other Abuses Against Papuans in Indonesia
The 80-page report, “‘If It’s Not Racism, What Is It?’: Discrimination and Other Abuses Against Papuans in Indonesia,” finds that the protests, built around the Papuan Lives Matter social media campaign, were centered on human rights violations against Papuans, including denial of the rights to health and education, and peaceful calls for sovereignty for West Papua, where most Indigenous Papuans live. The report profiles cases of Papuan activists convicted for their role in the protests and the baseless charges brought against them.
Human Rights Watch, the largest U.S.-based international nongovernmental human rights organization, welcome the presentation of an historic peace accord to the people of Ireland, north and south.
This report documents human rights abuses related to the work of the police and other law enforcement officials in Macedonia, with an emphasis on police violence and violations of the right to due process. It reveals a pattern of abuse that is ignored by Macedonia's political leaders and tolerated by the international community.
Human Rights Watch condemned an attack made by Burmese government and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) troops upon a Burmese refugee camp in Thailand.
Abuse of Undocumented Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees in South Africa
Unpunished attacks on foreigners in South Africa are disturbingly common; and foreigners are regularly victimized by the South African police,the army, and by guards at detention facilities. Detention conditions for migrants awaiting deportation are substandard and overcrowded. South Africa's treatment of refugees is also troubling, and fails to conform with international standards.
The Clinton administration deserves commendation for its recent efforts to develop a fresh approach toward Africa. The continent is finally receiving high-level attention from the U.S. government, including a trip by Secretary of State Albright in December 1997 and a historic visit from President Clinton in 1998. The emphasis of the administration's new Africa policy is on trade and security.
The collapse of the Asian economy has given rise to massive layoffs of workers and wage and benefit cuts, not only in those countries worst affected by the economic crisis, but region-wide.
The civilian population of Burundi feels trapped between the two sides in the civil war, as both the armed forces and the rebels have used civilians as proxy targets. The civil war raging in Burundi since October 1993 has above all been a war against civilians. When Major Pierre Buyoya took power in a July 1996 coup, he claimed that he was intervening to prevent an expansion of ethnic violence.
Background Information Regarding Visit of Prime Minister Milorad Dodik, February 18-20, 1998
Human Rights Watch has issued an open letter to Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik on his first official visit to the United States. He has come to Washington to discuss the terms of international financial assistance to the Republika Srpska (RS), one of the two entities of the Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina.
Among the many human rights tragedies in Algeria has been the "disappearance" of more than one thousand men and women since 1992, following their arrest by government forces. As with many acts of violence in Algeria, authorship of some cases of "disappearances" has been difficult to confirm.
This report examines barriers to academic freedom and the exercise ofbasic rights erected during the thirty-two year authoritarian rule of PresidentSoeharto in Indonesia. As this report was being prepared, Indonesia was undergoing what appeared to be a momentous transition, spurred on by students and faculty, toward a more democratic society.
Today in Romania, gays and lesbians are routinely denied some of the most basic human rights guaranteed by international law. Despiteamendments in 1996 to the criminal code provisions relating to homosexual conduct, gays and lesbians continue to be arrested and convictedfor such relations if they become public knowledge.
The human rights situation in Bahrain showed no improvement in 1997 and in some respects worsened. Street protests and clashes betweensecurity forces and demonstrators calling for political reform, which had first erupted in December 1994, continued throughout the year,intensifying in June 1997.
With the legacy of the Derg behind it, the EPRDF proclaimed, as it instituted a four-year transitional period (1991-1995), its commitment to democratization and respect for the rule of law and pledged to establish human rights in the country. The transitional legislature ratified the major international human rights treaties.