Inadequate Protection and Assistance for Migrants and Asylum Seekers Crossing the Darién Gap
The 110-page report, “Neglected in the Jungle: Inadequate Protection and Assistance for Migrants and Asylum Seekers Crossing the Darién Gap,” is the second in a series of Human Rights Watch reports on migration via the Darién Gap. Human Rights Watch identified specific shortcomings in Colombia’s and Panama’s efforts to protect and assist people – including those at higher risk, such as unaccompanied children – as well as to investigate abuses against them.
A Report on U.S. Compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Last year, the United States formally adopted the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), undertaking a commitment to ensure the covenant's protections for "all individuals within its territory." the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch have prepared this report - the first of its kind -covering race and sex discrimination, prisoners' rights, police brutality
Political Violence and Counterinsurgency in Colombia
On November 8, 1992, Colombian President César Gaviria Trujillo adopted a series of emergency decrees restricting civil liberties, granting additional powers to the military, and punishing contact or dialogue with insurgent groups. The decrees marked a reversion to authoritarian patterns of rule supposedly left behind with the passage of the 1991 Constitution.
Trafficking of Burmese Women and Girls into Brothels in Thailand
Thousands of Burmese women and girls are trafficked into Thai brothels every year where they work under conditions tantamount to slavery. Subject to debt bondage, illegal confinement, various forms of sexual and physical abuse, and exposure to HIV in the brothels, they then face wrongful arrest as illegal immigrants if they try to escape or if the brothels are raided by Thai police.
Describing prison conditions under an acute crisis, this report covers not only decayed facilities, poor sanitation and overcrowding, but also prisons facing the economic and political disintegration of the state. Since 1990, a pattern of neglect and corruption has given way to complete abandonment.
Human Rights and Russian Military Involvement in the “Near Abroad”
The Russian Federation is engaged in military policies in several armed conflicts in the “near abroad” — the countries of the former Soviet Union — that simultaneously protect and violate human rights.
On-Site Investigations Document that Practice Continues
What has been documented in our previous reports remains true today: in the inaccessible forests of the central and western states of Brazil, large estate owners use forced labor to cut and burn enormous tracts of land for the purpose of turning the forest into cattle pasture.
The regime of President Hafez al-Asad, which has ruled in authoritarian fashion since 1970, continues to merit the ignominious distinction of holding some of the world’s longest-serving political prisoners, detained without charge or trial for over twenty years.
While human rights violations continued throughout the APEC region, the major story during the year and described in this report was not so much the nature of the abuses, but the debate over how to address them. Two factors had a major impact on this debate: the increased visibility of Asian nongovernmental organizations and the growing economic power of East Asia.
President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya confidently predicted that the return of his country to a multiparty system would result in an outbreak of tribal violence that would destroy the nation. His prediction has been alarmingly fulfilled. One of the most disturbing developments in Kenya over the last two years has been the eruption of violent clashes between different ethnic groups.
The province of North Sumatra continues to be plagued by human rights abuses committed by security forces. Two cases are highlighted in this report: the ongoing military interference in a leadership dispute within a Protestant church group, and the treatment of villagers in a land dispute in Sei Lapan, an area about eighty miles north of Medan, the provincial capital.
A Report Prepared for the Free Media Seminar Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
The Free Media Seminar of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe is taking place at a critical time. First, because developments throughout the region suggest that protection for media freedoms fall well short of international standards.
U.S. Policymakers Should Hold President Mubarak Accountable
President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt is scheduled to meet with members of Congress and the Administration, including President Bill Clinton, in Washington, D.C. This will be the Egyptian leader's second visit since April.
While the “zero-option” approach — the granting of citizenship equally to all who were permanent residents at the time the state in question gained independence — was rejected in Estonia, we uncovered no systematic, serious abuses of human rights in the area of citizenship.
