Discriminatory Fines Target Black and Arab Youth in France
The 60‑page report, “Paying the Price of Police Harassment: Discriminatory Fines Target Black and Arab Youth in France,” documents the experiences of the boys and young men from low-income households receiving abusive and discriminatory fines for allegedly committing offenses of noise nuisance, littering, and illegal discharge of unsanitary liquids, when they are simply carrying out ordinary activities such as talking outside their homes or playing sports in a neighborhood park. These fines are issued based on police officers’ subjective observations, without judicial scrutiny, while the fined person has no basic fair trial guarantees.
Children have suffered greatly as a result of the conflict in Northern Ireland; of the almost 3,000 people who have lost their lives since 1969 in political violence associated with "The Troubles," many have been children killed by paramilitaries or by security forces. Moreover, children in the province are caught between two powerful groups - security forces and paramilitaries.
Helsinki Watch has documented scores of cases of torture in Turkey since 1982, and Turkish lawyers who represent detainees claim that police routinely torture between 80 and 90 percent of political suspects and about 50 percent of ordinary criminal suspects, including children. Nothing Unusual documents the torture of children under the age of eighteen in Turkey.
Shortly after Nicolar Ceauscu was overthrown on December 22, 1989, the world was exposed for the first time to the shocking images of Romania's orphans, expecially its handicapped children and babies with AIDS.
Violations of the Laws of War by All Parties to the Conflict
In the course of less than a year, Liberia has become a human rights disaster. Over half its population has been displaced from their homes, including over 500,000 who are refugees in West Africa. All parties to the conflict have committed grave abuses of human rights against civilians, violating the humanitarian standards governing non-international armed conflict.
