HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH AND CONGRESSIONAL CASEWORK

Human Rights Watch continued to work closely with two casework groups composed of members of Congress-the Congressional Friends of Human Rights Monitors and the Congressional Committee to Support Writers and Journalists. Both groups are bipartisan and bicameral. Human Rights Watch initiated the formation of these groups to enable concerned members of Congress to write letters and urgent cables to governments that violate the basic rights of human rights monitors, writers and journalists. Human Rights Watch supplies the groups with information about appropriate cases of concern; the groups, in turn, determine which cases they would like to pursue.

The goals of the congressional casework groups are three-fold. Most important, their letters and cables help to pressure governments to end their persecution of human rights monitors, writers and journalists who criticize repressive acts by their governments. Second, members of the congressional groups are informed about these important incidents of violence and intimidation against human rights activists and writers. Finally, copies of letters and cables are sent to U.S. ambassadors in the relevant countries to inform them about cases of concern.

The Congressional Friends of Human Rights Monitors, which was formed in 1983, is composed of thirty-four senators and 119 members of the House of Representatives. The five members of the steering committee for the group are Sen. Dave Durenberger, Sen. James Jeffords, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Rep. Tony Hall and Rep. Constance A. Morella.

In 1993, the committee took up the cases of dozens of human rights monitors who had been killed, arrested arbitrarily, assaulted or harassed. For example:

· The Congressional Friends expressed its concern over the Kuwaiti government's August order to dissolve all unlicensed associations, including all independent human rights organizations. The Congressional Friends noted that the government had repeatedly denied licenses for human rights organizations, whose work has at times been critical of the government. The Congressional Friends urged the Kuwaiti government to reverse its decision banning unlicensed private organizations.

· The Congressional Friends wrote to the Uzbekistan government to express its concern over the consistent harassment and interrogation of human rights activists. The Congressional Friends noted that this harassment had led to the virtual eradication of the human rights community within the country. As part of the apparent intimidation campaign, human rights activists have been arrested and interrogated. The Congressional Friends urged the government to guarantee human rights activists the right to carry out their work.

· In Guatemala, the Congressional Friends again expressed its deep concern over serious attacks against human rights activists. The letter noted that one human rights activist, Tomas Lares Sipriano, was killed, another "disappeared," and others received death threats. In addition, several human rights activists were fired upon during a peaceful protest in August, and a bomb exploded at the offices of the Guatemalan Association of Jurists. The Congressional Friends urged the government to carry out a thorough investigation into the murder of Lares Sipriano and to bring those responsible to justice. The group also requested that the government make every effort to determine the whereabouts of the disappeared activist, and to ascertain who was responsible for threats, unjustified shootings and bombings directed at several other human rights monitors.

· In Syria, the Congressional Friends wrote about the continuing detention and criminal charges faced by fifteen members of the Committee for the Defence of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria (CDF). Ten of the CDF members had already been convicted and sentenced, apparently in response to their human rights work. Sentencing was pending against five of the CDF members, who had been detained for nearly two years and who faced up to fifteen years of hard labor in prison. The Congressional Friends urged the government to overturn the convictions of the fifteen human rights activists if they had been charged and convicted because of their human rights work.

· In Colombia, the Congressional Friends expressed its continuing concern over the April disappearance of Colombian human rights monitor Delio Vargas and the frequent death threats received by human rights activists throughout Colombia. The Congressional Friends noted that the death threats appeared to be part of an intimidation campaign to prevent monitors from reporting on human rights violations. The Congressional Friends urged the government to make every effort to determine the whereabouts of the disappeared monitor, to investigate death threats against human rights activists and to bring to justice those found responsible.

· The Congressional Friends again expressed its concern over continuing arrests of Nigerian human rights activists. Three human rights leaders continued to be detained and faced sedition and conspiracy charges, apparently as a result of their human rights work; two of the human rights leaders suffered from ill health and there was serious concern for their well-being in detention, where they were denied medical attention. Three more human rights activists with the Civil Liberties Organization were arrested in July, held for a month and then hospitalized upon their release. The Congressional Friends urged the government to release all human rights activists and to drop all charges against them if they had been charged and detained as a result of their human rights activities.

· In Turkey, the Congressional Friends expressed its deep concern over the murders of three human rights activists: Kemal Kilic, Metin Can and Dr. Hasan Kaya. The Congressional Friends also expressed its continuing concern over the alleged torture suffered by human rights activists detained and charged by Turkish authorities. The Congressional Friends urged the government to investigate the murders of the three human rights monitors and to punish appropriately those found responsible. The Congressional Friends also urged the government to end the alleged torture of detainees and to release all those detained who had been arrested as a result of their human rights work.

· In Korea, the Congressional Friends expressed its concern over the July arrest of human rights activist Noh Tae-hun. The Congressional Friends noted that his arrest took place without a proper arrest warrant and that Noh was subjected to long hours of interrogation and sleep deprivation during his detention. After being detained for two months, Noh was freed on a suspended eighteen-month sentence. The Congressional Friends urged the government to drop all pending charges against Noh if they stemmed from his involvement in legitimate human rights work.

Other cases raised by the group included: the unwarranted arrests and continuing harassment of Cuban human rights monitors; the death threat received by Indonesian human rights lawyer Ahmad Jauhari and the warrant for the arrest of human rights activist Dedi Ekadibratal; the escalating number of arrests of human rights activists in Tibet and the serious sentences they faced if convicted; the continuing detention and mistreatment of human rights advocate Mohamed Houmed Soulleh in Djibouti; the violent attacks and threats against human rights activists in Rwanda, including those working with the government-approved human rights commission; the harassment by police of Tunisian human rights lawyer Radhia Nasraoui and the Tunisian League for Human Rights; the continued imprisonment of Moroccan human rights activist Ahmed Belaichi; the attack and death threat against Peruvian human rights lawyer Rosa Elena Mandujano Serrano; the death threats received by two human rights lawyers defending clients facing execution in Trinidad and Tobago; and the February murder of Philippine human rights activist Chris Batan, killed while in transit to an interview with victims of human rights abuses during the Marcos regime.

The Congressional Committee to Support Writers and Journalists was formed in 1988 and is composed of sixteen senators and seventy-six members of the House of Representatives. During 1993, the members of the steering committee for the group were Sen. William Cohen, Sen. Bob Graham, Rep. Jim Leach and Rep. John Lewis.

During the year, the committee denounced attacks against individual writers and journalists, as well as acts of censorship. For instance:

· In October, the Committee expressed its concern over severalviolent attacks against journalists in Argentina. One reporter, Hernán Lopez Echagüe with Página 12, was seriously beaten twice during a two-week period. During the attacks, the assailants threatened Lopez with death and warned him that he should stop "publishing those things." Lopez, as well as other journalists who had been threatened or assaulted, had reported critically about the Menem administration. The Committee urged the government to investigate these attacks and to bring to justice those found responsible.

· The committee wrote to the Cameroonian government to protest actions taken against several independent weeklies and their reporters. After the weeklies published articles critical of President Biya, reporters and publishers were criminally charged and some also received anonymous death threats. In addition, copies of one of the weeklies, La Nouvelle Expression, were confiscated. The committee urged the government to cease its harassment of the independent press and to drop all pending charges against journalists and publishers engaged in legitimate journalistic activities.

· After three Chinese journalists received harsh sentences, the committee wrote a letter to officials in October protesting the sentences and the continuing crackdown against the press. The committee, which had written letters of protest to the Chinese government several times during past years, expressed its deep concern over the life sentence received by Xinhua editor Wu Shishen. Wu was charged with selling "state secrets" after allegedly providing a copy of a speech by Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin to a reporter in Hong Kong. Another journalist received a six-year sentence for allegedly delivering the copy of the speech to the Hong Kong reporter. The third journalist, Fu Shenqi, received a three-year sentence at a labor re-education camp for allegedly speaking to the Australian prime minister. The committee urged the Chinese government to release these journalists immediately and unconditionally if they were being detained for carrying out legitimate journalistic duties.

· The Committee wrote to the de facto rulers in Haiti after several reporters were detained and seriously beaten by members of the armed forces or armed "attachés" working with the police and army. Some of the targeted reporters were abducted and then beaten after covering demonstrations, while others were attacked at their homes. In each case, the assailants questioned the victims about their critical reporting about the army or about their support for exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The committee urged the de facto leaders to cease these attacks and to punish those found responsible.

· In India, the committee wrote to protest the beating of three journalists in Srinagar by members of the Border Security Force (BSF). The journalists reported that a commander of theBSF threatened to kill the journalists and then commanded troops to beat the reporters. The reporters, from Agence France-Presse, DPA and Srinagar News, were subsequently hospitalized as a result of the injuries they sustained during the beatings. The committee urged the government to investigate the beatings and to punish members of the BSF found responsible.

· In October, the committee wrote to the Israeli government to protest attacks against journalists reporting in Gaza. Soldiers shot one reporter who was filming a clash between soldiers and demonstrators at a refugee camp. The apartment of another reporter was raided, and the reporter was arrested and mistreated while detained. Soldiers assaulted another reporter and confiscated his film of soldiers beating a taxi driver in Gaza City. The committee urged the government to investigate the attacks and to punish appropriately those found responsible.

· The Congressional Committee wrote to the Nigerian government to protest the banning of most of the independent press following the aborted June 12 elections. Two daily newspapers were banned, and five publishing houses were raided by the government and closed. Many reporters and editors working for the banned publications were detained and faced sedition charges. The government also issued decrees to curtail press freedoms further. The committee urged the government to end its suppression of the independent press and to annul the new decrees which ban many publications and severely curtail the right to freedom of expression.

· In Rwanda, the committee protested the murder of a veteran journalist, a shooting incident involving two Swedish journalists, and charges pending against a newspaper editor. Callixte Kalissa, a television producer and former photographer with the state-run press, was shot in April by assailants presumed to be members of the army. Two Swedish journalists were fired upon by Rwandan soldiers even though they had obtained permission to travel to a rebel zone and carried a white flag. The editor of Umurava was detained and charged with insulting the head of state after reporting on alleged connections between the President and death squads. The committee urged the Rwandan government to investigate the attacks against the journalists and to bring to justice those found responsible. The committee also asked the government to drop charges against the Umurava editor if they stemmed from his involvement in legitimate journalistic activities.

Other cases taken up by the Congressional Committee included: the murders and beatings of several journalists reporting on Tajikistan; the murder and disappearance of several journalists in Turkey; the harassment of journalists in Zaire, including arrests of reporters and suspensions of newspapers; the continuing death threat against Salman Rushdie, as well as violent attacks againstthose working with him; the murder of television reporter Rabah Zenati in Algeria; repressive measures taken by the Lebanese government against the independent press, including the shutting down of one television network and three daily newspapers; acts of intimidation carried out by the Kenyan government against the printing houses that publish independent magazines; criminal charges against journalists in Greece who have written about sensitive political or historical issues; threats allegedly made by the Brazilian military police against journalist Reinaldo Cabral for his reports on police violence; and statements by a prominent Egyptian sheik appearing to condone the murder of secular journalist Faraq Fuda.