(New York)- A new law supposedly protecting U.S. servicemembers from the International Criminal Court shows that the Bush administration will stop at nothing in its campaign against the court. U.S. President George Bush today signed into law the American Servicemembers Protection Act of 2002, ...
(New York)- The Chinese government's refusal to allow independent trade unions is fueling worker protests, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The 50-page report, " Paying the Price: Worker Unrest in Northeast China," analyzes in detail the demonstrations that ...
U.S. efforts to promote human rights in Uzbekistan should be bolstered by President George Bush's signature on a new law, Human Rights Watch said today. The legislation, an emergency spending bill approved by the Congress on July 24, allocates $45 million to Uzbekistan, a close U.S. ally in ...
The convictions on July 31 of two more Syrian political activists is another sign that the government of Bashar al-Asad is intent on stifling independent voices and moving backwards on freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said today. New York, August 2, 2002) The convictions on July 31 of two ...
The U.N. report on events in Jenin is seriously flawed, Human Rights Watch said today. The report, mandated by a U.N. General Assembly resolution after Israeli objections forced the Secretary-General to disband a U.N. fact-finding team, largely limits itself to presenting competing accounts of the ...
For years Kenya has been a conduit for arms shipments destined to nearby areas of violent conflict. More recently, the flood of weapons has spilled back into Kenya, making the resort to violence more likely-- and more deadly. The spread of small arms and patterns of election-year ethnic violence ...
Angola ratified the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty on July 5, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo acceded to the treaty on May 2. The treaty now has 125 State Parties, while another 18 countries have signed but not yet ratified this landmark agreement. HRW is working with the International Campaign to ...
The world's first permanent international criminal court became a reality on July 1. The ICC is authorized to try those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes when states cannot or will not prosecute such cases in their national courts. Global International Justice ...
In her reflections on justice and reconciliation after the Rwandan genocide (" The Legacies of Collective Violence," April/May 2002) Helena Cobban asks how best to restore health to a society smashed by devastating violence. Her prescription — substituting therapy for justice — ventures ...
The U.S. Supreme Court made two landmark rulings regarding the death penalty during the month of June. In the decision Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court ruled that executing prisoners with mental retardation was unconstitutional, reversing its 1989 ruling that upheld the executions of such ...
(New York)- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell should urge Indonesia to demonstrate effective civilian control of the military and take action to hold senior military officers accountable for human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a backgrounder released today. Secretary Powell will make ...
On the eve of the European Union summit in Seville in June, Human Rights Watch released a detailed letter to EU heads of state regarding the agenda for the summit. We expressed serious concerns about the continuing absence of adequate rights protections for migrants in the EU's growing arsenal ...
On June 3 and 4, former Human Rights Watch researcher Fred Abrahams testified in the war crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic. His testimony focused on HRW findings in Kosovo in 1998 and 1999, including forced expulsions, mass killings and sexual abuse against ethnic Albanians. Fred's research ...
Forces on all sides in the Congo conflict have committed war crimes against women and girls. HRW's report, " The War Within The War: Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls in Eastern Congo," documents the frequent and sometimes systematic ...
Texas should halt the executions of two juvenile offenders scheduled for this month, Human Rights Watch urged today. The first of the two executions, that of T.J. Jones, is scheduled for August 8. Jones was convicted in 1994 of a murder committed in the course of a carjacking when he was 17. ...
On June 18, the U.S. Senate gave unanimous consent to U.S. ratification of the child soldiers protocol (the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict). Human Rights Watch played a leading role in lobbying on behalf of the ...
Aung San Suu Kyi's release on May 6, though an important step, did not produce an inevitable momentum toward change in Burma. The euphoria that immediately followed her freedom has now faded. But this week's visit to Burma by United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail opens the door for ...
Terry Semel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Yahoo! Inc. 701 First Avenue Sunnyvale, California 94089 Dear Mr. Semel: We are writing to express our deep concern at news that Yahoo! Inc. has signed the "Public Pledge on Self-discipline for the Chinese Internet Industry" sponsored by ...
The seven-year prison sentence handed down July 29 to human rights defender Dr. Saadeddin Ibrahim is intended to silence real or potential criticism of the Egyptian government, Human Rights Watch said today. The sentence followed the retrial of Ibrahim and twenty-seven others before the Supreme ...
The United States should urge Tunisia to release Hamma Hammami and all others imprisoned for peaceful political expression and activity, Human Rights Watch said today. Noting recent U.S. praise for Tunisia’s commitment to battling terrorism, the organization urged Secretary of State Colin L. Powell ...
