New Reports from Human Rights Watch

 

“I had to run away”

“I Had To Run Away”: The Imprisonment of Women and Girls for “Moral Crimes” in Afghanistan.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This 120-page report is based on 58 interviews conducted in three prisons and three juvenile detention facilities with women and girls accused of “moral crimes.” Almost all girls in juvenile detention in Afghanistan had been arrested for “moral crimes,” while about half of women in Afghan prisons were arrested on these charges. These “crimes” usually involve flight from unlawful forced marriage or domestic violence. Some women and girls have been convicted of zina, sex outside of marriage, after being raped or forced into prostitution.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

Second Class Citizens

Second Class Citizens: Discrimination against Roma, Jews, and Other National Minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This 62-page report highlights discrimination against Roma, Jews, and other national minorities in politics and government. Much of this discrimination stems from Bosnia’s 1995 Constitution, which mandates a system of government based on ethnicity and excludes these groups from high political office. The report also shows the wider impact of discrimination on the daily lives of Roma in accessing housing, education, healthcare, and employment.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood: Summary Executions by Syrian Security Forces and Pro-Government Militias.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This 23-page report documents more than a dozen incidents involving at least 101 victims since late 2011, many of them in March 2012. Human Rights Watch documented the involvement of Syrian forces and pro-government shabeeha militias in summary and extrajudicial executions in the governorates of Idlib and Homs. Government and pro-government forces not only executed opposition fighters they had captured, or who had otherwise stopped fighting and posed no threat, but also civilians who likewise posed no threat to the security forces.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

“You Will Not Have Peace While You Are Living”

“You Will Not Have Peace While You Are Living”: The Escalation of Political Violence in Burundi.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This 81-page report documents political killings stemming from the 2010 elections in Burundi. These killings, which peaked toward the middle of 2011, often took the form of tit-for-tat attacks by members of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie, CNDD-FDD) and the opposition National Liberation Forces (Forces nationales de libération, FNL). In the vast majority of cases, justice has been denied to families of the victims.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

“They Burned My Heart”

“They Burned My Heart”: War Crimes in Northern Idlib during Peace Plan Negotiations.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This report documents dozens of extrajudicial executions, killings of civilians, and destruction of civilian property that qualify as war crimes, as well as arbitrary detention and torture. The report is based on a field investigation conducted by Human Rights Watch in the towns of Taftanaz, Saraqeb, Sarmeen, Kelly, and Hazano in Idlib governorate in late April.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

Criminal Reprisals

Criminal Reprisals: Kenyan Police and Military Abuses against Ethnic Somalis.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This report provides detailed documentation of human rights abuses by the Kenya Defence Forces and the Kenyan police in apparent response to a series of grenade and improvised explosive device (IED) attacks that targeted both the security forces and civilians in North Eastern province. Rather than conducting investigations to identify and apprehend the perpetrators, both the police and army responded with violent reprisals against Kenyan citizens and Somali refugees.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

Event: Documentary Film ‘Special Flight’

Apologies for cross-posting.  Message forwarded on behalf of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival.

Dear Colleagues,

The documentary film ‘Special Flight’ is showing Tuesday 27 March, at the Ritzy Cinema and Wednesday 28 March at the ICA.

Fernand Melgar’s intimate and emotionally charged portrait of the rejected asylum seekers and illegal migrants in Switzerland’s Frambois detention centre reveals a world that few know from the inside. With amazing access to his subjects, Melgar introduces us to a community of men who share friendships, fears, and a similar fate. There are three possibilities for every resident: to leave free with asylum granted, to leave the country by choice on a regular flight, or to leave in custody on a so-called ‘special flight’ back to their country of origin. As planes come and go in the background, the staff—who are caretakers, counsellors, and friends to the men there—have heart-felt dialogues about the well-being of residents. In the end though, the staff reflect society’s attitudes towards migrants, and are also recipients of the residents’ resentment—making them simultaneously friend and foe. And that fact is most evident when staff must prepare one of the men to leave on a special flight.

Screenings at the Ritzy on 27 March, 21:00. Tickets available at http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/film/Hrwff_Special_Flight_Q_A_With_Filmmaker/

and 28 Mar at the ICA, 18:15. Tickets at http://www.ica.org.uk/31978/Film/Special-Flight-QA.html

Please circulate as we would like the film to be as widely known as possible.

Many thanks,

Helen

Helen Muggeridge
Outreach Coordinator
Human Rights Watch Film Festival
londonff@hrw.org

New Reports from Human Rights Watch

The following list of reports have recently been published by Human Rights Watch.  Further information is available as follows:

 

The Island of Happiness Revisited

The Island of Happiness Revisited  A Progress Report on Institutional Commitments to Address Abuses of Migrant Workers on Abu Dhab ’s Saadiyat Island

The United Arab Emirates is converting Saadiyat Island into an international tourist destination, and will house a campus of New York University and museums, including branches of the Guggenheim and the Louvre. In 2009, Human Rights Watch documented the exploitation of South Asian migrant workers on the island and the lack of legal and institutional protections for workers, urging the developers and institutions to pledge to address the abuses. Three years later, this progress report notes that while these entities have made important efforts to address employer abuses, protection gaps remain.

[Download Full Report]

 

Justice for Atrocity Crimes

Justice for Atrocity Crimes:  Lessons of International Support for Trials before the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina

This 47-page report highlights key lessons from the involvement of international judges and prosecutors to boost national staff capacity to try sensitive and complex cases stemming from the 1992-1995 war. In the seven years since the State Court began operations, its chamber and the Special Department for War Crimes (SDWC) in the Prosecutor’s Office have completed more than 200 cases.

[Download Full Report]

 

“They Took Everything from Me”

“They Took Everything from Me”:  Forced Evictions, Unlawful Expropriations, and House Demolitions in Azerbaijan’s Capital

This report documents the Azerbaijani authorities’ illegal expropriation of properties and forcible evictions of dozens of families in four Baku neighborhoods, at times without warning or in the middle of the night. The authorities subsequently demolished homes, sometimes with residents’ possessions inside. The government has refused to provide homeowners fair compensation for the properties, many of which are in highly desirable locations. Azerbaijani law stipulates that market value should be paid in compensation for a forced sale.

[Download Full Report]

 

No Justice in Bahrain

No Justice in Bahrain:  Unfair Trials in Military and Civilian Courts

This report documents serious due process violations in high-profile trials before Bahrain’s special military courts in 2011 – including one trial of 21 prominent political activists and another of 20 doctors and other medical personnel – and in politically motivated trials before ordinary criminal courts since 2010. Serious abuses included denying defendants the right to counsel and to present a defense, and failure to investigate credible allegations of torture and ill-treatment during interrogation.

[Download Full Report]

 

No Place for Children

No Place for Children:  Child Recruitment, Forced Marriage, and Attacks on Schools in Somalia

This 104-page report details unlawful recruitment and other laws-of-war violations against children by all parties to the conflict in Somalia since 2010. The report is based on over 164 interviews with Somali children, including 21 who had escaped from al-Shabaab forces, as well as parents and teachers who had fled to Kenya.

[Download Full Report]

 

“No Safe Places”

“No Safe Places”:  Yemen’s Crackdown on Protests in Taizz

When Yemenis took to the streets in January 2011 to demand an end to Saleh’s 33-year rule, Taizz, 250 kilometers south of the capital, Sanaa, became a center of both peaceful and armed resistance – and the scene of numerous human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war. “No Safe Places”is based on more than 170 interviews with protesters, doctors, human rights defenders, and other witnesses to attacks in Taizz by state security forces and pro-Saleh gangs from February to December 2011.

[Download Full Report]

 

“Forget About Him, He’s Not Here”

“Forget About Him, He’s Not Here”:  Israel’s Control of Palestinian Residency in the West Bank and Gaza.

This report describes the arbitrary exclusion by the Israeli military of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians since 1967 and documents the impact that exclusion continues to have on individuals and families. The way Israel’s military has exercised its control over the Palestinian population registry – the list of Palestinians whom it considers to be lawful residents of the West Bank and Gaza territories – has separated families, caused people to lose jobs and educational opportunities, barred people from entering the Palestinian territories, and trapped others inside them. Egypt also has problematic policies on Palestinians trying to enter Gaza that are based on the Israeli-controlled population registry.

[Download Full Report]

 

“The Root of Humiliation”

“The Root of Humiliation”:  Abusive Identity Checks in France

This 55-page report says that minority youth, including children as young as 13, are subjected to frequent stops involving lengthy questioning, invasive body pat-downs, and the search of personal belongings. These arbitrary stops can take place even in the absence of any indication of wrongdoing, Human Rights Watch found. Insulting language, including racial slurs, are not uncommon, and some stops involve excessive use of force by the police.

[Download Full Report]

 

“Steps of the Devil”

“Steps of the Devil”:  Denial of Women’s and Girls’ Rights to Sport in Saudi Arabia.

This report documents discrimination by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education in denying girls physical education in state schools, as well as discriminatory practices by the General Presidency for Youth Welfare, a youth and sports ministry, in licensing women’s gyms and supporting only all-male sports clubs. The National Olympic Committee of Saudi Arabia also has no programs for women athletes and has not fielded women in past Olympic Games.

In its interviews with Saudi women and international sporting officials, the report found that Saudi government restrictions put athletics beyond the reach of almost all women. There is no government sports infrastructure for women, with all designated buildings, sport clubs, courses, expert trainers, and referees limited exclusively to men. The ban on women’s private, for-fee sports clubs has forced women to restrict themselves to fitness gyms that rarely feature swimming pools, a running track, or playing fields for team sports. Membership fees there are beyond the means of many ordinary Saudi women and girls. Official sporting bodies hold no competitive sports for Saudi women athletes in the kingdom and do not support Saudi sportswomen in regional or international competitions.

[Download Full Report]

 

Human Rights Rights – New Publications

Human Rights Watch World Report

The following publications have recently been published by Human Rights Watch:

Human Rights Watch World Report 2012: Events of 2011.
This is the flagship annual report produced by Human Rights Watch.  “This 22nd annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide in 2011. “

Human Rights Watch state that:

The introductory essay examines the Arab Spring, which has created an extraordinary opportunity for change. The global community has a responsibility to help the long suppressed people of the region seize control of their destiny from often-brutal authoritarian rulers. Standing firmly with people as they demand their legitimate rights is the best way to stop the bloodshed, while principled insistence on respect for rights is the best way to help these popular movements avoid intolerance, lawlessness, and summary revenge once in power.

[Download Full Report]
Human Rights Watch Press Release.
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

The Road Ahead

The Road Ahead: A Human Rights Agenda for Egypt’s New Parliament

This 45-page report sets out nine areas of Egyptian law that the newly elected parliament must urgently reform if the law is to become an instrument that protects Egyptians’ rights rather than represses them. Egypt’s existing laws – the penal code, associations law, assembly law, and emergency law – limit public freedoms necessary for a democratic transition, challenge respect for the rule of law, and impede accountability for abuses by the police and the military.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

Justice for Serious Crimes before National Courts

Justice for Serious Crimes before National Courts: Uganda’s International Crimes Division

This 29-page briefing paper provides a snapshot of progress from Uganda’s complementarity-related initiative: the International Crimes Division (ICD). The ICD is a division of the High Court with a mandate to prosecute genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, in addition to crimes such as terrorism. Based on research by Human Rights Watch in Uganda in September 2011, this briefing paper analyzes the ICD’s work to date, the obstacles it has encountered, and challenges both for the future work of the ICD and for national accountability efforts more broadly.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

“They Hunt Us Down for Fun”

“They Hunt Us Down for Fun”: Discrimination and Police Violence Against Transgender Women in Kuwait

This 63-page report documents the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and persecution that transgender women – individuals who are born male, but identify as female – have faced at the hands of police. The report also documents the discrimination that transgender women have faced on a daily basis – including by members of the public – as a result of the law, an amendment to penal code article 198. Based on interviews with 40 transgender women, as well as with ministry of interior officials, lawyers, doctors, and members of Kuwaiti civil society, the report found that the arbitrary, ill-defined provisions of the law has allowed for numerous abuses to take place.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

New Reports from Human Rights Watch

The following reports have been published in December (2011) by Human Rights Watch:

Tunisia’s Repressive Laws

Tunisia’s Repressive Laws: The Reform Agenda

Abstract:

This report identifies freedom of speech and independent courts as two of ten priorities for legal reform. The others are freedom of movement, association and assembly, freedom to form political parties, the right of citizens to run for public office and choose candidates, the protection of rights while fighting terrorism, internet freedom, and immunity for the president of the republic – all areas where harsh laws inherited from the presidency of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali remain in effect.

[Download Report]

“By All Means necessary!”  Individual and Command Responsibility for Crimes against Humanity in Syria.

Abstract:

This report is based on more than 60 interviews with defectors from the Syrian military and intelligence agencies. The defectors provided detailed information about their units’ participation in attacks, abuses against Syrian citizens, and the orders they received from commanders and officials at various levels, who are named in the report.

[Download Report]

No Way to Live

No Way to Live: Alabama’s Immigrant Law

Abstract:

This 52-page report documents the effect of the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer Citizen and Protection Act, commonly known as HB 56, on unauthorized immigrants and their families, as well as the larger Alabama communities in which they live. It is based in part on first-hand accounts by 57 Alabama residents, including citizens and permanent residents, who reported abuse or discrimination under the law.

[Download Report]

“Turning Pebbles”

“Turning Pebbles”: Evading Accountability for Post-Election Violence in Kenya

Abstract:

This report examines the police and judicial response to the violence following the 2007 elections, which pitted ruling party supporters and the police against opposition-linked armed groups and civilians. Human Rights Watch found that of the 1,133 or more killings committed during the violence, only two have resulted in murder convictions. Victims of rape, assault, arson, and other crimes similarly await justice. Police officers, who killed at least 405 people during the violence, injured over 500 more, and raped dozens of women and girls, enjoy absolute impunity.

[Download Report]

“How Come You Allow Little Girls to Get Married?”

“How Come You Allow Little Girls to Get Married?”: Child Marriage in Yemen

Abstract:

This 54-page report documents the lifelong damage to girls who are forced to marry young. Yemeni girls and women told Human Rights Watch about being forced into child marriages by their families, and then having no control over whether and when to bear children and other important aspects of their lives. They said that marrying early had cut short their education, and some said they had been subjected to marital rape and domestic abuse. There is no legal minimum age for girls to marry in Yemen. Many girls are forced into marriage, and some are as young as 8.

[Download Report]

Adding Insult to Injury

Adding Insult to Injury: Continued Impunity for Wartime Abuses in Nepal

Abstract:

This 59-page report calls for the government to stand by its public commitments and international treaty obligations to conduct credible investigations and prosecute those responsible for abuses. The report follows three previous joint reports by Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum on impunity in Nepal and provides a detailed look at six emblematic cases of killings, disappearances, and torture. A separate appendix provides an update on the lack of progress in 62 wartime cases pending before the courts.

[Download Report]

New UN and HRW Publications

The following publications and reports have recently been published by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch Respectively:

United Nations Publications

Civil Society, Conflicts and the Politicization of Human Rights
“This publication explores violence, conflict and peace. It focuses on the non-governmental component in ethno-policitcal conflicts.”
Link : https://unp.un.org/Details.aspx?pid=21619

Progress of the World’s Women 2011-2012: In Pursuit of Justice.
“In recent years, there have been impressive gains in reforming laws to recognize women’s rights. However, women continue to lack control over resources, access to services, voice in decision-making and protection from violence.”
Link : https://unp.un.org/Details.aspx?pid=21705

Human Rights Watch Reports

“We Can Torture, Kill, or Keep You for Years” : Enforced Disappearances by Pakistan Security Forces in Balochistan.
By Human Rights Watch.
“The 132-page report documents dozens of enforced disappearances, in which the authorities take people into custody and then deny all responsibility or knowledge of their fate or whereabouts. The report details 45 alleged cases of enforced disappearances, the majority in 2009 and 2010. While hundreds of people have been forcibly disappeared in Balochistan since 2005, dozens of new enforced disappearances have occurred since Pakistan returned to civilian rule in 2008.”
Link : http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/07/28/we-can-torture-kill-or-keep-you-years

Righting Military Injustice  : Addressing Uganda’s Unlawful Prosecutions of Civilians in Military Courts.
By Human Rights Watch
“This report documents the pattern of trials of civilians before military courts, the ways in which such trials violate international legal principles, and the steps Uganda should take to address these fair-trial violations. Since 2002, military courts in Uganda have prosecuted over 1,000 civilians on charges under the criminal code, such as murder and armed robbery. A 2006 Ugandan Constitutional Court ruling, upheld on appeal in 2009 before the Supreme Court and consistent with international law, that military courts are not competent to try civilians accused of common crimes has not been enforced.”
Link : http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/07/27/righting-military-injustice

Schools and Armed Conflict

Schools and Armed Conflict  : A Global Survey of Domestic Laws and State Practice Protecting Schools from Attack and Military Use.
By Human Rights Watch.
“This 162-page report examines domestic laws and military policies in 56 countries around the world. Governments have been slow to update and align their domestic legislation with the explicit prohibitions on attacks on schools under international criminal law, Human Rights Watch said. They are also failing to account for the negative consequences for children’s right to education when armed forces convert schools into bases and barracks.”
Link : http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/07/20/schools-and-armed-conflict-0

“No Justice Just Adds to the Pain”  : Killings, Disappearances, and Impunity in the Philippines.
By Human Rights Watch.
“This 96-page report details strong evidence of military involvement in seven killings and three enforced disappearances of leftist activists since President Benigno Aquino III took office on June 30, 2010.”
Link : http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/07/18/no-justice-just-adds-pain-0

New Reports Published by Human Rights Watch

Three new reports have been published so far this month by the Human Rights Watch organisation.  these will be introduced below:

The first of these reports is entitled `”No justice no pain”: Killings, Disappearances, and Impunity in the Philippines.’  Published on the 18 July, 2011, this is a report of 96 pages which,

“details strong evidence of military involvement in seven killings and three enforced disappearances of leftist activists since President Benigno Aquino III took office on June 30, 2010.”

A Link to the document can be found : [here] ; A Link to the PDF of the Full Document can be found : [here] ; and there is also a press release : [here].

The second of these reports is entitled, `Living in Limbo : Rights of Ethnic Georgians Returnees to the Gali District of Abkhazia.’  Published on the 15 July, 2011,

“This 71-page report documents the arbitrary interference by Abkhazia’s de facto authorities with returnees’ rights to freedom of movement, education, and other political and economic rights. Although Abkhazia is not recognized as an independent state under international law, the authorities there nevertheless have obligations under international law to respect and protect rights and freedoms, Human Rights Watch said. They should ensure freedom of movement across the administrative boundary that separates Abkhazia from uncontested areas of Georgia and should end discrimination, in particular with access to identity documents and education, Human Rights Watch said.”

A Link to the document can be found : [here] ; A Link to the PDF of the Full Document can be found : [here] ; and there is also a press release : [here].

The third of these reports is entitled, `”Even Dead Bodies Must Work”: Health, Hard Labor, and Abuse in Ugandan Prisons.’  Published on July 14, 2011,

“This 80-page report documents routine physical abuse and the failure of the criminal justice system to protect the rights of prisoners. Prisoners at rural prisons, including the elderly, individuals with disabilities, and pregnant women, are frequently caned, or are even stoned, handcuffed to a tree, or burned, when they refuse to perform hard labor. HIV and tuberculosis (TB) patients may be denied care and sent to farm prisons far from treatment programs.”

A Link to the document can be found : [here] ; A Link to the PDF of the Full Document can be found : [here] ; and there is also a press release : [here].