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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch stories: 25 news summaries

1 - 20 of 25 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Chinese Complainers Kidnapped

People routinely held
in 'black jails,' journalists beaten

Nov 12, 09 4:44 AM CST
(Newser) - Chinese citizens en route to Beijing to lodge complaints with China's central government are routinely nabbed by thugs and tossed into makeshift "black jails" where they are illegally detained for days or months, deprived of food and water, beaten and threatened—then sent back home without filing their complaints.... More »

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China • Beijing • corruption • freedom of press • Human Rights Watch • human rights violations

ANALYSIS

No Clear Way for US to Prosecute Gitmo Prisoners

Experts split on whether to use federal courts or military commissions

Oct 29, 09 11:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama is edging closer to his goal of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison: Congress has approved detainee trials on US soil and the National Defense Authorization Act, passed yesterday, attempts to repair the damaged legality of President Bush’s military-commissions system. But hurdles remain, with legal scholars split on... More »

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Bush administration • terrorism • military tribunal • Guantanamo Bay • detainee • Human Rights Watch • Guantanamo prisoners • Obama administration • President Obama • National Defense Authorization Act

Dozens 'Disappeared'
After China Riots

Rights group: Uighurs vanished after being detained by police

Oct 21, 09 3:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - Dozens of Uighur men and boys rounded up in the wake of the riots that shook China's Xinjiang province over the summer are missing, according to a reports from a human rights group. Interviews with families in Urumqi found evidence that 43 people had vanished since being taken away by... More »

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China • riots • Human Rights Watch • Xinjiang • Uighurs • Urumqi

OPINION

Lay Off Israel, Human Rights Watch: Founder

Group founded to light closed societies has gone astray

Oct 20, 09 9:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Human Rights Watch has lost its way, writes founder and chairman emeritus Robert L. Bernstein. The once even-handed organization has launched a jeremiad against Israel—a liberal democracy with a “vibrant free press”—while effectively ignoring abuses in closed, autocratic societies in the region it was created to... More »

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Palestine • Israel and Palestinians • watchdog • human rights abuse • Human Rights Watch • autocracies • liberal democracy • HRW • Robert L. Bernstein • closed societies

GLOSSIES

 Gay Iraqis Fear for Their Lives 

Human Rights Watch attempts to save persecuted gays from murder

Oct 5, 09 4:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Iraqi society is overwhelmingly  homophobic, but that prejudice took a back seat to more pressing issues while war was raging. Now, as Shia militias find themselves with time on their hands, they appear to have turned to a perceived internal problem, “to make society clean from bad things.”... More »

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homophobia • homosexuality • refugee • Human Rights Watch • relocation • Iraqi militias • Iraq war • gay Iraqis • persecution

 UN: Sri Lanka 
 Conflict a 
 'Bloodbath' 

Aid groups urge Japan to push for Security Council action

May 11, 09 10:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - After intense weekend fighting, the UN says the battle between rebels and the government in Sri Lanka has become a “bloodbath,” the New York Times reports. A government doctor estimates 1,000 civilians died in the heavy shelling of the small coastal area occupied by a few hundred... More »

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United Nations • Japan • Sri Lanka • Tamil Tigers • Amnesty International • Human Rights Watch • rebels • UN Security Council • Sri Lankan Army • Tamils

Watchdog: Mexican Army's Abuse of Civilians Unchecked

Desperate to fight the cartels, government turns a blind eye to military crimes

May 1, 09 1:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Mexican army, enlisted by President Felipe Calderón in the battle against drug cartels, is abusing civilians with de facto immunity from the government, a watchdog group says. The army was supposed to be a temporary replacement for corrupt or incompetent police forces. But some soldiers, unaccustomed to the... More »

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Mexico • Felipe Calderon • murder • civilian casualties • Mexican army • drug cartel • Human Rights Watch • drug dealer

(Newser) - The Bush-era CIA memos made public last week revealed that an al-Qaeda suspect, Hassan Ghul, had been held in one of the agency’s secret jails. But the inadvertent disclosure of one name merely highlights how much the public still doesn’t know about the network of secret detention facilities,... More »

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CIA • secret prisons • Guantanamo Bay • interrogation • Human Rights Watch • harsh interrogation • Obama administration • memo

 Israel Committed Gaza 
 War Crimes: Rights Group 

Human Rights Watch finds army fired white phosphorus at civilians

Mar 26, 09 6:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Israel's military committed war crimes by repeatedly firing white phosphorus into crowded areas of Gaza, Human Rights Watch said today. A report by the group alleges that Israel chose not to use less dangerous smoke shells and even fired the incendiary agent at the main UN compound in the Strip.... More »

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Israel • Gaza • war crimes • Human Rights Watch • Arab Israeli conflict • Israeli Army • phosphorus

Top Human Rights Lawyer Slain in Moscow

He opposed release
of colonel who killed Chechen teen

Jan 19, 09 4:41 PM CST
(Newser) - A Russian lawyer fighting the early release of a colonel convicted of war crimes was shot dead yesterday in Moscow, Deutsche Welle reports. Stanislav Markelov, 34, was planning to challenge the parole of Yuri Budanov, who was freed last week after being imprisoned 6 years ago for murdering a Chechen... More »

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Russia • human rights • Moscow • Chechnya • lawyer • Human Rights Watch

 Georgian Cluster Bombs 
 Killed Own Civilians 

Human rights group says 3 killed by malfunctioning bombs

Nov 4, 08 8:55 AM CST
(Newser) - The cluster bombs Georgia used during its war with Russia malfunctioned on an “absolutely massive scale,” killing at least three civilians, and leaving the country littered with deadly unexploded bombs, according to new research from Human Rights Watch. The Georgian Ministry of Defense said the findings were “... More »

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Russia • civilian casualties • Georgia • Human Rights Watch • weapons • cluster bomb

 Rice Set for
 Historic Meet
 With Gadhafi

First secretary of state visit to Libya in 55 years

Sep 3, 08 3:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice will become  first US secretary of state to visit Libya since the Eisenhower administration when she meets Friday with leader Moammar Gadhafi, reports the Voice of America. The meeting demonstrates the radical improvement in relations between the two nations since Gadhafi turned away from terrorism and scrapped Libya's... More »

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Darfur • Condoleezza Rice • State Department • Libya • Moammar Gadhafi • David Welch • Lockerbie • Human Rights Watch • Pan Am • Dwight Eisenhower • Western Sahara

 Mexico Overhauls
Justice System

Calderon signs sweeping reforms

Jun 18, 08 2:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Sweeping reforms of Mexico's criminal justice system were signed into law by President Felipe Calderon yesterday. US-style public trials and presumption of innocence will replace Mexico's slow, closed-door system that proceeds almost exclusively through briefs, reports the Washington Post. The reforms also give investigators power to hold suspects 80... More »

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justice system • Mexico • Felipe Calderon • drug cartel • Human Rights Watch • presumption of innocence • judges • Mexico City Human Rights Commission • Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico

China Sends 30 to Prison in Mass Tibet Trials

Trial condemned as 'rubber stamp,' by human rights groups

Apr 30, 08 7:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Chinese court sentenced 30 people yesterday, including six monks, for taking part in the March protest riots in Tibet, the New York Times reports. The sentences ranged from three years to life in prison. Human Rights Watch watch said the trials were secret and defendants weren’t allowed... More »

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China • Tibet • Dalai Lama • riots • Human Rights Watch • Tibetan monks

Guardian System Has Saudi Women 'Perpetual Minors'

Doing almost anything requires male consent in kingdom, report finds

Apr 21, 08 3:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Women in Saudi Arabia need to gain a male guardian’s consent to do almost anything, living as “perpetual minors,” the Telegraph reports. Research by Human Rights Watch found that male permission is needed to go to a doctor, travel, and even get dressed. In addition, strict segregation... More »

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Islam • Saudi Arabia • women • women's rights • sexism • Islamic Sharia law • Human Rights Watch • gender discrimination • repression

Zimbabwe Begins Recount; Opposition Rejects Move

Parliamentary results could be overturned

Apr 19, 08 12:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Zimbabwe began a partial recount today of votes from last month’s parliamentary elections despite objections from the opposition party and fears that the deadlock could turn violent. The recount in 23 of 210 constituencies is expected to last 3 days and could reverse the initial results that handed defeat... More »

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Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • Morgan Tsvangirai • Human Rights Watch • Harare • Zimbabwe elections

US Military to Finally Release AP Photog

'Suspect' imprisoned two years in Iraq without charges

Apr 15, 08 3:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Pulitzer Prize-winning AP photographer detained in Iraq for two years will finally be released tomorrow, the US military has announced. Bilal Hussein, 36, was held on suspicion of having links to insurgents but was never brought to trial, and the military has now determined he's not a threat to... More »

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Human Rights Watch • Marine • Committee to Protect Journalists • Bilal Hussein • Salvatore Santoro • Tom Curley • Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone • amnesty law • UN Security Council • Central Criminal Court of Iraq

 China Arrests 45 in
 'Olympic Terror Plot'

Terrorist plot averted, officials say, but credibility problem persists

Apr 10, 08 8:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - China has rooted out two terrorist groups plotting to kidnap Olympic athletes and attack tourist hotels during the games, the Ministry of Public Security announced today. Chinese forces rounded up 45 suspects and seized explosives and “jihadist” literature in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. But China has often cried... More »

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China • jihad • terror plots • kidnapping • 2008 Beijing Olympics • Human Rights Watch • terrorist groups • East Turkestan Islamic Movement • Xinjiang

Kenya Gov't Linked to Militia

Officials said to have tried to enlist violent Mungiki during turmoil

Mar 5, 08 2:15 PM CST
(Newser) - Kenya's government might have played a direct role in sanctioning recent ethnic violence. A source tells the BBC that senior officials met with the violent Mungiki militia, with the aim of recruiting the outlawed group as a "defense force" to help protect the ethnic Kikuyu population. In January, Mungiki... More »

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Kenya • militia • Human Rights Watch • Mungiki • Kikuyu • ethnic violence • International Crisis Group

Pakistan Car Bomb Kills 37 Two Days Before Vote

Blast hits election office as fears mount over security, rigged results

Feb 16, 08 11:14 AM CST
(Newser) - A car bomb exploded during a rally by Benazir Bhutto’s political party in Pakistan today, killing 37 people and wounding nearly 100 just two days before crucial elections. The blast happened in front of an election office of the Pakistan People’s Party, which Bhutto led before her assassination... More »

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Pakistan • Pervez Musharraf • suicide bomber • bombing • Benazir Bhutto • Pakistan People's Party • Human Rights Watch • Pakistan Muslim League • Riaz Hussein • election

1 - 20 of 25 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


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