|
| |
Editorials by Mike Jendrzejczyk
The following editorials were written by Mike Jendrzejczyk during his work with Human Rights Watch. They express our concerns regarding a few of the many pressing human rights issues addressed by the organization on a regular basis.
- Burma's opposition needs fresh support
Published April 15, 2003 in The International Herald Tribune
WASHINGTON - The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, Paulo Pinheiro, was forced to cut short a mission to Burma last month when a bugging device was discovered in a room where he was interviewing political prisoners. The aborted UN mission is a symptom of deeper problems. Frustration is growing as Rangoon's ruling generals appear increasingly distrustful and unwilling to continue a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the democratic opposition. More
- The U.N.'s Human-Rights Choice
Published March 12, 2003 in The Asian Wall Street Journal
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights convenes in Geneva on Monday, overshadowed by threats of war and terrorism, divided along regional lines, and chaired by Libya — hardly a paragon of human-rights protection. This year, it faces a particularly challenging test: whether to hold China and North Korea accountable for their poor human rights records. More
- Cambodians, Too, Deserve Justice
Published December 27, 2002 in The International Herald Tribune
Aging mass murderers continue to live freely in Cambodia. This month Nuon Chea, "Brother No. 2" and deputy to the Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, finally stepped into a courtroom. Among other crimes, researchers have linked him to the Tuol Sleng torture center where more than 16,000 men, women and children went in and only seven came out alive. More
- Condemning the Crackdown in Western China
Published December 16, 2002 in The Asian Wall Street Journal
Beijing's domestic war against terrorism has gone global. In September, the U.S. joined China in asking the United Nations Security Council to add to the U.N.'s terrorist list an obscure Uighur group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a target of Beijing's war against "ethnic splittists, religious extremists and violent terrorists." And Chinese President Jiang Zemin's recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin was capped by pledges of mutual support to crush Muslim separatists in Xinjiang and Chechnya. More
- From eating rats in North Korea to sex abuse in China: A refugee travesty
Published November 19, 2002 in International Herald Tribune
The head of the United Nations food program was in Beijing last week, pleading for China's help to prevent more death and famine in North Korea. Facing a funding deficit, the world body has suspended humanitarian assistance to 3 million North Koreans in the western part of the country. More aid cuts may come. More
- Hong Kong: Liberties in doubt
Published October 11, 2002 in The International Herald Tribune
HONG KONG: The recent cave-in by Hong Kong to pressure from Beijing to enact laws against subversion, sedition, secession and theft of state secrets was hardly a surprise. Hong Kong and Chinese government officials have been threatening to do this since Hong Kong's 1997 handover from Britain to China. But the muted response from key governments was surprising and disappointing. More
- A major U-turn in U.S. policy on peacekeeping Afghanistan
Published September 7, 2002 in International Herald Tribune
Pentagon officials recently signaled a shift in U.S. policy on Afghanistan, admitting that an expansion of international peacekeeping operations beyond Kabul is necessary. The unsuccessful attempt to assassinate President Hamid Karzai on Thursday in Kandahar is intensifying calls for such a move. Some in the Bush administration called it a "mid-course correction," but the United States appears to be on the verge of a major U-turn. More
- Tie Indonesia aid to rights reforms
Published September 3, 2002 in Baltimore Sun
During a visit to Jakarta in early August, Secretary of State Colin Powell vowed he would get Congress to restart a military training program suspended in 1992 after Indonesian troops committed atrocities in East Timor. He argued that exposing officers to democratic institutions and human-rights values would have beneficial effects. More
- A Long Way to Go in Burma
Published July 31 2002 The Wall Street Journal
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 progress toward restoring democratic, civilian rule and basic human rights. More
- Cambodia's friends should get tough
Published June 19, 2002 in The International Herald Tribune
Cambodia is struggling to lift itself out of poverty. Its economy is being drained by a bloated military. Investment is deterred by a weak legal system and a corrupt judiciary. The World Bank, in a carefully understated analysis, says the country and its population of 12 million face a "formidable array of development challenges." More
- Indonesia 'Peacekeeper' Plan Sends the Wrong Message
Published May 20, 2002 in Los Angeles Times
Indonesia may be the next front in the U.S. war against terrorism in Southeast Asia. But terrorism is not at the root of Indonesia's most
urgent troubles. And some U.S. proposals for fighting the war may worsen the problems they are meant to correct. More
- A crisis visit to Burma
Published April 22, 2002 in The International Herald Tribune
The world may get a glimpse of what is really going on in Burma when the United Nations' special envoy, the Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail, visits Rangoon this Monday. More
- Holding China to Account
Published April 4, 2002 in The Wall Street Journal
As riot police shut down workers' protests in northeast China, Beijing's diplomats in Geneva have little to worry about. As things now stand, they won't be forced to defend China's treatment of labor organizers, or its crackdown on pro-democracy activists, Tibetans or Internet users. Nor will there be any debate on China's human rights record at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights now underway in Geneva — unless the European Union, the U.S. and other key governments act quickly to push for a resolution on the issue. More
- Building a brighter future for Afghans
Published January 20, 2002 in Japan Times
WASHINGTON - The rebuilding of a peaceful Afghanistan requires a commitment to protecting the human rights of all Afghan citizens, including women and ethnic minorities. The International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan taking place in Tokyo should take action to support the institutions and programs needed to promote human rights and secure justice. More..
- Afghanistan Is Not Asia's Only Sick State
Published December 14, 2001 in The Wall Street Journal Europe
Is Burma on the verge of becoming another failed state? A military government has the economy in a stranglehold, poverty and malnutrition are on the rise, and HIV and AIDS have reached epidemic proportions. Repression is a fact of daily life for the country's 47 million people.
More..
- America and China Can Go Further
Published October 12, 2001 in International Herald Tribune
The relationship between the United States and China has apparently turned a corner with Beijing's decision to become a partner in the global fight against terrorism. More..
- A China Human Rights Policy — Now
Published August 14, 2001 in The Asian Wall Street Journal
With U.S. President George W. Bush due to visit Shanghai and Beijing in just 10 weeks, his administration badly needs a
human-rights policy for China. More..
- Bush should press China on human rights
Published August 13, 2001 in The Baltimore Sun
President Clinton was criticized for his inconsistent and erratic China policy, especially on human rights. But as President Bush prepares to make his first official visit to China this fall, it's not yet clear that his policy will be any better. More..
- Rights Stuff: Press For Progress
Published May 24, 2001 in Asian Wall Street Journal
China's detention of four intellectuals of Chinese descent with ties to America poses a serious challenge to U.S.-China relations. Two are accused of spying, although no evidence has been produced to justify the charges. They may all be victims of internal Chinese politics, or pawns in a game Beijing is playing to test the new administration of President George W. Bush. More..
- Hong Kong's Freedom is Facing a Crucial Test
Published in International Herald Tribune
April 28, 2001
Nearly four years after its handover to China, Hong Kong's autonomy and commitment to human rights under the "one country, two systems" formula are facing some pivotal tests. The former British colony must decide how to deal with the Falun Gong spiritual meditation group, and how to respond to China's detention of Hong Kong-based academics. More..
- Beyond Rhetoric: Give Teeth to a Policy on Human Rights in China — Mr.
Bush must back up his campaign commitment with action.
Published January 16, 2001 in the Asian Wall Street Journal
In May, George W. Bush told Boeing aircraft workers, "When I am president, China will know that America's values are always part of America's agenda. Our advocacy of human rights is not a formality of diplomacy. It is a fundamental commitment of our country." More..
- Focus China policy on trading partners
Published September 13, 2000 in the Baltimore Sun
Crafting a multilateral approach is essential to help prevent Beijing
from playing off one country against another, as it has done so effectively in the past, or dismissing U.S. protests as part of an American campaign of superpower domination. More..
- How the Host in Okinawa Could Boost Its International Profile
Published July 20, 2000 in the International Herald Tribune
TOKYO - The heads of government meeting of the Group of Seven leading powers that starts this Friday in Okinawa gives Japan a forum to show that it is ready to play a greater role in global problem-solving. A test will be whether it uses the summit to address reform in China and Russia's war in Chechnya. More
- China Talks Sweet on Human Rights
Published March 23, 2000 in Asian Wall Street Journal
China has unveiled a new "kinder and gentler" strategy for dealing with accusations of human-rights violations. Not surprisingly, the softer approach coincides with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which opened in Geneva this week. The United States has agreed to sponsor a resolution censuring China, and Beijing wants to make sure it never comes up for a vote, or if it does, that it's defeated. More
- Will Burma's military rulers mark the new millennium
Published January 6, 2000 in the International Herald Tribune
WASHINGTON - Will Burma's military rulers mark the new millennium
by returning the country to civilian government and adopting a ''pro-people
stance,'' as recommended by the World Bank and the United Nations?
Much will depend on the actions of Japan, historically Burma's largest
bilateral aid donor. More
- WTO Process Should Push China on Rights
The prospect of China joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) hangs over the trade body's summit in Seattle this week. Some in Seattle argue that China should be kept out of the global trade club because of its poor human rights record. But China's WTO membership could be good for human rights, assuming that other changes inside China and in its international relations also help to push Beijing in the direction of greater economic and political reform. WTO membership in itself won't reform the Chinese system, but it could be an important catalyst.
More
- The Rights Stuff
Moral authority and human rights
Published November-December 1998
in the Sojourners Magazine
My introduction to the human rights movement came at a death penalty protest outside a prison in Alabama in the early 1980s. I was amazed to find a staff person from Amnesty International among the demonstrators. At that time, the death penalty issue was highly controversial in the international rights movement. Groups such as AI had mushroomed in the United States during the Reagan years, fueled by outrage over American support for dictatorships in Latin and Central America. What did human rights have to do with executing murderers? More
| |
Related Material
Human Rights Watch Statement
Congressional Testimonies by Mike Jendrzejczyk
Editorials by Mike Jendrzejczyk
Audio and Video of Mike Jendrzejczyk
Condolence Messages / Obituaries
Media Coverage
NGOs and Other Colleagues
Government Officials
|
