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August 1, 1992

War Crimes in Bosnia-Hercegovina (Volume I)

Full-scale war, marked by appalling brutality inflicted on the civilian population and extreme violations of international humanitarian law, has been raging in Bosnia-Hercegovina since early April 1992. Mistreatment in detention, the taking of hostages and the pillaging of civilian property is widespread.
August 1, 1992

Struggling for Ethnic Identity

Czechoslovakia's Endangered Gypsies

The Roma people, commonly known in English as Gypsies, have been misunderstood ever since their migration from Northern India sometime around the 10th century. Ignorance of their origin initially led to a widespread belief that they were spies, arsonists, and hooligans. Some nations mistakenly called them "Gypsies," assuming they were from Egypt.
July 1, 1992

Conspicuous Destruction

War, Famine and the Reform Process in Mozambique

Addressing two sets of concerns, this report covers both the abuses relating to the seventeen years of war between the Mozambique Armed Forces and the rebel Mozambique National Resistance, as well as the reforms instigated by the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front under President Joachim Chissano.
July 1, 1992

Children in Northern Ireland

Abused by Military Forces and Paramilitaries

Children have suffered greatly as a result of the conflict in Northern Ireland; of the almost 3,000 people who have lost their lives since 1969 in political violence associated with "The Troubles," many have been children killed by paramilitaries or by security forces. Moreover, children in the province are caught between two powerful groups - security forces and paramilitaries.
July 1, 1992

Behind Closed Doors

Torture and Detention in Egypt

This report examines gross human-rights abuses in Egypt: torture and long-term detention without charge or trial. It focuses particularly on the use of torture by officers and soldiers of the Ministry of Interior's General Directorate for State Security Investigation (SSI) during the period when political and security suspects are held in incommunicado detention.
July 1, 1992

Electrifying Speech

New Communications Technologies and Traditional Civil Liberties

Since the personal computer ushered in a communication revolution about 15 years ago, the accompanying technology has been likened to everything from the printing press to Hyde Park Corner, from the postal system to talk radio. Pungent as these analogies are, their limitations point up the essential uniqueness of computer-mediated communication.
June 30, 1992

Half The Story

The Skewed U.S. Monitoring of Repatriated Haitian Refugees

The May 24 Executive Order authorizing the summary repatriation of Haitian boat people is premised on the view, expressed by President Bush and other U.S. officials, that none of the Haitians risk political persecution upon return to Haiti. That view is principally based on surveys of repatriates conducted by State Department and Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officials.

June 23, 1992

East Timor: The Courts-Martial

Between May 29 and June 6, 1992, nine soldiers and one policeman were tried by military or police courts in Bali for their role in the massacre in East Timor on November 12, 1991 when the Indonesian army opened fire on a crowd of unarmed demonstrators. The trials were open to diplomatic observers and the press; the sentences were light, ranging from eight to eighteen months.
June 12, 1992

Persecuted Writers are Recognized

36 writers from 16 countries receive funds from the estates of Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett

The Italian translator of The Satanic Verses, who was the victim of a knife attack last summer; a Peruvian journalist arrested during the recent coup; and numerous Burmese and Chinese writers imprisoned for their roles in their nations' pro-democracy movements are among the writers recognized this year by the Fund for Free Expression for their courage in the face of political persecution.