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September 1, 1991

A Victory Turned Sour

Human Rights in Kuwait since Liberation

Following the liberation of Kuwait, the thirst to avenge the horrors of the Iraqi occupation spawned a new round of human rights victims this time at Kuwaiti hands. Despite calls to defend human rights in rallying support for the war against Iraq, the reinstated Kuwaiti government has trampled on those rights at nearly every turn, often with the use of violence.
September 1, 1991

Into the Quagmire: Human Rights and U.S. Policy in Peru

The government of President Alberto Fujimori has been seriously challenged by insurgent threat from Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and the Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (MRTA); both groups having been responsible for civilian casualties and other gross violations of the laws of war.
September 1, 1991

Evil Days

30 Years of War and Famine in Ethiopia

For the past thirty years under both Emperor Haile Selassie and President Mengistu Haile Mariam, Ethiopia has suffered continuous war and intermittent famine until every single province has been affected by war to some degree.
September 1, 1991

The Persecution of Gypsies in Romania

From our “ Destroying Ethnic Identity Series”

Ethnic hatred and violence directed against Gypsies in Romania has escalated dramatically since the 1989 revolution: rarely a month passed without another Gypsy village being attacked. Gypsy homes have been burned, their possessions destroyed, they have been chased from their villages, and often not allowed to return.
September 1, 1991

Prison Conditions in Czechoslovakia

In 1989, Helsinki Watch severely criticized conditions in the Czech prison system. The criticism was in a report prepared by Professor Herman Schwartz, Chairman of the Human Rights Watch Prison Project Advisory Committee, and was based on numerous interviews in early 1988 with recently released prisoners.
September 1, 1991

Egyptian Government Moves to Dissolve Prominent Arab Women's Organization

A New Assault on Freedom of Expression in Egypt

he Arab Women's Solidarity Association (AWSA), headed by Dr. Nawal El-Saadawi, a well-known writer and leading figure in the Arab women's movement, has been ordered dissolved by the Egyptian authorities. AWSA will contest the dissolution order in legal proceedings scheduled to begin on October 31 before the State Council Court.
August 31, 1991

Towards a Political Settlement in Afghanistan

The Need to Protect Human Rights

On May 21, 1991, the Secretary General of the United Nations issued a public statement outlining in very broad terms the framework for a political settlement of the conflict in Afghanistan.
August 14, 1991

El Salvador

Extradition Sought For Alleged Death Squad Participant

On August 16, 1991, a federal magistrate in San Antonio, Texas will rule on a request by the government of El Salvador to extradite César Vielman Joya Martínez, a former soldier in the intelligence unit of the First Infantry Brigade of the Salvadoran Army, for his alleged involvement in the murder of two young men in El Salvador in July 1989.
August 12, 1991

Ghana: Government Denies Existence of Political Prisoners

Minister Says Detainees "Safer" in Custody

Ghana's ruling Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), chaired by Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings, has claimed -- for the third time in as many years -- that Ghana has no political prisoners. In a radio interview on May 31, Secretary for Foreign Affairs Obed Asamoah, argued that some detainees -- whom he characterized as "subversives" -- are being kept in custody for their own good.