Reports

U.S. Policy on Voting Rights in Global Perspective

The 55-page report, “Out of Step: US Policy on Voting Rights in Global Perspective,” examines the laws of 136 countries around the world with populations of 1.5 million and above and finds that the majority—73 of the 136—never, or rarely, deny a person’s right to vote because of a criminal conviction. In the other 63 countries, the United States sits at the restrictive end of the spectrum, disenfranchising a broader swath of people overall.

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  • July 1, 1995

    A Case-Study of Military Repression in Southeastern Nigeria

    Two years after the annulment of the June 1993 presidential election, which was widely viewed to have been won by Chief Abiola, the Nigerian political climate was volatile and human rights violations pervasive. The repressive tactics of the government of Gen.
  • July 1, 1995

    Rights Abuses Follow Renewed Foreign Aid Commitments

    Since December 1994, there has been a notable deterioration in the human rights situation in Kenya, evidenced by Pres. Moi's crackdown against human rights activists, opposition politicians and internally displaced persons.
  • June 1, 1995

    Trafficking of Nepali Girls and Women to India’s Brothels

    Hundreds of thousands of women and children are employed in Indian brothels—many of them lured or kidnapped from Nepal and sold into conditions of virtual slavery. The victims of this international trafficking network routinely suffer serious physical abuse, including rape, beatings, arbitrary imprisonment and exposure to AIDS.
  • June 1, 1995

    By early 1995, the international tribunal established by the U.N. to adjudicate war crimes and crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia had indicted 22 individuals for serious violations of humanitarian law, including the crime of genocide.
  • June 1, 1995

    Amputation, Branding and the Death Penalty

    eginning in June 1994, the government of Iraq issued at least nine decrees that establish severe penalties, including amputation, branding and the death penalty for criminal offenses such as theft, corruption, currency speculation and military desertion.
  • June 1, 1995

    One year after President Clinton unconditionally renewed Most Favored Nation status for China and international pressure on China to improve its human rights practices dropped off dramatically, the Chinese government continues to impose tight controls on dissent and to engage in a pattern of systematic abuse of prisoners.
  • May 1, 1995

    Continued Regional and Ethnic Tensions

    Two years after a bloody and devastating civil war, the human rights situation in Tajikistan remains precarious. Since the spring of 1993, refugees and internally displaced persons have returned to their villages in the southern province of Khatlon, from which the largest number of people were displaced following the war.
  • May 1, 1995

    The U.S. has pursued the development of at least 10 different tactical laser weapons that have the potential of blinding individuals. The existence of most of these programs is not known to the American public, Congress, or even throughout the military, and services responsible for laser weapons seem largely unaware of the programs in research and development in other services.
  • May 1, 1995

    Continuing Violence in KwaZulu-Natal

    For the last decade South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal region has been troubled by political violence. This conflict escalated during the 4 years of negotiations for a transition to democratic rule, and reached the status of a virtual civil war in the last months before the national elections of April 1994, significantly disrupting the election process.
  • May 1, 1995

    International Support for the Perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide

    After a year in exile, the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide have rebuilt their military infrastructure, largely in Zaire, and are rearming themselves in preparation for a violent return to Rwanda.
  • April 1, 1995

    THE CRISIS CONTINUES

    One year after the genocide began in Rwanda, the crisis continues. Despite calls for justice inside and outside the country, no criminal trials, national or international, have taken place. The Rwandan government is now arresting some 1,500 persons a week, producing life-threatening overcrowding and appalling treatment in the prisons and fostering insecurity among the population at large.
  • April 1, 1995

    Human Rights Abuses Along the U.S. Border with Mexico Persist Amid Climate of Impunity

    U.S. Border Patrol agents are committing serious human rights violations, including unjustified shootings, rapes and beatings, while enjoying virtual impunity for their actions.