Jan. 27

(Reuters) - World - Former Uruguayan political prisoner Hugo Batalla, who is also Uruguay's vice-president, was elected today to head the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Batalla was jailed twice for speaking out against the military dictatorship which ruled Uruguay from 1973 to 1985.

(Reuters) - Argentina/Sweden - Argentina's ambassador to Sweden was summoned to the Swedish foreign ministry today to account for the Argentine government's failure to resolve the kidnaping of Dagmar Hagelin, who was disappeared on January 27, 1977. Argentine Captain Alfredo Astiz, who was recently forced out of the Navy, is widely believed to be responsible for her kidnaping. Although Astiz, known as the Blond Angel, was sentenced in absentia by France to life in prison, he has become a symbol of the impunity of human rights violators in Argentina. In a statement, Swedish Foreign Minister said, "I and the entire Swedish government are still determined to clear up the fate of Dagmar Hagelin."

(Reuters) - Hong Kong - Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten today called on China to allow freedom of the press when Hong Kong reverts to China in July. Patten's statement came after the surprise release of journalist Xi Yang, who has served only three years of a 12-year sentence.

(Reuters) - European Union - Leni Fischer, president of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly today endorsed a plan to create a human rights commissioner post for the Council. The plan will be considered at the October summit of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.

(UPI) - Bolivia - Bolivian police chief General Willy Arriaza was fired by President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada after eight police officers detained and beat human rights assembly chief Waldo Albarracin. Albarracin suffered mild rib fractures and back pains in the attack, which came after he told a reporter that police were responsible for the death of one of their own officers. Arriaza was replaced by General Tomas Asturizaga, who was the head of the police anti-drug force.

(Baltimore Sun) - USA - In response to a Freedom of Information request filed by the Baltimore Sun on May 26, 1994, the US Central Intelligence Agency declassified training manuals that detailed torture methods used in Central America in the 1980s. The CIA has claimed that no such methods were taught, but the manual, entitled, "Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual -- 1983" detailed techniques that are very similar to those used by the notorious Battalion 316 in Honduras. A 1963 manual released at the same indicated that agents were free to use physical coercion.

(AFP) - Cambodia - According to a report released today by the Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale University, Cambodia's Khmer Rouge may be responsible for killing 1.7 million people during its regime from 1975 to 1979. Information is available at the WWW site http://www.yale.edu/cgp/.

(AFP) - World - Louisiana attorney David Marcantel won the eight annual international contest for pleading human rights causes on January 25 for his attack on the death penalty in the US. Marcantel claimed that the psychological cruelty of death row inmates was greater than the physical punishment of two men who were broken on the wheel and quartered shortly after being sentenced in 1757. Tony Buti of Perth, Australia, took second prize for speaking on the plight of aboriginal children forcibly separated from their parents and Pascal Dourneau-Josette of Paris took third prize for his attack on China's one-child policy.

Jan. 28

(Reuters) - Turkey - Turkish national police chief Aladdin Yuksel today told a human rights conference said, "Most of the allegations about the disappearances in custody are baseless." According to the Turkish Human Rights Association, 114 people have disappeared since June 1996, many after being detained by police. Yuksel claimed that most of the disappeared were arrested for criminal acts or had gone underground with terrorist groups but he did not cite any examples or statistics.

(Reuters) - Nigeria - The independent Nigerian newspaper Vanguard today said that Dele Sobowale, one of its political columnists was arrested by Nigerian security forces last week. The paper also reported that Sobowale has been denied access to his employers and family. Sobowale writes a weekly column in which he has criticized the government. Godwin Agbroko, editor of Theweek magazine was detained in December 1996, and had not been charged. Abdul Oroh, executive director of the Civil Liberties Organization said, "There should be an unfettered flow of information since we are transiting to democracy."

(Reuters) - Indonesia/East Timor - The Indonesian Embassy in Washington today claimed that charges of human rights abuses made by US Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia were biased and inaccurate. In a statement, the embassy said "We feel Congressman Wolf's detailed reflections of his brief tour are biased, one-sided and represent a perspective doubtless cemented prior to his visit and completely unaffected by the reality of life today on East Timor."

(Reuters) - Algeria/France - According to the Paris-based Gay and Lesbian Center, an Algerian identified as L. Faysal was granted refugee status last month by French authorities on the grounds that his life was in danger because he is a homosexual. This marks the first time that the French government Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons has granted asylum in such a case.

(Reuters) - China - Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang today claimed that "So-called political prisoners do not exist in China." Diplomats and human rights group disagree, stating that dozens of dissidents were imprisoned in 1996.

(Reuters) - Burma - US soft drink company PepsiCo Inc. said today that it had ended all ties with its bottler in Burma and planned to discontinue all sales of its products there. Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition to the Burmese military regime, has repeatedly called for companies to divest from Burma. In a statement, the Free Burma Coalition said, "The Pepsi victory will be a major morale booster for the forces of democracy inside Burma fighting under the leadership of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy." PepsiCo joins Oshkosh B'Gosh, Liz Clairborne, Eddie Bauer, Heineken, and Carlsberg, in pulling out of Burma.

(Reuters) - Argentina - The Argentine government today condemned the murder of Noticias photographer Jose Luis Cabezas as an attack on democracy and throwback to the Dirty War of 1976-1983. The independent group Permanent Assembly for Human Rights said, "This murder recalls the terrible methods of the Triple A," the right-wing military death squad that operated in the 1970s. Cabezas was found handcuffed to his car, where he had been shot in the head and set on fire. Cabezas had recently covered corruption cases involving the Buenos Aires police.

(LA Times) - Peru - While the Peruvian government has called for the release of hostages held by the Tupac Amarú Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) at the Japanese Ambassador's residence, plans to release hundreds of prisoners who are likely innocent have been put on hold, for fear of appearing to concede to the rebels. Susana Villaran, head of the National Coordinator of Human Rights, said that pardoning the innocents "would not be a sign of weakness, but that is the interpretation."

(DPA) - Israel - The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem today criticized an order that bans Israeli soldiers from shooting at Jewish inhabitants of Hebron, but were ordered to return fire at Arabs.

(AFP) - India - Human rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, head of the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude, today accused the Indian government of merely trying to placate international concerns about child labor. Nearly 50 million children are reportedly employed at thousands of factories in India.

(AFP) - Indonesia/Australia - The Indonesian Forum for the Environment and four villagers from Kalmantan today charged four Australian mining joint ventures with abusing human rights and the environment. At the Australian embassy, the activists called for an investigation into the forced evacuations of 4,000 indigenous residents, confiscation of villagers' land and polluting the local environment. The four firms accused of these violations are PT Indo Mura Kencana, PT Kelian Equatorial Mining, PT Kaltim Prima Coal and PT Adaro Indonesia, which are owned in part by Australian mining firms.

Jan. 29

(SF Chronicle) - USA - Students at Stanford University in California have set up a socially responsible fund administered by Progressive Asset Management Co., which invests in companies that do not violate human rights or damage the environment. Organizers of the student fund are hoping that the new fund can be made part of Stanford University's Stanford Fund, created to help undergraduate education.

(Reuters) - Turkey - US State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said today that it opposed European Union efforts to force Turkey to improve its human rights record as a condition of membership in the EU. The US took this position, even though the State Department's own annual human rights report due out tomorrow will criticize Turkey's human rights record.

(NY Times) - USA/China - US President Bill Clinton yesterday conceded that the US policy of "constructive engagement" with China had not produced progress on human rights as hoped but he still believed "that the policy we're following is the correct one." President Clinton also indicated that he was "concerned" about the possibility that the Chinese government may restrict civil liberties when it takes over Hong Kong in July.

(GNS) - US/China - A joint US-China human rights commission was proposed by California Senator Dianne Feinstein as a way of beginning human rights talks with China. In a speech to the Asia Society, Feinstein said, "Through engagement and assistance ... we can do more to advance the cause of human rights in China in the long run than through constant castigation or isolation." Feinstein indicated that she opposes linking economic issues to human rights, stating "Clearly, linking human rights with (trade issues) has been a failure."

(DPA) - Burundi/UN - In a report released today, the United Nations blamed the Burundi army for massacres of more than 900 civilians over the past two months. According to the report rebels were responsible for killing 58 civilians and Burundi security forces were responsible for executions, disappearances, and illegal arrests.

(AFP) - UK - Legislation was introduced in the House of Commons today that would make it a crime to deny orally or in writing that the Nazi Holocaust occurred. The bill, introduced by Labour MP Mike Gapes, reportedly has support from the major political parties.

Jan. 30

(Reuters) - UN - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan today appealed for donor fund for its human rights observers, which have major operations in Rwanda, Burundi, and the former Yugoslavia. Annan has promised restructuring of the human rights office, which has been strapped for cash.

(Derechos) - World - The US State Department today released its annual human rights reports saying that the US is morally obligated to report on human rights abuses around the world. While many countries accused of human rights abuses have already criticized the reports, this year found many US allies subjected to unprecedented scrutiny. According to the reports, the human rights record of NATO ally Turkey worsened in some ways, including "extrajudicial killings, including deaths in detention, from the excessive use of force, in safe house raids, and mystery killings. . ." As expected, Russia was criticized for its role in the breakaway republic of Chechnya. Another NATO ally, Germany, was castigated for its discrimination against the Church of Scientology. In Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia, ethnic minorities were reportedly subjected to significant human rights abuses.

The withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of the Occupied Territories significantly improved the human rights situation there but there were still "serious human rights abuses" in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Saudi Arabia, one of America's strongest allies in the Middle East, was criticized for lack of religious freedom, freedom of the press, and freedom of association.

In Asia, Indonesia was criticized for its role in "killings, disappearances, torture and excessive use of force by the military" in East Timor and for "severe limitations on freedom of assembly and association." South Korea was singled out for "legal and societal discrimination" against women. China, which has recently jailed numerous dissidents, was criticized for silencing all public dissent. Human rights abuses in Burma were said to have increased in 1996. Cambodia, Pakistan, India, and North Korea were also subjected to significant criticism.

The report claimed that human rights worsened in Cuba last year and that the Cuban government had suppressed journalists and human rights activists. Peru's judicial system for trying suspected terrorists was denounced in the report for failing to "meet internationally accepted standards for due process." In Haiti, there were more political killings than in 1995, but fewer than before the US military restored Aristide to power. Argentina was criticized for police abuses of detainees, poor prison conditions, and a judicial system subject to political influence. The report stated that human rights groups claim that Juan Antonio Puigjane, a 68-year-old Capuchin monk, was jailed for political reasons. Colombia was cited for resisting civilian oversight of the military while significant progress was noted in Guatemala.

According to the report the Nigerian government relied on extrajudicial executions and harassment of human rights activists, democracy activists, journalists, labor leaders, and environmentalists to silence any opposition. Sudan, Rwanda, and Burundi were also cited for their poor human rights records. South Africa was hailed for its Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its transformation since the 1994 elections.

The complete text of all the human rights reports can be found at http://www.state.gov/www/issues/human_rights/

(Reuters) - Burma - Total SA and Unocal Corp. Today announced that they had joined Burma's state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise in a contract to explore an area of the Andaman Sea. After PepsiCo announced last week that it had ended the last of its ties in Burma, Free Burma Coalition spokesman said that "The next focus is certainly the oil companies."

(Reuters) - Mozambique - Judge Rafael Sebastiao of a Maputo court today convicted four policemen of beating Frenque Tchembene to death as they attempted to extract a confession. Abilio Lisboa, Constantino Namicopo, and Joao Palane and police commander Marciano Chihale face prison terms between two and eight years in jail.

(Reuters) - Kuwait - Colonel Adel al-Ibrahim, head of the ministry's public relations department, today denied allegations by the Jordanian newspaper Ad-Dustour that Kuwaiti security forces had beaten Jordanian prisoners. Ibrahim said, "The state of Kuwait is extremely keen on safeguarding human rights guaranteed by our Islamic religion."

(Reuters) - Australia/EU - Galarrwuy Yunupingu, chairman of the Aboriginal Northern Land Council, urged the European Commission to stand firm and insist that a human rights clause be included as part of a trade treaty between Australia and the European Union. Although Australia has argued that human rights and trade should not be mixed, Yunupingu noted Australia's leading role in economic sanctions against apartheid South Africa. Yunupingu stated that the Aboriginal Northern Land Council would send the European Union a report detailing Australia's poor record on the human rights of aboriginals.

(Reuters) - US/China - In a press conference in China during a trade mission in Asia, California Governor Pete Wilson said that trade and human rights "are disparate concerns." California exports to China totaled US $1.47 billion in the first nine month of 1996, an increase of 55 percent.

(BBC) - Georgia - The All-Georgian Association of Human Rights on January 28 called for the release of all political prisoners after the death of Malkhaz Ghviniashvili, who died under suspicious circumstances in a prison hospital.

(BBC) - Tunisia/Spain - On January 27, President of the Government Jose Maria Aznar called on Tunisian Prime Minister Hamed Karoui to continue progress on human rights. Aznar stressed that the recent release of two socalist leaders should lead to other steps to improve human rights in Tunisia.

(AFP) - Palestinian Authority/Isarael/Egypt - After a visit with UN human rights rapporteur on Palestinian affairs, Honen Hollenen, Seyyed Kassem al-Masri, an aide to Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mussa for international affairs, today denounced Israeli violations of human rights in the Palestinian territories.

Jan. 31

(Reuters) - Nicaragua - The Inter-American Court of Human Rights today fined the Nicaraguan government US$20,000 for delays in the case of 16-year-old Jean Paul Genie, who was allegedly machine-gunned by bodyguards of former Nicaraguan Army chief Humberto Ortega after Genie's car passed Ortega's motorcade on October 20, 1990. Ortega's bodyguards were acquitted of murder by a military tribunal in June 1994 for lack of evidence after the case was transferred from a civilian court. Ortega was also cleared of covering up the crime.

(Reuters) - Ukraine - Ukrainian Justice Minister Serhiy Holovaty said today that the Ukrainian government has asked parliament to abolish the death penalty. Holovaty's statement comes after the Council of Europe on January 29 that it would lock out Russian and Ukrainian delegates unless they complied with earlier promises to halt executions and abolish the death penalty. The move to abolish the death penalty will be difficult as polls show that less than 10 percent of Ukrainians favor abolishing the death penalty. According to Holovaty, Ukraine executed 89 people in the first six months of 1996.

(Reuters) - Iran/US - The US today an Iranian supreme court's decision to uphold death sentences of Musa Talibi and Zabihullah Mahrami of apostasy - a term used to denote abandonment of Islam. The two are members of the Bahai faith, which has nearly 350,000 adherents in Iran.

(Reuters) - Germany - After a television network on January 30 said that billions of marks were being paid to thousands of Nazi war criminals by the German government, the government has come under pressure to justify the situation. A spokesman for the German Labor Ministry said that there was rule to prevent the "victim's pension" being paid to convicted war criminals unless they lived outside of Germany.

(DPA) - USA/Latin America - US Secretary of Defense William Cohen today said that he supported lifting an arms embargo on Latin America because of the spread of democratic regimes. The arms embargo was originally enacted because of military governments that violated human rights.

(DPA) - Germany/Burma - The Ostasiatischer Verein (OAV) [German Asia-Pacific Business Association] opened an office in Burma last night although many Western countries have threatened trade sanctions against Burma. The OAV represents 550 German corporations and will provide information to members interested in doing business in Burma. OAV representative Frank Schmidy said "One of OAV's goals is to synchronize German business expansion here with Myanmar (Burma) becoming a full-fledged ASEAN member." In a speech at the OAV office opening, Brigadier General Win Tin, Burma's Minister of Finance and Revenue, praised Germany's past financial assistance to the Burmese economy.

(AFP) - Iran - The International Federation of Human Rights today called for the release of Faraj Sarkouhi, who was arrested in Tehran on January 29 after a German magazine published a letter he wrote complaining of being arrested and tortured last year.

(AFP) - Australia - Australian Federal Court Judge Graham Hill today condemned the Australian Parliament for refusing asylum to Moges Eshetu, an Ethiopian who said he was tortured in his homeland. Hill said that the decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal was unreasonable and that the Tribunal didn't accept that Eshetu had been arrested in the circumstances he claimed.

Feb. 1

(AP) - Singapore - Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, five Cabinet Ministers, and five lawmakers, all from the ruling PAP party, are suing Workers Party secretary-general J.B. Jeyaretnam for allegedly defaming them at a rally party before the election. Opposition figure Tang Liang Hong is the target of 11 libel suits by Prime Minister Goh and other PAP members. The PAP party has been in power since 1959 and has frequently been successful in taking opposition figures and critics to court for large monetary awards in damages.

(Reuters) - Palestinian Authority - The Jerusalem-based Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment today accused Palestinian authorities of torturing to death Yussef Ismail al-Baba during an interrogation in Nablus. Palestinian officials confirmed the death of the man but gave no details of his death.

(Reuters) - China - According to the Worker's Daily, the Yunhe County People's Court in Jiangsu province sentenced four policemen to up to 11 years in jail for torturing bank robbery suspect Lin Zhuhua to death. Zhuhua was reportedly tortured with electric shock and beaten with wooden clubs.

(Reuters) - Albania - Former Albanian supreme court president Zef Brozi today accused Albanian President Sali Berisha and the government of turning the country into a police state. Brozi spoke out against the jailing of Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano and was sacked in 1995 for stating that he thought Nano was innocent and should be freed.

(Reuters) - Burma/US - A Massachusetts law that prohibits doing business with companies that have dealings in Burma has raised the ire of the Japan Consul General and the European Union. The state list of prohibited companies includes Japanese companies Sony, Bank of Tokyo and Mitsubishi.

Feb. 2

(St. Louis Dispatch) - Portugal - Portuguese police officers are suspected of five recent killings that have ignited a debate in the country. According to Amnesty International and the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, abuse of detainees by the police is a regular occurrence. Carlos Rosa was killed on May 7, 1996, while being interrogated by officers of the paramilitary National Republican Guard. After police claimed that Carlos Araujo had died of a sudden illness in December 1996, an autopsy revealed that he had been shot in the back at close range. Olvio Almada's body was found floating in Lisbon harbor after he was arrested for not carrying proper documentation.

(The Observer) - UK - In a letter to human rights barrister Lord Lester, the British government admitted that the vague wording of the Police Bill could subject the entire media to surveillance in the fight against "serious crime." Confidential sources could be compromised and a newspaper office could be bugged to find out if it was the source of politically embarrassing revelations.

(News and Observer) - Caribbean - In response to rising crime, many Caribbean countries have reintroduced floggings with the cat-o-nine tails, which was used against slaves. Antigua and Barbuda reinstated floggings in 1990, the Bahamas in 1991, Barbados and Trinidad in 1993, and Jamaica in 1994. In its 1996 report on human rights, the US State Department noted without comment that flogging was reintroduced in Trinidad and Tobago and corporal punishment was reintroduced in the Bahamas. Although most floggings have received little attention, the 1993 court-ordered flogging of an 11-year-old boy and last years sentence of a mother of four to 10 strokes, both in Trinidad, have raised the ire of children's and women's groups.

Copyright 1996 Derechos. This information may be freely distributed (and we encourage you to pass it along) so long as it is properly credited.

This service is provided to you by Derechos Human Rights. We encourage you to visit our web site: http://www.derechos.org/ and learn more about human rights issues and what you can do about them. To subscribe or unsubscribe from _The Week in Human Rights_, send a message to hrb@derechos.org with the word subscribe or unsubscribe. You can also obtain a copy of the latest summary by visiting http://www.derechos.org/human-rights/briefs/ or sending a message to:

briefs@derechos.org

AFP - Agence France Presse

AI - Amnesty International

AP - Associated Press

BBC - British Broadcasting Company

CSM - Christian Science Monitor

CTK - Czech News Agency

DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

GNS - Gannett News Service

HRW - Human Rights Watch

IPS - Inter Press Service

LA Times- Los Angeles Times

NYT - New York Times

SF Chronicle - San Francisco Chronicle

UPI - United Press International

WP - Washington Post