This page is maintained by Michael
Katz-Lacabe and Margarita
Lacabe. Last updated Nov. 8, 1996.
Oct. 21
(Reuters) - Slovakia - A controversial law known as the anti-subversion law will be
re-examined by the Slovak parliament this week at the request of Prime Minister Vladimir
Meciar's governing coalition. The law would permit the punishment of organizers of
anti-government rallies and those who spread "false information" abroad. Opponents of the
legislation claim that it resembles laws used to suppress dissent before the fall of communism
in 1989.
(Reuters) - Indonesia - Preliminary hearing began today in five of the 10 trials of 124
people who face charges related to the July 27 riots in Jakarta. All of those on trial are
supporters of Megawati Sukarnoputri and were protesting her removal as leader of the
Indonesian Democratic Party. They have been charged with assault and disobeying police
orders to disperse. The trials are expected to last two months.
(Reuters) - Brazil - Gilson Nogueira, a human rights lawyer who was investigating
murders by a death squad, was shot and killed by unknown gunmen, according to a police
spokesman. Nogueira was machine-gunned as he left his home in Natal in the state of Rio
Grande. The Justice Minister sent federal police officers to participate in the investigation into
Nogueira's death.
(Reuters) - Africa - At the opening of the 20th session of the Organization of African Unity's African Commission on Human and People's Rights, Salim Ahmed Salim, head of the OAU, today called for a partnership of private groups and governments to promote and protect human rights.
(Time) - Argentina - Hector Vergez, one of the commanders of the La Perla and La
Ribera detention centers during the "dirty war" faces charges related to torturing, killing, and
kidnapping, but he is free and prosperous today as he sits in his regular seat at a Buenos Aires
cafe. A court in Spain has summoned Vergez and 100 other Argentine officers, including
former leaders General Jorge Rafael Videla, General Reynalo Bignone, General Leopoldo
Galtieri, and the current governor of the provice of Tucuman, General Antonio Bussi. The
government of President Menem and Justice Minister Elias Jassan insist that no Argentine
citizens will be extradited to face charges related to the "Dirty War." The Argentine
government granted amnesties to convicted and suspected human rights abusers in 1986, 1987,
and 1989. Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who has testified to the Spanish
court about his experience in the "Dirty War," doesn't think that Spanish investigators will get
much help from Argentine authorities. "There are still 400 judges in office were appointed by
the military dictatorship." Alicia Pierini, the chief of human rights in Argentina, says that she
does not believe that crimes on either side of the "Dirty War" should be punished. Julio Cesar
Strassera, chief prosecutor in the 1985 trials of the military junta, called the Spanish court's
action "very positive."
(Reuters) - Germany/China - The family of Chinese dissident Wang Dan appealed to
German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel to raise his case when Kinkel visits China today.
(Extel Examiner) - Europe/Colombia - Members of the European Parliament are
expected to accuse British Petroleum of complicity in human rights abuses in Colombia, based
on accusation in a Colombian government report.
(BBC) - Panama - The Human Rights Research Centre of Panama objected to the
selection of John Negroponte as the US delegate in negotiations on military bases and accused
him of covering up human rights abuses in Honduras. Dr. Rolando Villalaz, president of the
group, reported that Negroponte knew about the CIA-trained Honduran army unit that tortured
and killed alleged subversives.
(AFP) - BP/Colombia - British Petroleum denied charges that it collaborated with
Colombia death squads, in response to reports that cited an unpublished report by the
Colombian government. According to the report , BP gave photos and information about
strikers and protestors to the army, which resulted in beatings, disappearances, and murders.
(AFP) - Philippines/East Timor - A Philippine government official said today that Nobel
Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos Horta will be banned from the Philippines during the upcoming
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Horta was also refused entry into the Philippines
in 1994 under pressure from the Indonesian government, which will be present at the APEC
summit.
(AI) - Africa - Amnesty International said that despite the formal commitment by
member states of the Organization of African Unity to promote and protect human rights, the
last decade has been marked by an increasing number of tragedies and the governments have
failed to hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations. AI's comments came
as the OAU held its 20th session of the African Commission on Human and People's
Rights in
Mauritius.
Oct. 22
(AFP) - Nigeria - The military government of Nigeria denied visas today to dour human
rights activists, including Amnesty International Secretary-General Pierre Sane.
(UPI) - Afghanistan - An Afghan human rights group called on the Taliban, which rules
most of Afghanistan, to reconsider its restrictive views on women. The group is based in
Mazar-I-Sharief, an area controlled by Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid.
(The Straits Times) - Malaysia - Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir
Mohamad told Malaysian journalists yesterday at the National Press Awards ceremony that they
should put the interests of the country before freedom of the press.
(Reuters) - Total/Burma - The International Human Rights Federation accused the
French petroleum company Total of supporting Burma's military regime and claimed that
construction of a pipeline there had increased human rights violations. The Federation said that
preparations for the project resulted in displacement of villagers, forced labor, rape, and torture.
Heineken, Carlsberg, Apple computers, and Levi-Strauss have decided to stop doing business
in Burma.
(Reuters) - Venezuela - An estimated 40 prisoners in La Planta prison in Venezuela were
burned alive today after prison guards started a fire, according to officials and human rights
activists. The guards reportedly closed off a part of the prison and threw in a incendiary device.
Female prisoners in a nearby wing shouted "They're killing the prisoners."
(PR Newswire) - USA - Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) creator and crytographer Philip
Zimmerian was honored by the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility as a "hero in
the cause of free expression" at its conference in Washington DC on October 18. Zimmerman
said "Technology helps people invade your privacy, so technology should let you protect it,"
in his acceptance of the Norbert Weiner Award. He noted that PGP was used by human rights
groups in the Balkans and Romania to protect sensitive information.
(Daily Telegraph) - UK - OneWorld, a British World Wide Web site, has started an
electronic magazine (e-zine) to raise kids' awareness of human rights called Blast. The site can
be reached at http://www.oneworld.org/blast/
(BBC) - Former Yugoslavia - The Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights said
that Serbs must be allowed to return to Croatia according to a Tanjug news agency report on
October 20.
(AFP) - Malawi - An independent committee to investigate human rights abuses
committed during the 30-year-rule of Kamuzu Banda will be set up by academics and human
rights activists in Malawi, it was announced after a meeting convened by the University of
Malawi and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights. Hundreds of people
have already made claims on the government for false imprisonment and other human rights
abuses.
(AFP) - UN/Afghanistan - The UN Security Council today called for a ceasefire in
Afghanistan and denounced discrimination against women and violations of human rights.
Although China and Egypt expressed reservations about mention human rights rights, they
voted for the resolution.
Oct. 23
(Reuters) - UN/China - The UN Human Rights Committee said today that China should
respect human rights in Hong Kong when it assumes control in 1997. The committee, which
oversees compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
also said that China should continue to file regular reports, which are required by the ICCPR.
(Reuters) - Honduras - Honduran official Leo Valldares, who is investigating the role
of the Argentine military in disappearances in Honduras, said today that Argentine authorities
had ignored his requests for help. Valladares said that requests for meetings with Interior
Minister Carlos Corach and army chief General Martin Balza and a request for access to
classified files went unanswered. Undaunted, Valladares says he wasn't disappointed and would
continue his investigation.
(Reuters) - Europe/Burma - After Kyi Mang, deputy secretary of Aung San Suu Kyi's
National Leqgue for Democracy, was reportedly detained yesterday, the European Parliament
today called for economic sanctions against Burma.
(UPI) - US/Peru - Former General Barry McCaffrey, the US anti-drug czar, after
meeting with Peruvian intelligence adviser Vladimiro Montesinos, who has been accused of
human rights abuses and being paid off by narco-traffickers, said that he believed that the
Peruvian government has the will to eradicate drug production. McCaffrey also said that the
Peruvian government had made significant progress in human rights.
(Tass) - Turkmenistan - Turkmen President Sapamurat Niyasov presided at the
inauguration ceremony of the Democracy and Human Rights Institute which opened today
in Ashkhabad. The Institute will handle appeals from Turkmen citizens concerning human
rights.
(NY Times) - Burma - An estimated 500 Burmese students protested police brutality
in the largest demonstration in years. The protest was peaceful and ended after univeristy
officials agreed to take action against police accused of arresting and beating students.
(DPA) - Egypt - The Arabic al-Dastour and the Middle East Times, weekly papers in
Egypt, were confiscated by the Egyptian Ministry of Inofrmation for including article critical
of the government. Both are classified as foreign newspapers subject to censorship office
approval because of strict law regarding independent newspapers. A spokesman for the
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights called the decision "a flagrant violation of freedom
expression..."
(BBC) - Russia - President Boris Yeltsin approved new regulations for the Russian
Human Rights Commission that would "create conditions for the president to exercise his
constitutional powers to protect human and civil rights..." The Commission, founded in 1993,
will now have the power to visit any state office and request any necessary information.
Yeltsin also called for annual reports on human rights in Russia.
(BBC) - Chile - Chilean Military Prosecutor Eduardo Benavides has called on the
Supreme Court to close all pending human rights cases based on the amnesty law or statute of
limitations. Human rights attorney Nelson Caucoto Pereira said that human rights groups
would inform the Supreme Court of their opposition to the prosecutor's request.
(BBS) - Spain - Fifty African citizens deported to a military prison in Guinea-Bissau
are said to have been tortured and one has died, according to the Spanish Refugee Aid
Committee. The president of the league for human rights of Guinea-Bissau is in Spain to seek
a solution to this situation.
(AI) - Austria - Amnesty International today informed the Austrian authorities
that if Herwig Matzka is detained for refusing to perform military service on grounds of
conscience, he will be adopted as a prisoner of conscience. AI has criticized Austrian laws on
conscientious objection which restrict the time period for people to apply for alternative
service.
(HRW) - Tibet - Human Rights Watch/Asia condemned the arrest by Chinese
authorities of Ngawang Choephel, a 30-year-old Tibetan Fulbright scholar and Middlebury
College professor who disappeared in August 1995 while traveling in Tibet. He is charged
with gathering "sensitive intelligence" and engaging in "illegal separatist activities."
(HRW) - Lebanon - Human Rights Watch, in a letter to French President Jacques
Chirac, urged him to express French concern for the abduction of Lebanese citizens by Syrian
security forces and Lebanese government complicity with the abductions
(HRW) - Colombia - In a letter to Colombia Ambassador to the European Union Carlos
Arturo Marulanda Ramirez, Human Rights Watch expressed concern over the recent
assassination of eight members of the displaced Bellacruz Ranch. Last February, 280 families
were evicted by a violent incursion by paramilitaries, who burned the residents' houses and
demanded that they leave. The ambassador is one of the co-owners of the Bellacruz ranch.
In the letter, HRW asked for the ambassador's intervention to ensure that outstanding arrest
warrants are executed against paramilitary leaders suspected of ongoing human rights abuses.
Oct. 24
(Reuters) - Venezuela - Venezuelan and human rights groups called for three National
Guardsmen who have been accused of starting a jail fire to be brought to justice. Justice
Minister Henrique Meier said, "There's proof that these three guards locked the door, lobbed
in tear gas canisters and that these set fire to the mattresses." A mother of one of the victims
said that guards told prisoners last week that they would they would be burned alive. Raul
Cubas, general coordinator of local rights group Provea said that the guilty would likely be free
in a year or two.
(Reuters) - Turkey - Akin Birdal, spokesman for the Human Rights Association, a
Turkish rights group, said that the European Parliament was right to vote to freeze financial
aid to the Turkish government.
(Reuters) - Europe/China - The European Parliament announced today that Wei
Jingsheng, a Chinese dissident sentenced to jail for 14 years in December 1995, was the
recipient of its 1996 Sakharov prize for freedom of thought. Former winners includes Nelson
Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi.
(UPI) - Indonesia/USA - John Deutch, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) met today with Indonesian President Suharto. Deutch was briefed on the situation in
Indonesia by Suharto and Lt. General Moetojib, head of the Bakin, Indonesia's National
Intelligence Coordinating Body.
(UPI) - Indonesia/Colombia - Colombian President Ernesto Samper and Indonesian
President Suharto agreed today to keep topics such as labor rights, environment, and human
rights, out of the upcoming World Trade Organization meeting in December, according to a
senior Indonesian official.
(NY Times) - Argentina/Spain - Esperanza Labrador, whose husband and two sons
were killed 20 years ago in Argentina, has finally been able to tell her story to a judge after he
opern an investigation in human rights abuses and murders of 320 Sapnish citizens during
Argentina's military dictatorship. According to legal experts at the United Nations, the legal
arguments made by Madrid judge Baltasar Garzon would be viewed as valid and were applied
in the pusuit of Nazi war criminals. A spokesman for the Spanish Foreign Ministry said a trial
in the near future is unlikely because Spanish law forbids trial of suspects in absentia and
Argentina is not likely to allow extradition those accused. Alicia Pierini, the Argentine Under
Secretary for Human Rights said that "a foreign court has no jurisdiction over events that took
place on Argentine soil."
(Irish Times) - Ireland - The Law Reform Commission, in a report published today,
declared that privacy is a human right and the State should protect an individual's privacy. The
report, Privacy, Surveilance and the Interception of Communications, also recommened that
notices should be placed in area that are under surveillance by closed-circuit television
(DPA) - Pakistan - Pakistani Judge Ajmal Mian suspend a previous high court
judgement that a women can't be married without her guardian's consent. Human rights
activist Asthma Jehangir appealed to the Supreme Court that the previous court ruling
"violated fundamental rights."
(CTK) - Slovakia - The goverment coalition in the Slovak parliament decided today
to postpone a discusion of a controversial bill that would punish organizers of anti-government
demonstrations and those "who spread false information about Slovakia abroad."
(CTK) - Europa/Slovakia - The Council of Europe's human rights committee, in a
confidential report obtained by CTK, says that Slovakia often violates resolutions passed by
the Council. The report sais that the Slovak government is "over-sensitive" to criticism and
opposition from Hungarian minorities, opposition politicians in Parliament, and the media.
The report also criticized a requirement for the Slovak language to be used in the media. The
report noted that no Romani have been denied citizenship in Slovakia although many have
been subjected to attacks.
(BBC) - Turkey - The sentence of Ibrahim Serif, a member of the Turkish minority in
Western Thrace, by the Greek government, has been criticized by the Turkish Foreign
Ministry, which said the decision went against the freedom of religion and faith. Ibrahim Serif
was sentenced to six months for illegally using the title of Mufti.
(AI) - Angola - Amnesty International warned that a withdrawal of the UN Angola
Verification Mission in February 1997 could lead to a human rights catastrophe unless
measures are taken to promote and prtect human rights. AI called for a body of experts to take
over the human rights work begun by the UNAVEM Human Rights Unit.
Oct. 25
(Reuters) - Vietnam - Radio France Internationale was criticized by Vietnamese
Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan after it reported that overseas Vietnamese groups had
called for human rights demonstrations. RFI said that its report stated that the demonstrations
were called in response to the verdicts against six people, including two Buddhist monks.
(Reuters) - World - The World Medical Association today denounced Bosnan Serb
leader Raovan Karadzic and vowed to work for the release of Beko Ransome-Kuti, a Bigerian
doctor and human rights activist imprisoned in Nigeria.
(UPI) - Honduras - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called on the
Honduran government to move minors from adult jails where they are abused, according to
Casa Alianza, a Latin America child protection organization.
(Reuters) - US/Turkey - The US government today expressed disappointment that the
European parliament voted to freeze aid to Turkey because of its human rights record. The US
State Department, which has criticized Turkey human rights record, said that "the European
Union should work on making relations with Turkey more productive and closer."
(Reuters) - Europe/Turkey - A joint resolution issued by the European Parliament
condemned the murder of Petros Kakoulis by Turkish forces and called for Turkey to withdraw
its forces from Cyprus.
(AFP) - Namibia - SWAPO, the Nambian ruling party, said it will boycott a conference
on human rights abuses committed prior to independence and accused some of the organizers
or trying to undermine the party.
(AFP) - Switzerland - The UN Committee on Human Rights criticized the Swiss
government for its treatment of foreigners during police questioning. Julio Proda Vallejo, a
committee member from Ecuador said that the police should be trained to avoid "particular
behaviour according to the skin color..."
(AI) - India - Amnesty International warned of a wave of extra-judicial executions in
Jammu and Kashmir after Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah eportedly told journalists that
"those who surrender will be welcomed into the mainstream and those who don't will have to
die." General S. Padanabhan said that the Ministry of Defense had issued orders to troops to
shoot on sight any of the 300 "infiltrators" currently fighting in Jammu and Kashmir.
Oct. 26
(Reuters) - Turkey - Mothers of disappeared children from around the world joined a
75-week protest by mothers of Turkey's "diappeared." Amnesty International flew in mothers
from Argentina, Bosnia, and Lebanon, who held up pictures of their missing relatives
alongside Turkey's "Saturday mothers." Baba Ucaka, whose 30-year-old son was arrested 0n
March 21, 1995, and his body was found in the woods six days later, demanded an end to "this
dirty war in Turkey."
(BBC) - Tunisia - The trial of Tunisian human rights activist Nejib Hosni has been
postponed until November 14. He is charged with criminal conspiracy.
(BBC) - Nigeria - Richard Akinyola, the judicial correspondent of the Nigerian
newspaper Concord who was kidnapped by security agent on October 13, was released,
according to a report by Nigerian opposition radio on October 24. Akinyola said that he was
questioned about his recent reports and the detention order of human rights activist Chima
Ugbame.
(AFP) - Jordan - The Muslim Brotherhood of Jordan said today that six HAMAS
members have been detained for more than five weeks without trial by Jordan's internal
security services. The Brotherhood claimed that the six were tortured while detained and
called for their immediate release and for the intervention of human rights organizations. The
six are reportedly Abdelaziz Amri, Amman bureau chief of the magazine "Moslem Palestine;"
Jordan university sociology professor Ibrahim Abu Argub; engineers Hussein Abu Kalbin and
Omar Najm; university hospital official Said Abu Hawas and medical student Jamil Kabaja.
(AI) - Turkey - Amnesty International expressed regret that the Turksih Ministry of
Justice refused to meet with mothers whose relatives had been "disappeared." The mothers,
Hatidzic Hren and Munira-Beba Hadzic from Srebenica, were in Istanbul as part of an AI
delegation that will join Turkey's "Saturday Mothers."
Oct. 27
(News Tribune) - USA - Jesuit priest Bill Bichsel returned home to Tacoma,
Washington, last week to a hero's welcome after serving four months for protesting at the US
Army School of the Americas. Bichsel said he is planning to take part in the annual
demonstration next month to close the School of the Americas, which human rights activists
have accused to training human rights abusers. Bichsel was one of 13 protesters sentenced to
federal prison for trespassing last year during a demonstration om which the protesters re-enacted
the murder of six Jesuit priests and two women in El Salvador on November 16, 1989.
(Derechos Human Rights) - Argentina - Five members of HIJOS, an organization of the children of those who were "disappeared" and political prisoners were beaten and arrested by police while trying to rescue a journalist from the newspaper Clarin from being clubbed by police at a concert in Buenos Aires. The journalist was attacked while covering disturbances following a rock concert, which was organized by the Argentine League for Human Rights, the Argentine Commission for the Freedom of Political Prisoners, and the Commission Against Government and Police Repression to draw attention to political prisoners in Argentina, including those arrested for their involvement with the attack on the La Tablada militray barracks in 1989 and Amnesty International prisoner of conscience 68-year-old Fray Juan Antonio Puigjané.
Copyright ©1996 Derechos. This information may be freely distributed (and we encourage you to pass it along) so long as the source is credited.
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AFP - Agence France Presse
AI - Amnesty International
AP - Associated Press
BBC - British Broadcasting Company
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
PROVEA - Programa Venezolano de Educacio'n en Derechos Humanos
UPI - United Press International
WP - Washington Post
This page is maintained by Michael
Katz-Lacabe and Margarita
Lacabe. Last updated Nov. 8, 1996.