The 612-page report, the organization’s 20th annual
review of human rights practices around the globe,
summarizes major human rights trends in more than 90 nations
and territories worldwide, reflecting the extensive
investigative work carried out in 2009 by Human Rights Watch
staff. The volume’s introductory essay by Executive Director
Kenneth Roth argues that the ability of the human rights
movement to exert pressure on behalf of victims has grown
enormously in recent years, and that this development has
spawned a reaction from abusive governments that grew
particularly intense in 2009.
“Attacks on rights
defenders might be seen as a perverse tribute to the human
rights movement, but that doesn’t mitigate the danger,” Roth
said. “Under various pretexts, abusive governments are
attacking the very foundations of the human rights
movement.”
Attacks on human rights monitors are not
limited to authoritarian governments like Burma and China,
Human Rights Watch said. In countries with elected
governments that are facing armed insurgencies, there has
been a sharp rise in armed attacks on human rights monitors.
Although the armed conflict in Chechnya has wound down,
there was a devastating series of killings and threats
against lawyers and activists fighting impunity in the North
Caucasus.
Human Rights Watch noted that some governments
are so abusive against individuals and organizations that no
domestic human rights movement can function, citing Eritrea,
North Korea, and Turkmenistan.
The introduction to the
report said that in addition to Russia and Sri Lanka, other
countries where human rights monitors were murdered in order
to silence them included Kenya, Burundi, and Afghanistan.
Human Rights Watch cited Sudan and China as countries
that routinely shut down human rights groups and Iran and
Uzbekistan as countries that openly harass and arbitrarily
detain human rights workers and other critics. Colombia,
Venezuela, and Nicaragua threaten and harass rights
defenders. Human rights advocates face violence in countries
such as The Democratic Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka. Some
governments such as Ethiopia and Egypt use extremely
restrictive regulations to stifle the work of
nongovernmental organizations. Other countries use the
disbarment of lawyers (China and Iran, for example),
criminal charges – often faked from staged attacks
(Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan), and criminal libel laws
(Russia and Azerbaijan) to silence critics.
Local and
international human rights groups working in Israel have
experienced a more hostile climate than ever before after
documenting abuses committed by Israel, as well as Hamas,
during the December 2008 – January 2009 fighting in Gaza and
Israel and in connection with Israel’s ongoing blockade of
Gaza.
Roth said that the only way that abusive
governments will end their assault on rights defenders is if
other governments that support human rights make rights a
central part of their bilateral relations.
“Governments
that support human rights need to speak out, to make
respecting human rights the bedrock of their diplomacy – and
of their own practices,” Roth said. “They need to demand
real change from abusive governments.”
Roth said that the
Obama administration, in particular, faced the challenge of
restoring America’s credibility on human rights. So far, he
said, the results are mixed, with a marked improvement in
presidential rhetoric, but an incomplete translation of that
rhetoric into policy and practice.
The US government has
ended the CIA’s coercive interrogation program, but should
still uphold domestic and international law against torture
by investigating and prosecuting those who have ordered,
facilitated, or carried out torture and other ill-treatment,
he said. On closing the detention facility at Guantanamo,
the deadline has slipped, but the more important issue is
how it will be closed. Human Rights Watch and others have
urged the administration either to prosecute detained
suspects before regular federal courts or safely repatriate
or resettle them elsewhere. The Obama administration has
insisted on maintaining military commissions that provide
substandard justice and on continuing to hold suspects
indefinitely without charge or trial, both of which risk
perpetuating the spirit of Guantanamo, Roth said.
Human
Rights Watch also said in the introduction to its report
that an emerging system of international justice including
the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been the focus of
attack. The assault unfolded after the court issued an
arrest warrant in March for President Omar al-Bashir of
Sudan for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed
by Sudanese forces and allied militia against the civilian
population of Darfur.
After the court issued the warrant,
many African democracies initially chose the comfort of
regional solidarity rather than staking out a position of
principle in support of international justice, the
introduction to the report says.
Instead of applauding
the ICC for taking action to redress the mass murder and
forced displacement of so many Africans in Darfur, when the
African Union resolved in July not to cooperate in executing
the arrest warrant, a number of African leaders went along
with the decision to protect Bashir rather than Darfurian
victims of abuses.
Human Rights Watch research over the
past year covered a wide range of abuses in virtually every
region of the world.
An additional essay in the report,
entitled “Abusing Patients,” described government health
policies that subject patients to torture or ill-treatment
and the failure of national and international medical
societies to prevent medical provider complicity in such
abuse. The essay drew upon Human Rights Watch research from
Egypt, Libya, Jordan, Iraqi Kurdistan, China, Cambodia,
India, and Nicaragua.
In many countries, Human Rights
Watch documented the human rights violations suffered by
women and girls, including those related to pregnancy,
birth, and women’s role as caregivers and providers. For
example, preventable maternal mortality and disability as a
result of negligent policies and laws kill and maim more
women annually than the impact of armed conflict, Human
Rights Watch said.
In Iran, Human Rights Watch covered
the continuing governmental crackdown on peaceful activists
following the disputed presidential election of June 2009.
Human Rights Watch documented the arrests of thousands of
ordinary and high-profile people, providing detailed
accounts of state violence against peaceful protesters,
arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, and abuse and
torture in Iran’s illegal detention centers.
In China, in
addition to its continuing work documenting the targeting
and jailing of human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch
issued a report that described the secret operation of
“black jails,” where authorities detain people they abduct
off the streets of Beijing and other major cities. Most of
those held are petitioners seeking redress for abuses
ranging from government corruption to police torture.
In
Cuba, Human Rights Watch documented how Raúl Castro’s
government, instead of dismantling the repressive machinery
of the Fidel Castro years, has kept it firmly in place,
keeping scores of political prisoners in detention and
arresting dozens more dissidents.
In Zimbabwe,
researchers continued to monitor and report on rights
violations by President Robert Mugabe’s former ruling party
against its partners and their supporters in a power-sharing
government. Human Rights Watch also documented brutal
tactics by the army and police in the Marange diamond fields
to control access to the fields and take over unlicensed
diamond mining and trading.
A report about Burma
showcased dozens of prominent political activists, Buddhist
monks, labor activists, journalists, and artists arrested
since peaceful political protests in 2007 and sentenced to
draconian prison terms after unfair trials.
In Gaza and
Israel, Human Rights Watch documented laws-of-war violations
by both Israel and Hamas. Israel’s military assault on Gaza
a year ago included the unlawful use of white phosphorus
munitions, the killing of civilians with missiles launched
by drones, and the shooting of civilians waving white flags.
Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched rockets at
Israeli population centers, and Hamas killed alleged
collaborators and abused political opponents during the war.
In Libya, Human Rights Watch released a report critical
of the government at a news conference in Tripoli. The event
was the first open news conference in Libya. The report said
that while limited improvements are under way, including
expanded space for freedom of expression, repressive laws
continue to stifle free expression and association, and
abuses by the Internal Security Agency remain the norm.
In Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch
documented the deliberate killing of more than 1,400
civilians, a pattern of vicious rapes, and other abuses by
government and rebel forces during two successive Congolese
army operations against a Rwandan Hutu militia in the east
of the country. Human Rights Watch also reported serious
flaws in the UN peacekeeping operation in Congo that limited
its ability to effectively protect civilians.
In Guinea,
Human Rights Watch produced a detailed report on killings,
sexual assaults, and other abuses at an opposition rally in
the capital, committed largely by members of the elite
Presidential Guard. The evidence suggests that the attacks
were planned in advance and rose to the level of crimes
against humanity.
Human Rights Watch said that despite
the growth in the human rights movement, human rights
defenders remain vulnerable and greatly in need of support
by rights-respecting governments.
“Governments that
consider themselves human rights supporters often keep
silent in the face of these abuses by allies, citing
diplomatic or economic priorities,” Roth said. “But that
silence makes them complicit in the abuse. The only proper
response to serious human rights violations is to turn up
the heat on the abusers.”
