Articles by Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch to co-sponsor press conference by Wei Jingsheng
(HRW/IFEX) – Human Rights in China, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International will be sponsoring Wei Jingsheng’s first press conference in the United States of America at the New York Public Library’s Celeste Bartos Forum (entrance on 42nd Street) on 21 November 1997 at 10:30 am EST. The press conference will run no later than […]
Freedoms are sacrificed in advance of Jordan’s elections, says Human Rights Watch
(HRW/IFEX) – The parliamentary elections in Jordan on 4 November 1997 will be held in a climate of mounting restrictions on freedom of expression and association, Human Rights Watch charges in a report issued on 29 October. “A marked deterioration in respect for basic freedoms has seriously affected the ability of Jordanians to make informed […]
Writer arrested over unpublished article criticizing local politician
(HRW/IFEX) – Police arrested Ali Sneid, a 25-year old Jordanian writer from a small village near Madaba, on 26 September 1997 at the bus station in Madaba as he was boarding a bus for the village of Ziban. Sneid had recently written an article that criticized a local leader for making what he perceived to […]
Journalist U Win Tin reported to be seriously ill
(HRW/IFEX) – Burmese political prisoner and journalist U Win Tin, 67, is reported to be seriously ill and perhaps close to death in Rangoon General Hospital. He was apparently transferred there in early October 1997 from Myingyan jail, known to be one of the worst in Burma. **Updates IFEX alerts dated 17 April and 10 […]
Serbian elections will not be free nor fair
(Human Rights Watch/IFEX) – Elections in Serbia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, on 21 September 1997 will be neither free nor fair, declared Human Rights Watch/Helsinki on 18 September 1997. State control of the media and a lack of accountability for police brutality following last year’s elections seriously undermine the legitimacy of Sunday’s vote. “An […]
Censorship concerns around OSCE seminar on media issues
In a letter released on 4 October 1996 for the opening of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki said the OSCE would be giving tacit approval to strict government control of the media and fierce repression of free speech in Uzbekistan. Human […]
Continued concern for detained journalist and human rights activist Nizar Nayouf
In a letter to Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, Human Rights Watch has called for the release of Nizar Nayouf, a 34-year-old writer, journalist and human rights activist, who is serving a ten-year prison term imposed by the State Security Court in 1992 following an unfair trial. Nayouf has been held in solitary confinement in a […]
Organizations send letter to ASEAN nations opposing proposed Internet restrictions
On 4 September 1996, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member nations (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) stated that they had agreed to collaborate on finding ways to control expression on the Internet. On 16 September, a number of human rights, free expression and electronic privacy organizations wrote the following […]