Articles by Human Rights Watch
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 […]
Editor Reza Tehrani (m) to face charges of publishing false information
Reza Tehrani, the editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine “Keyan”, has recently been summoned to appear before the Press Court to answer charges of publishing false information. He has since been banned from travelling outside Iran. On 7 August 1996, the Deputy Public Prosecutor for Tehran Province, Mr. Ranjbar, stated during a press conference that Tehrani’s […]
Writer Erol Anar charged with “separatist propaganda”
A trial against Turkish writer and vice secretary-general of the Human Rights Association of Turkey Erol Anar began on 22 August 1996. Anar, author of “Insan Haklar Tarihi” (“The History of Human Rights”), is charged with “separatist propaganda” under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law for a four-page chapter in the book entitled “Kurt Sorunu” […]
Lecturer arrested for circulating information on riots via e-mail
Prihadi Beny Waluyo, a lecturer at Duta Wacana Christian University, has been arrested at his home by soldiers of the district military command. He was reportedly accused of distributing e-mail messages and of sending messages relating to the 27 July 1996 riots (see IFEX alerts) to a destination in Holland. His arrest came after an […]
Continued concern over trial of human rights worker Irene Fernandez
**Updates IFEX alert dated 22 March 1996** On 13 June 1996, as the first stage of the trial of human rights worker Irene Fernandez came to a close, Human Rights Watch/Asia released the following comments. Fernandez was arrested and formally charged on 18 March 1996 for “false reporting” for her organization’s reports of abuses against […]
Individuals detained while sending Justice Minister telegram on prison conditions and reform
Human Rights Watch is concerned at reports that several lawyers and administrators from the Istanbul Branch of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (HRA) as well as families of prisoners were detained on 7 June 1996, while trying to send a telegram dealing with prison conditions and reform to the Minister of Justice. The incident […]