Human Rights Watch Weekly Digest

India: AIDS Fueled by Abuses Against Children
Children Affected by HIV/AIDS Face Lethal Discrimination and
Exploitation

Indias explosive AIDS epidemic is being fueled by widespread abuses
against
children who are affected by HIV/AIDS, Human Rights Watch said in a new
report released today. The Indian governments failure to address these
abuses
is undermining its anti-AIDS policy and putting millions of lives at
risk.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/29/india9156.htm

July 29, 2004





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Testimonies of children and parents from the report, Future Forsaken:
Abuses Against Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in India

HRW presents testimony from children whose lives have been changed by
HIV/AIDS.

Testimony:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/29/india9157.htm

July 29, 2004





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U.N.: Support African Action on Conflicts
Accra Summit Needs to Take Concrete Steps on Crises in Cote dIvoire,
Darfur

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan should bolster initiatives by African
leaders
meeting today in Accra to address the conflict in Sudans Darfur region
as well as
the crisis in Cote dIvoire, Human Rights Watch said today.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/28/africa9161.htm

July 29, 2004





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Saudi Arabia: Condemn Abuses, Not Their Exposure

The Saudi authorities should address systematic abuses against foreign
workers
in the kingdom, rather than denounce their exposure. Saudi labor
minister Dr.
Ghazi al-Ghosaibi charged that Human Rights Watchs recent report
exposing
these abuses was unbalanced and exaggerated.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/28/saudia9158.htm

July 29, 2004





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ICCs Uganda Probe Must Protect Witnesses
Court Needs to Investigate Crimes by All Sides in Northern Ugandas
Conflict

In its investigation in Northern Uganda, the International Criminal
Court must
ensure protection for witnesses and victims, Human Rights Watch said
today.
The court needs to investigate serious crimes committed by all sides to
the
conflict in order to ensure justice and promote sustainable peace.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/28/uganda9162.htm

July 29, 2004





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Cambodia: Opposition Party Activists Under Threat

Cambodias Prime Minister, Hun Sen, is trying to silence his political
opponents
by accusing them of forming an illegal rebel force, Human Rights Watch
and
Amnesty International said today. Following the allegations, members of
the
opposition Sam Rainsy Party have gone into hiding, and many others fear
arrest.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/29/cambod9163.htm

July 29, 2004





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Future Forsaken
Abuses Against Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in India

This 209-page report documents how many doctors refuse to treat or even
touch
HIV-positive children. Some schools expel or segregate children because
they or
their parents are HIV-positive. Many orphanages and other residential
institutions
reject HIV-positive children or deny that they house them. Children from
families
affected by AIDS may be denied an education, pushed onto the street,
forced
into the worst forms of child labor, or otherwise exploited, all of
which puts them
at greater risk of contracting HIV.

Report:  http://hrw.org/reports/2004/india0704/

July 29, 2004





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U.S.: Review Panels No Fix for Guantanamo

The Pentagons new tribunals to review combatant status will not give
detainees
at Guantanamo a fair opportunity to challenge their detention, Human
Rights
Watch said today. The tribunals are expected to begin this week.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/27/usdom9135.htm

July 27, 2004





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Kosovo: Failure of NATO, U.N. to Protect Minorities
Reform of Security Structures Needed as New U.N. Administrator Takes
Office

The NATO-led Kosovo Force and U.N. international police failed
catastrophically
to protect minorities during the widespread rioting in Kosovo in March,
Human
Rights Watch said today in the first detailed report on the attacks.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/27/serbia9136.htm

July 27, 2004





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South Africa: Safeguarding Children's Rights to Medical Care

Joint submission by the AIDS Law Project and Human Rights Watch on the
Children's Bill before Parliament, endorsing legislation to ensure
children's
access to medical care and services.

Testimony:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/27/safric9150.htm

July 27, 2004





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Sri Lanka: New Killings Threaten Ceasefire

A spate of killings between factions of the separatist Liberation Tigers
of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) threatens Sri Lankas ceasefire, Human Rights Watch warned
today. More than a dozen people have been murdered over the last month
in
apparently politically motivated killings attributed either to the LTTE
or a faction
led by the LTTEs former eastern commander, Colonel Karuna, who broke
away
from the LTTE in March 2004.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/27/slanka9153.htm

July 27, 2004





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Failure to Protect
Anti-Minority Violence in Kosovo, March 2004

This 66-page report documents the widespread attacks against Serbs, Roma,

Ashkali (Albanian-speaking Roma) and other minorities that took place in
Kosovo
on March 17-18. Human Rights Watch details the near-complete collapse
during
the crisis of Kosovos security institutionsthe NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR),

international civilian police from the U.N. Interim Administration
Mission to
Kosovo (UNMIK), and the locally-recruited Kosovo Police Service (KPS).
Based
on numerous interviews with minority victims and security officials, the
report
provides a detailedand previously unavailableaccount of what happened in

dozens of communities during the riots.

Report:  http://hrw.org/reports/2004/kosovo0704/

July 26, 2004





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Human Rights Watch Findings Not Exaggerated
Letter to Saudi Arabian Minister of Labor

I am writing in response to your July 25 comments about the recently
published
Human Rights Watch report, Bad Dreams: Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant

Workers in Saudi Arabia. According to the article published the next day
in Arab
News, you characterized the report as unbalanced and exaggerated.

Letter:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/27/saudia9152.htm

July 26, 2004





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Workers Hell in Saudi Arabia

By Virginia Sherry, associate director of Human Rights Watch's Middle
East and
North Africa Division
Published in The South China Morning Post
In the wake of the attacks against civilians in Saudi Arabia, the
kingdoms rulers
pledged to make foreigners and citizens safe from terror. But there is
another
campaign that needs to be fought with similar vigour, against the
exploitation and
abuse of millions of foreign workers.

Commentary:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/24/saudia9159.htm

July 24, 2004





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Mexico: Ex-President Charged in Dirty War Killings

In an unprecedented move against impunity in Mexico, former Mexican
President
Luis Echeverra and other high-level officials were charged today with
political
killings from the 1970s, Human Rights Watch said.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/23/mexico9138.htm

July 23, 2004





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Panama: Reject Harsh Laws on Youth Offenders
Measures Would Violate Rights Accord, So Panama Threatens to Withdraw
From Treaty

Panama should withdraw a proposal that would authorize lengthy prison
terms
and potentially the death penalty for children under 18.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/23/panama9131.htm

July 23, 2004





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Nepalese Supreme Courts Proposed Ban
Letter to the Minister of Home Affairs

We are writing to express grave concern over the Nepalese Supreme Courts

proposed ban on activities, including advocacy, by or on behalf of
lesbians, gay
men, transgender people, and men who have sex with men. The threatened
ban
comes in the wake of repeated recent allegations of police misconduct
against
these communities.

Letter:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/23/nepal9132.htm

July 23, 2004





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Nepal: Sexual Rights Group at Risk of Closure

The Nepalese government should respond to a threatened judicial ban on
an
organization that defends lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender peoples
rights
by affirming the freedoms of association and expression, Human Rights
Watch
said today in a letter to the Nepalese authorities.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/23/nepal9133.htm

July 23, 2004





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Indonesia/Malaysia: Household Workers Rights Trampled
Employers and Labor Agencies Exploit and Abuse Women Workers

Thousands of Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia are being abused
because government policies in both countries fail to protect them,
Human Rights
Watch said in a new report released today.

Press Release:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/22/indone9114.htm

July 22, 2004





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Letter to President Moscoso

Human Rights Watch writes to Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso to
express concern at proposed legislation that would authorize sentences
of life
imprisonment and the death penalty for minors.

Letter:  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/22/panama9129.htm

July 22, 2004


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