From DEBRA@oln.comlink.apc.orgSat Sep 2 09:57:41 1995 Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 04:11:00 +0100 From: Debra Guzman Reply to: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org To: beijing95-l@netcom.com, beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org Subject: Human Rights Watch/Women's Rights Project Global Report [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] ## author : REYNOSE@HRW.ORG ## date : 30.08.95 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Human Rights Watch/Women's Rights Project 485 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10017-6104 TEL: 212/972-8400 FAX: 212/972-0905 E-mail: hrwnyc@hrw.org 1522 K Street, N.W. Washington D.C. 20005 TEL: 202/371-6592 FAX: 202/371-0124 E-mail: hrwdc@hrw.org Embargoed for Sunday September 3, 1995 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Dorothy Q. Thomas (8610) 437-6688 (Beijing 8/29-9/16) Regan E. Ralph (202) 371-6592 x120 (w) Susan Osnos (212) 972-8400 x216 (w) THE GLOBAL REPORT ON WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS Human rights abuses against women are rampant around the world and, in a major global report released today, Human Rights Watch demands that governments gathered at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing give women's human rights high priority. The idea that governments must respect women's rights in order to advance women's status in all spheres political, social and economic is under seige. Some governments, among them Iran, the Holy See, India, Guatemala, and Egypt, have threatened to roll back the gains for women's rights negotiated at previous world conferences on human rights, population and social development. These governments promote the concept that women have a "special" role in society and the family as an excuse to deny women their equality, civil liberties and the right to be free from violence. Human Rights Watch offers concrete recommendations to governments, the United Nations and the regional human rights bodies for steps at the Fourth World Conference on Women to halt the retreat from the full protection of women's human rights. We have spent five years amassing this appalling record of abuses against the world's women. Governments in too many countries are party to the violence and intimidation that combine to deny women their right to participate as full citizens in their countries," declared Dorothy Thomas, director of the Women's Rights Project. The Global Report on Women's Human Rights reveals that governments perpetrate or acquiesce to major human rights violations against women: soldiers or security officers rape women as a tool of war or political repression; police and border guards traffick women into forced prostitution; soldiers and camp administrators commit violence and discrimination against refugee and displaced women; guards rape women in prisons and jails; and police and the courts turn a blind eye to violence and discrimination in the workplace, at home, and in the context of carrying out reproductive and sexual policies. Despite government pledges to respect women's human rights, Human Rights Watch concludes that abuse often occurs with the active participation or deliberate indifference of governments. Overwhelming evidence of human rights violations goes unheeded by governments. For example, rape by combatants is prohibited under international humanitarian law but until recently it was dismissed as the inevitable "spoils of war." Domestic violence and the trafficking of women and girls into forced prostitution were regarded as "private" matters only, and not as crimes that the state must prosecute and punish. Human Rights Watch also is concerned that the endless difficulties faced by nongovernmental organization (NGO) delegates around the world as they organize for the Beijing conference are indicative of the lack of consistent and sustained international attention to violations of women's rights. The conference has been plagued with problems like no other recent United Nations-sponsored conference including the Earth Summit, the World Conference on Human Rights, the Conference on Population and Development, and the Social Summit. Even as government officials are negotiating a plan for advancing women's status, the ability of women to participate in the most important political event for women in a decade is severely threatened by the political whims of the host country. China offers no guarantee that women delegates from around the world will be allowed to speak and meet freely. Participating governments should vigorously defend their right to do so. The Human Rights Watch Global Report on Women's Human Rights shows that governments have done little to live up to their international human rights obligations: -Human Rights Watch investigations in the former Yugoslavia, Peru, Kashmir and Somalia reveal that rape of unarmed women and girls has been deployed as a tactical weapon to terrorize civilian communities or to achieve "ethnic cleansing," a tool in enforcing hostile occupations, and a means of conquering or seeking revenge against an enemy. In Haiti, we found that rape also serves as a tool of political repression by targeting women activists, members of the opposition, and female relatives of opposition members in hiding. -As Human Rights Watch investigations of Burmese refugees in Bangladesh and Somali refugees in Kenya show, refugee and displaced women who are uprooted from their homes and countries by war, internal strife, or natural catastrophe are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence. In host countries, local residents and police, military and immigration officials have raped refugee and displaced women before granting them passage to safety, refugee status, official documentation, or relief supplies. -Human Rights Watch investigations in Pakistan, the United States and Egypt show that women held in custody or detention are deprived of more than just their liberty; they also have their physical security and dignity violated by male jailers who torture and degrade them. Such abuses rape, sexual assault, beatings, abusive strip searches, and the use of degrading language by guards toward women prisoners are facilitated by the power of male guards over women prisoners and by official tolerance of such abuses of authority. -In any given year, thousands of women and girls around the world are lured, abducted or sold into forced prostitution and involuntary marriage. In countries where Human Rights Watch has investigated trafficking Burma, Thailand, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan we have found that police officers and other government officials facilitate and profit from the trade in women and girls. For a price, they ignore abuses that occur in their jurisdictions; protect the traffickers, brothel owners, pimps, clients and buyers from arrest; and serve as enforcers, drivers and recruiters. -Human Rights Watch investigations in Kuwait and Russia document violence against women workers that includes rape and other forms of sexual assault, beating, kicking, slapping and burning. In Russia and Poland, we have documented how public and private sector employers fire women in disproportionate numbers and refuse to hire female employees because they prefer to employ men. Although discrimination on the grounds of sex or maternity is prohibited under international human rights laws and barred by the domestic laws of most countries, it is nonetheless routinely tolerated by many governments. -Domestic violence is one of the leading causes of female injuries in almost every country in the world. Human Rights Watch investigations in Brazil, Russia and South Africa show that law enforcement officials allow such violence to go uninvestigated and unpunished. At every turn, women who attempt to obtain legal protection for domestic assault are turned away, told that their problem is a "private" matter. Laws exempt marital rape from criminal sanction; police refuse to arrest men who beat their wives; prosecutors fail to charge men with domestic assault; and judges accept "honor" defenses that allow wife-murderers to walk away unpunished. -States frequently use violent and discriminatory means to carry out policies that regulate women's sexual and reproductive lives. In Turkey, police, state doctors and school authorities have forced women and girls to undergo gynecological tests to check women's hymens when they are accused of "immodest" behavior. In Ireland, the government restricted the right to free expression in its efforts to suppress information on abortion services abroad. Polish women are denied equal protection of the law when the state fails to stop doctors and prosecutors from refusing to provide women the necessary documentation to obtain an abortion within the limits of that country's 1993 abortion law. When these abuses are committed in the name of tradition, culture or religion, the international community has been particularly timid about raising protests, making a mockery of the fundamental principle of the universality of human rights. Human Rights Watch is equally concerned that, at a moment when world attention is focused on China, human rights conditions in China and Tibet are deteriorating. Anticipating Deng Xiaoping's imminent death, Chinese authorities have acted to maintain "social stability" by cracking down on political and religious dissidents, independent labor organizers, Tibetans and others. Beijing has also expressed disdain for governments that dare to criticize its egregious human rights practices. At this crucial time in China's political transition, Human Rights Watch believes that the international community must lay out clear benchmarks for China's compliance with international human rights standards. Any attempt by governments to downplay or mute public comments on China's human rights record including by delegations at the U.N. conference could lead to greater intransigence by China. The Fourth World Conference on Women presents an historic opportunity to advance the human rights of women. Governments and the United Nations system must insist on accountability for violations against women, or the abuses documented in The Global Report on Women's Human Rights will continue unchecked. Human Rights Watch calls upon the United Nations and governments attending the Fourth World Conference on Women to: -Respect the fundamental rights of all participants in the NGO Forum and the Fourth World Conference on Women so that delegates can focus on shaping the agenda for promoting peace, equality and development for women in the coming decade. This vital work will not be possible unless the forum and conference proceed in accordance with rules that normally apply to United Nations-sponsored gatherings, free of arbitrary interference by the host country. Journalists from around the world should be allowed to cover the conference without intimidation or onerous restrictions. It is clear that Chinese citizens who seek to express peacefully their views or who have stated their interest in having contact with foreign delegates or media have already suffered reprisals. -Reaffirm that women's rights are universal, inalienable and indivisible. Governments must block all attempts to modify respect for women's human rights according to local or community standards and must emphasize the duty of states, regardless of their political, economic, cultural or religious systems, to promote all human rights and fundamental freedoms. -Stress that the protection of women's human rights is central to improving women's status. Governments should reject any reference to women's "special" role or dignity. Such terms are code words for excluding women from governments' and the United Nations system's obligations to defend the dignity of all persons and the equal rights of men and women. -Integrate the protection and promotion of women's human rights throughout the Platform for Action's many thematic sections. In raising many of the grave problems faced by women poverty, poor health, lack of education and political participation the platform must recognize that violations of women's rights, especially violence and sex discrimination, create obstacle to enhancing women's status in these areas. -Commit to ratifying the major human rights treaties the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Torture Convention without reservations and as a matter of priority. -Recognize their responsibility (1) to review national laws and practices with an eye to eliminating all discrimination on the basis of sex, and (2) to develop national plans of action to wipe out state-sponsored and private violence against women. -Strengthen international enforcement of women's human rights by (1) adopting an optional protocol to CEDAW that enables individuals and nongovernmental organizations to file complaints directly with the body that monitors state compliance; (2) increasing U.N. efforts to integrate women's rights into all human rights work; and (3) increasing the technical and financial resources available to the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and extending her mandate beyond the initial three-year term. Copies of the report are available from the Publications Department, Human Rights Watch, 485 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6104. To order a copy, please make your check payable in U.S. dollars to Human Rights Watch in the amount of $18.00 (domestic shipping) $22.50 (international shipping). Human Rights Watch Women's Rights Project Human Rights Watch is a nongovernmental organization established in 1978 to monitor and promote the observance of human rights in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and among the signatories of the Helsinki accords. Kenneth Roth is the executive director. Robert L. Bernstein is the chair and Adrian DeWind is the vice chair. The Women's Rights Project was established in 1990 to monitor violence against women and gender discrimination throughout the world. Dorothy Q. Thomas is the director. Kathleen Peratis is the chair of the advisory committee.