HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH WORLD REPOR T | 2013 EVENTS OF 2012 H U M A N R I G H T S WATCH WORLD REPORT 2013 EVENTS OF 2012 Copyright © 2013 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN-13: 978-1-60980-389-6 Front cover photo: Syria – A mother and son anguished over the loss of her other two sons, killed by a mortar attack launched by the Syrian army. Homs province, February 20, 2012. © 2012 Alessio Romenzi Back cover photo: Greece – Ali Mohammadi, a 25-year-old Afghan asylum seeker who was attacked by thugs in Athens, Greece, in March 2011. © 2011 Zalmaï for Human Rights Watch Cover and book design by Rafael Jiménez www.hrw.org Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. WORLD REPORT 2013 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For over 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world. Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of its Europe and Central Asia division (then known as Helsinki Watch). Today, it also includes divisions covering Africa; the Americas; Asia; and the Middle East and North Africa; a United States program; thematic divisions or programs on arms; business and human rights; children’s rights; health and human rights; international justice; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights, refugees, terrorism/counterterrorism; and women’s rights; and an emergencies program. It maintains offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto, Washington DC, and Zurich, and field presences in 20 other locations globally. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH The staff includes Kenneth Roth, Executive Director; Michele Alexander, Deputy Executive Director, Development and Global Initiatives; Carroll Bogert, Deputy Executive Director, External Relations; Jan Egeland, Deputy Executive Director, Europe; Iain Levine, Deputy Executive Director, Program; Chuck Lustig, Deputy Executive Director, Operations; Walid Ayoub, Information Technology Director; Pierre Bairin, Media Director; Clive Baldwin, Senior Legal Advisor; Emma Daly, Communications Director; Alan Feldstein, Associate General Counsel; Barbara Guglielmo, Acting Operations Director; Peggy Hicks, Global Advocacy Director; Babatunde Olugboji, Deputy Program Director; Dinah PoKempner, General Counsel; Tom Porteous, Deputy Program Director; Aisling Reidy, Senior Legal Advisor; James Ross, Legal and Policy Director; Joe Saunders, Deputy Program Director; Frances Sinha, Global Human Resources Director; and Minky Worden, Director of Global Initiatives. The division directors of Human Rights Watch are Brad Adams, Asia; Joseph Amon, Health and Human Rights; Daniel Bekele, Africa; John Biaggi, International Film Festival; Peter Bouckaert, Emergencies; Richard Dicker, International Justice; Bill Frelick, Refugees; Arvind Ganesan, Business and Human Rights; Liesl Gerntholtz, Women’s Rights; Steve Goose, Arms; Alison Parker, United States; Graeme Reid, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights; José Miguel Vivanco, Americas; Zama Coursen-Neff, Children’s Rights; Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa; and Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia. The advocacy directors of Human Rights Watch are Philippe Bolopion, United Nations–New York; Juliette De Rivero, United Nations–Geneva; Kanae Doi, Japan; Jean-Marie Fardeau, Paris; Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia; Lotte Leicht, European Union; Tom Malinowski, Washington DC; and Wenzel Michalski, Berlin. The members of the board of directors are James F. Hoge, Chair; Susan Manilow, Vice Chair; Joel Motley, Vice Chair; Sid Sheinberg, Vice Chair; John J. Studzinski, Vice Chair; Hassan Elmasry, Treasurer; Bruce Rabb, Secretary; Karen Ackman; Jorge Castañeda; Tony Elliott; Michael G. Fisch; Michael E. Gellert; Hina Jilani; Betsy Karel; Wendy Keys; Robert Kissane; Kimberly Marteau Emerson; Oki Matsumoto; Barry Meyer; Aoife O’Brien; Joan R. Platt; Amy Rao; Neil Rimer; Victoria Riskin; Amy Robbins Towers; Graham Robeson; Shelley Rubin; Kevin P. Ryan; Ambassador Robin Sanders; Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber; Javier Solana; Siri Stolt-Nielsen; Darian W. Swig; John R. Taylor; Marie Warburg; and Catherine Zennström. Emeritus board members are Jane Olson, Chair 2004-2010; Jonathan F. Fanton, Chair, 1998- 2003; Robert L. Bernstein, Founding Chair, 1979-1997; Lisa Anderson; David M. Brown; William D. Carmichael; Vartan Gregorian; Alice H. Henkin; Stephen L. Kass; Bruce Klatsky; Joanne Leedom-Ackerman; Josh Mailman; Samuel K. Murumba; Peter Osnos; Kathleen Peratis; Marina Pinto Kaufman; Sigrid Rausing; Orville Schell; Gary Sick; and Malcolm B. Smith. WORLD REPORT 2013 Table of Contents Foreword 1 The Day After 4 by Kenneth Roth The Trouble With Tradition When “Values” Trample Over Rights 20 by Graeme Reid Without Rules A Failed Approach to Corporate Accountability 29 By Chris Albin-Lackey Lives in the Balance The Human Cost of Environmental Neglect 41 By Juliane Kippenberg and Jane Cohen Photo Essays Photographs from Nigeria, Russia, and Greece 51 AFRICA 75 Angola 76 Burundi 83 Côte d’Ivoire 89 Democratic Republic of Congo 96 Equatorial Guinea 103 Eritrea 108 Ethiopia 114 Guinea 121 Kenya 128 Mali 134 Nigeria 140 Rwanda 147 TABLE OF CONTENTS Somalia 153 South Africa 159 South Sudan 164 Sudan 171 Uganda 179 Zimbabwe 185 AMERICAS 191 Argentina 192 Bolivia 198 Brazil 202 Chile 209 Colombia 214 Cuba 222 Ecuador 227 Guatemala 232 Haiti 237 Honduras 241 Mexico 246 Peru 254 Venezuela 261 ASIA 267 Afghanistan 268 Bangladesh 276 Burma 284 Cambodia 293 China 300 India 314 WORLD REPORT 2013 Indonesia 323 Malaysia 330 Nepal 336 North Korea 341 Pakistan 347 Papua New Guinea 353 Philippines 356 Singapore 362 Sri Lanka 368 Thailand 374 Vietnam 382 EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA 391 Armenia 392 Azerbaijan 398 Belarus 405 Bosnia and Herzegovina 411 Croatia 418 European Union 423 Georgia 441 Kazakhstan 447 Kyrgyzstan 454 Russia 460 Serbia 470 Kosovo 476 Tajikistan 481 Turkey 487 Turkmenistan 494 Ukraine 500 Uzbekistan 506 TABLE OF CONTENTS MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA 515 Algeria 516 Bahrain 521 Egypt 529 Iran 537 Iraq 544 Israel/Palestine 551 Jordan 563 Kuwait 569 Lebanon 575 Libya 580 Morocco / Western Sahara 588 Oman 594 Qatar 598 Saudi Arabia 603 Syria 609 Tunisia 618 United Arab Emirates 623 Yemen 629 UNITED STATES 639 2012 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH PUBLICATIONS 655 FOREWORD Foreword The World Report is Human Rights Watch’s twenty-third annual review of human rights practices around the globe. It summarizes key human rights issues in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide, drawing on events from the end of 2011 through November 2012. The book is divided into three main parts: an essay section, photo essays, and country-specific chapters. In the introductory essay, Human Rights Watch Executive Director Ken Roth considers the “day after” the end of abusive rule in countries. As the euphoria of the Arab Spring gives way to frustration over the slow pace of change, he notes that toppling dictators may yet prove easier than the messy and complicated process of building a rights-respecting democracy. But while the future may be uncertain, he warns against pining for the predictability of author- itarian rule, and cautions those now in power not to restrict the rights of others based on so-called morals, cherished values, or whatever restrictions a majority of voters will support. In this crucial, norm-building period, he says, effective courts, accountable public officials, and institutions of governance are needed to ensure that rights are upheld and the promise of the Arab Spring is realized. Next, Graeme Reid sounds a warning about countries evoking tradition and traditional values to undermine human rights, especially for women and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community (“The Trouble With Tradition: When “Values” Trample Over Rights”). He argues that far from being benign, as its language suggests, a recently passed United Nations Human Rights Council resolution “promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms” via “a better understanding of traditional values of humankind” tramples over diversity, and fails to acknowledge just how fluid traditional practice and customary law can be. As year one of the UN-backed Guiding Principles on Business