Treaties/Legislation
"Global Online Freedom Act (H.R. 4780)
"Child Soldiers Prevention Act (S. 1175 and H.R. 3028) Treaties/Legislation cont.
Child Soldiers Accountability Act (S. 2135)
International Violence Against Women Act (S. 2279)
Sexual Violence in Sudan, Chad, CAR resolution (H.R. 726)
Burma Sanctions bills (S. 2257 and H.R. 3890)
William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (S. 3061 and H.R. 3887)
Policies/Issues
Algeria: Urged US to reveal whereabouts of two Algerians transferred from Guantanamo to Algeria.
Azerbaijan: Urged US to take a stronger stance on the deteriorating human rights situation in Azerbaijan, especially in the area of media freedom; urged US to use its leverage with the Azerbaijani government to secure the release of wrongfully imprisoned journalists.
Bangladesh: Urged US to raise with Bangladesh: full restoration of human rights; need for in 2008; prosecution of human rights violators in security forces; need for independent monitors at detention facilities. Urged US to limit assistance to abusive police and military forces to human rights education.
Bhutan: Urged US to work with Nepal to ensure full protection of Bhutanese refugees who wish to be resettled in US.
Bosnia: Urged US to continue commitment to justice in the Balkans by supporting local war crimes trials in Bosnias cantonal and district courts.
Burma: Called for increased US pressure for democratic change in Burma and extended targeted sanctions in Burma; advocated for US pressure on other countries to support the inclusion of Burma on the agenda of the UN Security Council; urged US to support international humanitarian efforts in Burmathrough bilateral channels and Asean channelsfollowing Cyclone Nagris.
Cambodia: Urged US to consider concerns about judicial independence before funding Khmer Rouge tribunal.
China: Urged US to press China to fulfill human rights commitments related to the Olympics; urged US to raise concerns about ongoing pre-Olympics crackdown against dissidents and human rights defenders as well as lack of rule of law and citizens inability to seek legal redress for injustice; urged US to press China about widespread abuses of migrant construction workers in Beijing; urged US to press China to abolish its discriminatory urban household registration permit system, affecting migrant workers and their families.
Colombia: Urged effective enforcement of human rights conditions on US military and demobilization aid to Colombia; urged delay of free trade agreement until more progress is made against paramilitary violence.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Urged US to support appointment of
international special advisor on human rights for eastern DRC to underpin the Goma
peace process.
Ethiopia: Urged US to press Ethiopia to investigate and hold accountable individuals responsible for human rights abuses in Ethiopia (including Ogaden) and Somalia.
Georgia: Urged US to press Georgia to undertake a thorough investigation into the police crackdown on demonstrators on November 7, 2007, and to undertake reforms in the penitentiary system and the criminal justice system. Global: Urged US to take a stronger stance on the Voluntary Principles for Security and Human Rights in the extractive industries; advocated for a cut-off of certain categories of US military aid to countries that recruit and use child soldiers in violation of international law or support non-state armed groups that recruit children. Urged US to enact the Protection Against Transmission of HIV for Women and Youth Act of 2007 to remove abstinence-until-marriage earmark for PEPFAR programs and ensure that HIV prevention programs are based on scientific evidence, good public health practice, and human rights principles; urged US to produce a report on womens inheritance rights and impact of PEPFAR.
India: Urged US to push for accountability for those responsible for human rights abuses in India-administered Kashmir, in Punjab in the 1980s, and in Gujarat after the 2002 riots; urged US to continue to refuse an official invitation to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi his role in 2002 communal violence; urged US to encourage India to adopt equal opportunity policies to protect the rights of Dalits and Tribals; urged US to call for the protection of rights of those likely to be displaced in West Bengal state due to government land acquisition for industry.
Indonesia: Supported the continued prohibition by US on International Military Education and Training (IMET) and Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to Indonesia given ongoing Indonesian military abuses; urged US to raise with Indonesia concerns about abuses against child domestic workers and to press for amending labor law to grant core labor rights to workers in the informal sector, including domestic workers; urged US to raise with Indonesia concerns about human rights abuses by the Indonesian military exacerbated by the lack of oversight over legal and illicit business practices.
Iraq: Urged US to investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees by Iraqi security forces; urged US to ensure that assistance to Iraq will not contribute to human rights violations; urged US military to prevent and prohibit mistreatment of Iraqis in US custody; urged US to accept a higher number of Iraqi refugees and to support other countries in the region who have Iraqi refugees; urged US forces in Iraq to ensure that children taken into custody are treated as children, given prompt judicial review and access to independent monitors.
Israel/Palestinian Authority: Urged US to ensure that political agreements between the two parties be consistent with human rights norms; urged US to inform Israel that continued US military assistance requires clear and measurable steps to halt serious rights violations and to inform the Palestinian Authority that any US security assistance requires clear and measurable steps to halt serious rights violations by its security forces and by Palestinian armed groups; urged US to call on Israel to end its ban preventing Palestinian students from leaving the Gaza Strip to study abroad, to reinstate Fulbright grants offered to Gaza students, to press Israel to reverse its strict closure policy towards the Gaza Strip, which is harming Gazas civilian population.
Jordan: Urged US to condition funding for Jordan on the improvement of human rights standards relating to free assembly and association, torture in prisons, and misuse of administrative detention.
Kazakhstan: Urged US to condition Kazakhstans bid to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to Kazakhstans progress in addressing human rights concerns such as media freedom and freedom of assembly.
Kenya: Urged US to oppose any attempt to grant amnesty to those responsible
for violence after Kenyas elections in early 2008.
Libya: Urged US to push for improvements in human rights practices in Libya.
Malaysia: Urged US to press Malaysia to rescind the Internal Security Act and dismantle abusive volunteer corps.
Morocco: Urged US to press Morocco to increase monitoring of human rights in Western Sahara.
Nepal: Urged US to encourage Nepal to end disappearances and torture; urged US to prioritize human rights, particularly the impunity of the Nepal Army; urged US to press Nepal for accountability by all parties to the conflict after the Constituent Assembly elections and support human rights training of security forces; urged US to support better conditions for vulnerable groups such as Dalits, Madhesis, women and children. North Korea: Urged US to incorporate human rights concerns into security discussions.
Pakistan: Urged US to: press for full restoration of judiciary; condition military aid on democratic reform; advocate for womens rights in Pakistan; support free expression for journalists and human rights activists in Pakistan; and push for accountability for those responsible for human rights abuses in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Philippines: Urged US to condition military aid on progress in the prosecution of members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who are implicated in human rights violations.
Russia: Urged US to press Russia to amend their NGO law to conform to international standards.
Saudi Arabia: Urged US to protest Saudi restrictions on the freedom of religion and the freedom of expression and association.
Sierra Leone: Urged US to continue its financial support of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and to quickly disburse FY 2008 funds granted to the court.
Sri Lanka: Called on US to push for an international human rights monitoring mission in Sri Lanka to investigate abuses by all sides to the conflict; urged US to address with Sri Lanka issues of child recruitment by armed groups with Sri Lankan military complicity and by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; urged US to condition aid to Sri Lanka on improvement in human rights standards.
Sudan: Urged US to press for action in Darfur by asking the UN Security Council to
call on the Sudanese government to end human rights abuses and hold violators
accountable; urged US to work toward the effective deployment of international
peacekeepers into the Darfur region.
Thailand: Urged US to condemn rights abuses by all sides in the conflict in southern Thailand; urged US to press for full respect of human rights and accountability from Thailand in bilateral drug suppression efforts; urged US to oppose Thailand using extrajudicial killings in the war on drugs; urged US to press Thailand not to return Lao Hmong refugees to Laos and to find durable solutions for Burmese refugees in Thailand; sought US support to press for the resumption of UNHCR status determination process in Thailand; urged US to protest Thai government restrictions on civil liberties and to protect Thai rights defenders; urged US to encourage Thailand to support international humanitarian efforts in Burma in aftermath of Cyclone Nagris.
Uganda: Urged US to push for human rights improvements in northern Uganda and to press for an end to torture in Uganda; urged US to push for accountability for the Lords Resistance Armys atrocities and to support UN Security Council statement in light of renewed abuses.
Uzbekistan: Urged US to impose targeted sanctions against selected Uzbek government officials responsible for the May 2005 massacre at Andijan and the ensuing crackdown on civil society, and overall to condition its relationship with the Uzbek government on its fulfillment of specific human rights benchmarks. Urged US to help ensure protection from forced return and secure urgent resettlement of Uzbek refugees in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and other countries where their safety was at risk.
Vietnam: Advocated for continuation of Vietnams status as a Country of Particular Concern for its restrictions on religious freedom; called on US to press Vietnam to account for whereabouts of labor activist Le Tri Tue; urged US to continue monitoring rights abuses by Vietnam against ethnic minority populations; called for US to press Vietnam to annul national security legislation that criminalizes peaceful assembly, expression, association, and certain religions.
Lobbyistsmr JONATHAN ELLIOTT · ms CAROL CHODROFF · mr JOSEPH STORK · ms VERONIKA SZENTE GOLDSTON · mr TOMASZ MALINOWSKI · ms SOPHIE RICHARDSON
Covered position (mr JONATHAN ELLIOTT): N/A
Covered position (ms CAROL CHODROFF): N/A
Covered position (mr JOSEPH STORK): N/A
Covered position (ms VERONIKA SZENTE GOLDSTON): N/A
Covered position (mr TOMASZ MALINOWSKI): N/A
Covered position (ms SOPHIE RICHARDSON): N/A
