October 12, 2004
Contact: George Yatchisin
(805) 893-3494
e-mail: yatchisin-g@ sa.ucsb.edu

The powerful presentation Voices for Justice: Defending Human Rights in Afghanistan, Congo and Russia at UCSB Corwin Pavilion, Free

Summary Facts:

• Voices for Justice: Defending Human Rights in Afghanistan, Congo and Russia
• A special presentation by 2004 Human Rights Watch honorees
• The 2004 recipients are Habib Rahiab from Afghanistan, Maitre Honore Musoko from Congo and Natalia Zhukova from Russia
• Tuesday, November 16 / 4 pm
• UCSB Corwin Pavilion
• Free event
• Information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

UCSB Arts & Lectures and Human Rights Watch present the program Voices for Justice: Defending Human Rights in Afghanistan, Congo and Russia on Tuesday, November 16 at 4 pm at UCSB Corwin Pavilion. This is a free event.

Since 1988 Human Rights Watch has honored 160 individuals who work courageously to promote freedom, dignity and justice in their home countries. This year’s honorees speaking at UCSB are Habib Rahiab from Afghanistan, Maitre Honore Musoko from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Natalia Zhukova from Russia.

Human Rights Watch is the largest human rights organization based in the United States. Its researchers conduct fact-finding investigations into human rights abuses in all regions of the world. The organization then publishes those findings in dozens of books and reports every year, generating extensive coverage in local and international media. This publicity helps to embarrass abusive governments in the eyes of their citizens and the world. Human Rights Watch meets with government officials to urge changes in policy and practice—at the United Nations, the European Union, in Washington and in capitals around the world. In extreme circumstances, Human Rights Watch presses for the withdrawal of military and economic support from governments that egregiously violate the rights of their people. In moments of crisis, Human Rights Watch provides up-to-the-minute information about conflicts while they are underway.

Three years ago, Habib Rahiab, an extraordinary Afghan human rights activist, approached Human Rights Watch researchers working in Kabul and offered his help. Rahiab had directed a school for refugee girls in Pakistan and had headed a human rights documentation group that exposed the oppression of an Afghan ethnic minority, the Hazaras. While assisting Human Rights Watch, Rahiab assessed the impact of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan on Afghan civilians. He helped Human Rights Watch expose the mistreatment of detainees held by U.S. forces in Afghanistan before that issue dominated the headlines. He conducted interviews that demonstrated intensifying oppression by local warlords who were put in power after the Taliban was toppled. Because Rahiab’s heroic and tireless efforts to expose human rights abuses in Afghanistan evoked the ire of the warlords, who threatened to kill him, Rahiab and his family were forced to flee Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch researchers helped resettle Rahiab and his family in the United States and found refuge and funding for him at Harvard University.

Maitre Honore Musoko is a Congolese lawyer and founding member of Justice Plus, a local human rights organization based in Bunia, a town in Ituri province in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. When documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ituri, Human Rights Watch worked closely with Justice Plus and with Musoko, who demonstrated extraordinary bravery in exposing atrocities in Congo that might otherwise have gone unknown. Musoko has been arrested and threatened for uncovering human rights abuses in Ituri. Last year, he was forced to go into exile in Uganda after he refused to remain silent about the crimes taking place. Musoko’s local colleagues also were targeted; only after an intervention by Human Rights Watch were they able to come out of hiding. Musoko more recently has been working as a consultant for the International Criminal Court, which is considering as its first case war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ituri. He has decided not to remain at the court for fear of imperiling the human rights work of his Justice Plus colleagues in Bunia.

Natalia Zhukova works with one of Russia’s most extraordinary grassroots human rights organizations, the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers, which is dedicated to protecting soldiers in Russia’s army from mistreatment. Each year, one million young men perform obligatory military service in Russia, and thousands die non-combat deaths as a result of violent beatings by their superiors and inadequate nutrition and health care. The abuse is so severe, and affects so many young men, that even before boys enter puberty, their parents start looking for ways to prevent their sons from serving. The Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers saves lives every day by providing a safe haven for thousands of abused conscripts and counseling them and their families. It pushes for policy change and accountability in an institution that is known for its insularity. The Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers has been Human Rights Watch’s primary partner in research and advocacy on the abuse of conscripts in Russia. Working with Zhukova, Human Rights Watch is pushing to create an institution in Russia that is dedicated exclusively to investigating and ameliorating substandard conditions in the army.

Voices for Justice is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and Human Rights Watch. This event is part of the Global Forces in the Post-Cold War World lecture series presented with the Global and International Studies Program and the UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.