Research

 

You will find a complete range of our monographs, muti-authored and edited works including peer-reviewed, original scholarly research across the social sciences and aligned disciplines. We publish long and short form research and you can browse the complete Bristol University Press and Policy Press archive.

Policy Press also publishes policy reviews and polemic work which aim to challenge policy and practice in certain fields. These books have a practitioner in mind and are practical, accessible in style, as well as being academically sound and referenced.
 

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Afghanistan entered a new period of instability in 2014, with important implications for human rights. The June 2014 final round of the presidential election resulted in political impasse as both candidates, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, claimed victory after accusing each other's teams of engaging in fraud. On September 21, the two candidates signed a deal making Ghani the president, and Abdullah the chief executive. The bitterly fought campaign and months-long standoff raised fears of continuing instability, and lingering disagreements over the terms of the deal delayed the formation of a cabinet.

Uncertainty surrounding the political transition, along with growing pressure from Taliban insurgents, contributed to a decline in respect for human rights throughout the country, including impunity for abuses by security forces, threats to women's rights and freedom of expression, and indiscriminate attacks that killed civilians.

Preparations for the withdrawal of international combat troops by the end of 2014 continued, with foreign troops largely departed or sequestered in their bases. As insurgent forces launched sustained attacks on a number of vital districts, Afghan security forces suffered increasingly higher casualties on the battlefield. However, civilians still bore the brunt of the violence. The United Nations recorded a 24 percent rise in civilian casualties in the first six months of 2014 compared to 2013, most due to insurgent attacks. Early in the year, the Taliban stepped up attacks on officials and workers associated with the presidential elections, and targeted other civilians and foreigners. On January 17, a suicide attack on a Kabul restaurant, La Taverna, resulted in the deaths of 20 people, including 13 foreign nationals and 7 Afghans. The Taliban claimed responsibility, apparently targeting the restaurant because of its popularity with foreigners. On March 21, gunmen attacked the dining room of the high-security Serena Hotel in central Kabul, killing nine people, including Agence France Presse journalist Sardar Ahmad, his wife, and two of their children. A third child was wounded.

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2014 saw no overall improvement in human rights conditions in Algeria despite promises tha the government has made since 2011 to introduce reforms. Authorities curtailed free speech and the rights to freedom of association, assembly, and peaceful protest, and arrested and prosecuted political and trade union activists.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, president since 1999, was re-elected for the fourth time on April 17, 2014, despite his reported ill-health. Several opposition parties boycotted the election and called instead for democratic reforms and genuinely pluralistic elections.

The government authorized Human Rights Watch to make an official visit, in October 2014, to the country for the first time since 2005 and to hold a press conference on the human rights situation in the Tindouf Refugee camps. However, it continued to block the legal registration of Algerian human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and maintained its non-cooperation with United Nations human rights experts and mechanisms. Authorities continued their policy of pre-emptively suppressing peaceful protests by rounding up and arresting protest organizers in advance and then using the police to block access to demonstration venues. Those arrested and prosecuted on charges of gathering illegally included human rights activists and trade union leaders. In April, authorities forcibly dispersed protesters opposed to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s re-election, and arrested and detained hundreds, including many supporters of the Barakat (“Enough”) movement. Police held those they arrested for hours in police stations before releasing some and prosecuting others. Those charged included Mohand Kadi, a youth activist, and Moez Bennecir, a Tunisian resident in Algeria. On May 18, a court convicted both men of participating in an “unlawful non-armed gathering harming public order,” under articles 97 and 98 of the penal code, and handed down suspended six month prison sentences.

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President José Eduardo dos Santos, in power for 35 years, has faced increasing criticism in Angola for rampant corruption, bad governance, and government repression. Although the 2012 elections ended in another victory for his ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the authorities intensified repressive measures, restricting freedom of expression, association, and assembly. In 2014, the government once again delayed long-overdue local elections.

The government continues targeting outspoken journalists and activists with criminal defamation lawsuits, arbitrary arrests, unfair trials, intimidation, harassment, and surveillance. The police use excessive force and engage in arbitrary arrests to stop peaceful anti-government protests and other gatherings. In 2014, authorities conducted the first post-colonial population and housing census, and in late 2013 launched a civil registration campaign that promotes free access to birth certificates and identity documents. However, the government also stepped up mass forced evictions in Luanda, the capital, and continued there and in other cities to violently remove street traders, including pregnant women and women with children. Outspoken human rights activists, journalists, human rights lawyers, and youth protest activists reported repeated harassment, intimidation, and pervasive surveillance by police and intelligence agents. Freedom of expression is severely restricted in Angola due to censorship and self-censorship in state media and ruling party-controlled private media and other forms of government repression. In such a climate, Internet blogs and social media have become the main channels for open debate. The government has regularly used criminal defamation laws and other abusive legal provisions to silence journalists. In July, the prominent investigative journalist Rafael Marques was formally notified of criminal libel charges filed by seven high-ranking Angolan army generals and the diamond mining company Sociedade Mineira do Cuango.

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Argentina's human rights record remains mixed. While many basic freedoms are protected, there still ongoing concerns, including threats to freedom of expression, lack of comprehensive freedom of information legislation, police abuse, poor prison conditions, barriers to accessing reproductive health products and services, and failure to protect indigenous rights.

Argentina continues to make significant progress regarding LGBT rights and prosecuting officials for abuses committed during the country's “Dirty War” (1976- 1983), although trials have been subject to delays.

High fines and criminal prosecutions in specific cases have undermined the right to freely publish information of public interest. In 2011, the Ministry of Commerce imposed a fine of 500,000 pesos (approximately US$ 125,000) on 11 economists and consulting firms for publishing unofficial inflation statistics challenging the accuracy of official ones. One of the economists, Graciela Bevacqua, was subject to two fines, and was also criminally investigated at the request of the former secretary of commerce for allegedly “defrauding commerce and industry.” As of November 2014, the criminal case along with one of the fines against Bevacqua remained pending.

In May, journalist Juan Pablo Suárez was charged with “incitement of collective violence” with the intention of “terrorizing the population,”the first time prosecutors had invoked a 2011 law allowing enhanced penalties for certain “terrorism” crimes. Suárez, who works for an online news outlet, had published information on police strikes in Santiago del Estero province. The aggravated penalty was dropped following strong public backlash, but the case against Suárez continued at time of writing.

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Armenia's human rights record remained uneven in 2014. Authorities continued to interfere with peaceful protests. Torture and ill-treatment in custody remained a problem, and investigations are ineffective, even when opened. Journalists continued to face pressure and violence. Although changes to alternative service to compulsory military service garnered praise, serious abuses in the army persist. Local groups documented forced psychiatric hospitalization. Violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity are serious problems. The government has yet to lift unnecessary restrictions on access to pain medications for people with terminal illnesses.

Authorities interfered with free assembly throughout the year. According to human rights groups, police in the capital, Yerevan, detained at least 70 activists in the first half of 2014 during peaceful protests on pension reform, environmental concerns, utility prices, and other issues. Most people detained were released within a day; some faced administrative fines.

Three Yerevan metro employees alleged they were fired after participating in a February protest about controversial pension reforms and, at time of writing, were suing for reinstatement and lost wages. During a series of protests in June, Yerevan police detained activists protesting the demolition of the Afrikyan House, a historical monument. On June 23, Yerevan police detained 27 people protesting increased electricity tariffs. The Armenian ombudsperson found the police actions disproportionate. Authorities opened an investigation into police conduct and suspended several policemen pending inquiry.

Local human rights activists consider the prosecution and conviction of controversial political opposition leader Shant Harutyunyan and 13 of his supporters to be politically motivated. Authorities arrested the activists in November 2013 after clashes with police during an attempted march to the presidential administration building in Yerevan.

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Australia has a solid record of protecting civil and political rights, with robust institutions and a vibrant press and civil society that act as a check on government power. The government's failure to respect international standards protecting asylum seekers and refugees, however, continues to take a heavy human toll and undermines Australia's ability to call for stronger human rights protections abroad. In 2014, Australia introduced new overbroad counterterrorism measures that would infringe on freedoms of expression and movement. The government has also done too little to address indigenous rights and disability rights.

To deter boat arrivals of unauthorized migrants, the government has continued its harsh policy of transferring all asylum seekers who arrive by boat to other countries for processing and resettlement. In 2014, the government concluded negotiations with Cambodia to accept refugees from Nauru for resettlement, ignoring concerns about safety and the lack of capacity of the Cambodian government.

As of October 31, 2014, 1,056 men were detained on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, and 1,095 men, women, and children were detained on Nauru. At time of writing, only 10 of the Manus Island detainees had received final refugee status determinations. As of October 31, 2014, 261 of the Nauru detainees had been determined to be refugees and released into the community; 72 were denied refugee status.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has criticized Australia's offshore detention policy as “return-oriented.” The detention centers are overcrowded and dirty. Asylum claims are not processed in a fair, transparent, or expedient manner, with significant cost to detainees’ physical and mental health.

According to media reports, gay asylum seekers detained on Manus Island fear persecution and sexual assault. They also fear resettlement in Papua New Guinea, where consensual adult same-sex relations are criminalized.

The government has offered cash payments of thousands of dollars to entice asylum seekers to return home.

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The Azerbaijani government escalated repression against its critics, marking a dramatic deterioration in its already poor rights record. The authorities convicted or imprisoned at least 33 human rights defenders, political and civil activists, journalists, and bloggers on politically motivated charges, prompting others to flee the country or go into hiding. Authorities froze the bank accounts of independent civic groups and their leaders, impeded their work by refusing to register foreign grants, and imposed foreign travel bans on some. Many of those detained complained of ill-treatment in police custody. Many organizations, including several leading rights groups, were forced to cease activities.

The crackdown continued even as Azerbaijan in May took over the six-month rotating chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Europe's foremost human rights body.

While criticizing the increasing crackdown on civil society groups, Azerbaijan's international partners failed to make full use of their relationships with the government to secure rights improvements. Authorities used a range of spurious charges—including narcotics and weapons possession, hooliganism, incitement, and even treason—to imprison critics. These included several leading human rights defenders such as Leyla Yunus, director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, and her husband, Arif Yunus, arrested in July and August, and charged with treason, tax evasion, and illegal entrepreneurship. They also included Rasul Jafarov, Human Rights Club director, and Intigam Aliyev, head of the Legal Education Society—both of whom were arrested in August and charged with tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, and abuse of authority. All were in pretrial custody at time of writing.

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In 2014, the main opposition party continued to refuse to participate in the national dialogue process to protest authorities prosecuting some of its senior members and, with other opposition parties, boycotted November's elections in protest at an unfair electoral system.

Bahrain's courts convicted and imprisoned peaceful dissenters and failed to hold officials accountable for torture and other serious rights violations. The high rate of successful prosecutions on vague terrorism charges, imposition of long prison sentences, and failure to address the security forces’ use of lethal and apparently disproportionate force all reflected the weakness of the justice system and its lack of independence.

Human rights activists and members of the political opposition continued to face arrest and prosecution, and the government invested itself with further powers to arbitrarily strip critics of their citizenship and the rights that attach to it.

Bahraini courts sentenced more than 200 defendants to long prison sentences, including at least 70 for life, on terrorism or national security charges.

The number of prosecutions, the often vague nature of the charges, the high rate of convictions, and the length of the sentences imposed raised serious due process concerns. Bahrain's civilian criminal courts failed to provide impartial justice and frequently convicted defendants on terrorism charges for acts that amount to legitimate exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and association.

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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party and its allies swept to power in the January national elections after key opposition parties refused to participate. The opposition demanded polls under a neutral caretaker government and all attempts at negotiations, including by the United Nations, failed to resolve the stalemate. Hundreds were killed and injured in violent attacks surrounding the elections.

The trend toward increasing restrictions on civil society continued, with the government introducing a draft bill that imposes restrictions on already beleaguered nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and their access to foreign funding. The government also introduced a new media policy that imposes unacceptable limits on free expression and speech.

Security forces carried out abductions, killings, and arbitrary arrests, particularly targeting opposition leaders and supporters. In a positive development, after years of impunity for the security forces, several members of the notorious Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were arrested following the abduction and apparent contract killings of seven people in May.

Compensation and relief for victims and survivors of the April 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza in Dhaka was slow because international companies that sourced garments from the five factories operating in the building failed to contribute enough to the financial trust fund set up to support survivors and the families of those who died. After the accident, the government amended its labor laws to make it easier for workers to form unions. However, workers reported tremendous pressure from owners and managers not to do so.

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Belarusian authorities made no meaningful improvements in the country's poor human rights record in 2014. President Aliaxander Lukashenka's government continues to severely restrict freedom of expression and association, including by harassing journalists and imposing restrictive legislation on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Legislative amendments during the year simplified the reporting requirements for NGOs, but introduced new pretexts for liquidating them.

Authorities arbitrarily detained activists to prevent them from participating in public events, including before the May International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship. Belarus courts sentenced four people to death and executed two of the men, one of whom had a case challenging the legality of the sentence pending decision before the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The authorities released human rights defender Ales Bialiatski who had spent almost three years in prison on politically motivated charges. Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community face deep-rooted homophobia and discrimination.

Belarus remains the only European country to have the death penalty. In April, authorities executed by firing squad Pavel Sialiun, whom a regional court sentenced to death in June 2013 for murder and theft, among other charges. The Supreme Court upheld the sentence. Sialiun was executed despite a pending case before the UN Human Rights Committee challenging his conviction and sentence. The exact date of Sialiun's execution is not known. Sialiun's mother learned of her son's death from his lawyer.

In May, authorities executed Ryhor Yuzepchuk, sentenced to death in April for murder. At time of writing, two other men remained on death row after the Supreme Court upheld their death sentences.

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