Summary Information
Abstract
Record Group documents Africa Watch’s (AFW) three-pronged strategy to curb
human rights abuses on the Continent through reports, missions and cooperative
efforts with other NGOs. First, AFW monitored abuses and produced such comprehensive
reports during war as
Evil Days: Thirty Years of War and Famine in Ethiopia, and
Conspicuous Destruction: War, Famine and the Reform Process in Mozambique
. Second,
although access remained difficult in many African countries, Africa Watch was still
able to conduct missions to investigate human rights conditions in Mozambique,
Angola, Zimbabwe and South Africa. AFW circumvented this predicament by exchanging
information gathered by local in country monitors with other NGOs. Third, besides
engaging in collaborative monitoring activities, Africa Watch engaged in many joint
documentation projects and lobbying efforts geared toward ending political and
ethnic violence in Africa. Finally, other documentary materials include
correspondence and e-mail communications, professional, personal and monitoring
activity, field notes, testimonies, interviews, advocacy, policy planning material,
and briefing papers.
At a Glance
| Call No.: | HR#0002 |
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| Bib ID: | 7746709 View CLIO record |
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| Creator(s): | Human Rights Watch(Organization). Africa
Watch. |
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| Title: | Human Rights
Watch Records,
1977-1997
[Bulk dates: 1989-1995]
|
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| Physical description: | 76.25 linear ft. (61 record cartons)
|
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| Language(s): | Arabic,
English,
French
|
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| Access: |
This collection is located off-site. Please consult the Rare Book and Manuscript
Library for further information.
The HRW Records are restricted. Access to the HRW Records may only be granted with
the written permission of HRW.
More information » |
|---|
Arrangement
Arrangement
This Record Group is arranged into 6 series:
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Description
Scope and Content
Materials include correspondence and e-mail communications, mission reports,
testimonies and interviews, addresses and contact lists, confidential interoffice
memos, legal and advocacy material, internal planning and policy material,
declassified government and United Nations documents, published and unpublished
human rights reports from individuals and fellow non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), press clippings and news releases, and maps. Another category of documents
consists of HRW reports and briefing papers, as well as press releases and open
letters to heads of state, governments and various government agencies.
Materials related to missions contain unpublished information on sources, cases, and
the state of affairs in various countries. They include professional and personal
mission notes taken by country researchers and monitors during investigative field
trips, testimonies by and interviews with victims of various human rights abuses,
pre-mission and post-mission memos, material on research methodology, correspondence
and e-mail communications, addresses and contact lists, as well as photographic
records.
Regionally and thematically, these documents cover the various democratic transitions
on the African continent such as in South Africa. The papers also comprise such
human rights advocacy initiatives as the attempt to prosecute the Rwandan genocide,
the international effort to ban land mines, the challenge to ban the use of child
soldiers; and the campaigns to promote freedom of expression and academic
freedom.
Series 1: Karen Sorensen, 1979-1996
This series contains files relating to Karen Sorensen’s work as a HRW/Africa
Watch Research Associate during the early to mid-1990s. In 1996, Ms.
Sorenson became an HRW on-line research associate. The series is divided
into two subseries: subject and country files.
Subseries 1: Subject Files, 1981-1996
Subject files are arranged alphabetically. The country files are arranged
alphabetically and represent the following nations: Algeria, Angola,
Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central
African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea,
Eritrea, Gabon, Cambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast,
Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius,
Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra
Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia,
Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe. The files contain
correspondence, Rwandan mission notes and predominantly research files
utilized in the compilation of Africa Watch reports produced from 1989
to 1996.
Subseries 2: Country Files, 1979-1995
The country files are arranged alphabetically and represent the following
nations: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi,
Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo,
Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Cambia, Ghana, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali,
Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria,
Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe.
The files contain correspondence, Rwandan mission notes and
predominantly research files utilized in the compilation of Africa Watch
reports produced from 1989 to 1996.
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Using the Collection
Offsite
Access Restrictions
This collection is located off-site. Please consult the Rare Book and Manuscript
Library for further information.
More information and link to off-site request form
The HRW Records are restricted. Access to the HRW Records may only be granted with
the written permission of HRW.
Restrictions on Use
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material
from the collection must be requested from the Curator of Manuscripts/University
Archivist, Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML). The RBML approves permission to
publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright
permission rests with the patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Human Rights Watch Records, Record
Group, Box Number; Center for Human Rights Documentation and Research, Rare Book and
Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
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About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries. Rare Book and
Manuscript Library; machine readable finding aid created by Columbia University
Libraries Digital Library Program Division
Processing Information
Papers processed 2008 Christopher M. Laico and Craig P. Savino (NYU, 2008)
Finding Aid written 2008 Christopher M. Laico
Machine readable finding aid generated from MARC-AMC source via XSLT
conversion August 14, 2012
Finding aid written in English.
Finding aid adheres to that prescribed by Describing Archives: A Content
Standard
2012-08-29
xml document instance created by Christopher M. Laico.
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Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
Subjects
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History / Biographical Note
Historical Note
In the early 1990s, HRW/Africa expanded its mission beyond
its initial concentration on southern Africa and the Horn of Africa to include the
entire continent.
The files comprise the following states: Angola, Benin,
Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique,
Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Togo,
Uganda, West Africa, Zaire, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The files contain archival materials collected or produced
by Africa Watch staff, and are arranged alphabetically by country and subject. The
files consist of articles, correspondence, memoranda, mission notes, newsletters,
press clippings, publications, and general reports.
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