| By Alexander G. Higgins, Associated Press |
Some countries will be singled out for perpetrating abuses or
atrocities, but independent champions of human rights maintain that
powerful nations like China and others like Algeria can get off
scot-free.
More than 30 ministers or national leaders are scheduled to
speak to the 53-nation commission during its six-week annual
session, starting with Czech President Vaclav Havel today.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is pushing a goal of
integrating human-rights concerns into all United Nations
activities, was to give the opening address.
The 1948 declaration, drafted while the memory of World War II
was fresh, notes that "disregard and contempt for human rights
have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience
of mankind.''
It proclaims "a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom
of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want'' and covers
rights such as freedom to work, own property and marry the person
of one's choosing.
"But governments look set to ignore some acute human rights
situations,'' said Amnesty International legal director Nicholas
Howen. "For the victims the anniversary will be little cause for
celebration.''
Both the 15-nation European Union and the United States, which
have led repeated attempts to pass a resolution criticizing China,
have declared that they see progress in Beijing and are committed
to a new, quieter method of behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
Critics say the enticement of China's huge market also played a
role in the decisions in Brussels and Washington to not even
support a China resolution this year.
The commission can do little more than condemn abuses, but that
has been enough to spur China and other potential targets to mount
extensive lobbying campaigns with developing countries, which
dominate the commission, to avoid international opprobrium.
Amnesty said another key nation likely to avoid the scrutiny of
the commission this year is Algeria, where, it said, "thousands
have been hacked to death, tortured or `disappeared.'''
"Security forces, state-armed militias and armed Islamic groups
have all been responsible for these human-rights abuses,'' said
Amnesty's Howen. "When faced with such horrors, why is the
commission silent?''
Joining with Amnesty are Human Rights Watch, the International
Federation of Human Rights and Reporters Without Borders to demand
the commission order an investigation to determine who is
responsible for the killings.
Algerian authorities have adamantly refused to accept such an
examination.
A joint statement by the four rights groups cited "the general
failure of the Algerian authorities to bring to justice those
responsible for gross human rights violations'' and "the absence
of a credible independent investigation of the killings and
massacres.''
Those shortcomings plus "the restrictions imposed on Algerian
and foreign journalists and organizations all contribute to
perpetrating a situation of complete impunity where violence
thrives on fear and silence,'' the statement said.
Other countries listed by human-rights groups as deserving
closer or more public scrutiny are Cambodia, Colombia, Kenya, Saudi
Arabia and Turkey.
The countries and territories that have been assigned special
investigators include Afghanistan; Burundi; Cuba; Congo; Equatorial
Guinea; Iraq; Iran; Myanmar, formerly known as Burma; the
Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories; Rwanda; Sudan and the
former Yugoslavia.
The commission also will hear reports from investigators on a
range of issues, from arbitrary executions to violence toward
women, abuse of children and religious freedom.
These investigators can turn their attention to any country,
which has led to examinations of the death penalty in the United
States and religious freedom in Germany.
© 1998 Associated Press