WORLD HR DAY [BURMA CASE DISCUSSED]

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Subject: WORLD HR DAY [BURMA CASE DISCUSSED] CBS

World Marks Human Rights Day 
Celebrate Achievements Of 50-Year-Old Charter
Call For An End To Still-Rampant Abuses 
 
 
TOKYO
Thursday, December 10,1998 - 09:34 AM ET  
 
  
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"Even now, there is no end to the violation of human rights in the world."
Hideki Morihara
Amnesty International
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AP   
 
A rights activist in Germany holds up a list of names of alleged political
prisoners.

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(CBS) People around the world celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United
Nations human rights charter Thursday called for more efforts to end
still-rampant abuses. 

"We've left a question mark after the word 'happy' in 'happy anniversary',"
said Hideki Morihara of Amnesty International in Japan. "Even now, there is
no end to the violation of human rights in the world." 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the most comprehensive and
widely recognized international standard for the protection of human rights.
The U.N. General Assembly has scheduled a special session to mark the
anniversary. 

"It is a mirror that at once flatters us and shames us, that bears witness
to a record of progress for parts of humanity while revealing a history and
reality of horrors for others," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said of
the declaration. 

The declaration has turned into the world's most widely accepted
international bill of rights, still used as a basis for standards of
fundamental freedoms of thought, opinion, expression, belief, and equal
opportunity. 

When it was approved by the General Assembly, the United Nations had only 59
members. A total of 48 voted in favor. Those abstaining or absent included
the Soviet bloc countries, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. 

But slowly many countries incorporated key principles from the declaration
in their constitutions. Whether or not these were obeyed, the pledges gave
legitimacy to the advocacy and grass-roots groups that have mushroomed in
nearly every country in the world. 

Throughout Asia and other regions, there were reminders of the many who
continue to be denied basic freedoms and rights. 

In Myanmar, also known as Burma, Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
attended a U.N.-sponsored ceremony with other officials of her opposition
National League for Democracy. No government officials took part. 

"Nobody can deny there are no human rights in Burma," said Suu Kyi, who has
endured nine years of either house arrest or strict restrictions on her
activities under the ruling military junta. "And the people of Burma will
never enjoy peace and security unless there is a government that can
guarantee human rights." 

Even as Chinese President Jiang Zemin promised to protect human rights in a
letter marking the anniversary, police ransacked the homes of several
dissidents in a widening crackdown. 

Police detained some dissidents for questioning and seized photos and
pamphlets, including copies of the declaration that the dissidents had
planned to hand out at schools and factories, New York-based Human Rights in
China said. 

Although China took part in drafting a U.N. statement on the anniversary, in
practice it still represses those who fight for human rights, the group said. 

While attending an anniversary celebration in Paris, the Dalai Lama said
conditions for his fellow Tibetans were worsening under Chinese rule. 

"The situation is very difficult, very grave," the spiritual leader said.
"We have to hope to improve our situation." 

In India, scores of Tibetan exiles burned the Chinese flag in protest of
Beijing's rule of their homeland. 

Elsewhere in India, people once known as "untouchable" announced that they
were kicking off a yearlong campaign to "cast out caste." 

Discrimination based on caste is illegal in India, but it is entrenched by
tradition and continues to be widespread. 

New York-based Human Rights Watch started a worldwide campaign in response
to the Dec. 1 arrest of Hafez Abu Saada, head of the Egyptian Organization
for Human Rights, which recently reported widespread police torture of
Coptic Christians in a southern village. 

Abu Saada has been accused of accepting illegal foreign donations and
publishing false reports that damaged Egypt's image. Conviction could result
in a prison sentence of up to 15 years at hard labor. 

The Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor started an on-line Chinese language
database of human rights treaties. In the business district, about 200
people celebrated with dances and music in a public garden. 

Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, a conservative shipping tycoon
handpicked by Beijing, said the territory remained a "robust and lively
community where people have no hesitation in speaking their minds." 

Many people were concerned about curbs on freedom after the former British
colony's return to Chinese rule in 1997. So far, China has adopted a
hands-off policy in most matters. 

In Belarus in Russia, activists organized pickets to spread the word about
the human rights charter, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. 

Polls by the Committee to Protect Journalists have put Belarusian President
Alexander Lukashenko among the world's 10 leaders with the worst records for
suppressing independent media. Rights groups say 500 people have been
unjustly arrested or beaten by authorities this year in Belarus. 

Human Rights Watch in Asia has painted a gloomy picture of the rights
situation in Cambodia: Officials linked to killings and mysterious
disappearances still hold office, and Khmer Rouge leaders accused in the
deaths of millions of people in the 1970s are still at large, it said. 

And Australian Prime Minister John Howard acknowledged his nation has a long
way to go in the human rights arena. The 400,000 Aborigines, among
Australia's 18 million people, have always been the poorest. 

"I don't pretend for a moment our human rights record has been without
blemish," he told Parliament. "If you don't respect the human rights of your
own people, then you can hardly put yourself in a position to lecture the
rest of the world."