NEWS - People around the World Cele

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Subject: NEWS - People around the World Celebrate Human Rights Declaration

People around the World Celebrate Human Rights Declaration

            AP
            10-DEC-98

            TOKYO (AP) -- People around the world celebrating the 50th
            anniversary of the United Nations human rights charter today
            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. 

            But 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."