From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 28 Dec 92 11:50 PST
Subject: LATIN AMERICA: A YEAR BLOTCHED BY V
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700916:000:6450
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Dec 28 11:50:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: LATIN AMERICA: A YEAR BLOTCHED BY V

/* Written 12:11 am  Dec 26, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: LATIN AMERICA: A YEAR BLOTCHED BY VIOLATIONS //YEARENDER//


an inter press service feature

by ivannia mora

san jose, dec 23 (ips) -- latin america's balance sheet for 1992
is stained by thousands of blotches, silent witnesses to the
human rights violations which continue to be perpetrated in the
region.

the 2,840 people who died as a result of the civil war in peru
and the thousands of amerindian victims of army repression in
guatemala put paid to any illusions that the end of dictatorial
regimes in the region might also mean the end of abuses.

so did the 50 journalists assassinated in mexico and the
almost 200 million poor throughout the region.

the list of human rights violations in the americas is almost
endless. this year haiti, guatemala, brazil, colombia and peru
earned top honours as the continent's most dangerous countries.

two attempts to overthrow venezuela's government, president
alberto fujimori's self-imposed coup in peru and the military's
insistence on remaining in power in haiti placed a question mark
on the democratic process in the americas.

in these three countries, human rights suffered a severe
setback, since their governments eliminated important
constitutional guarantees, either to retain and extend their
power or in response to real threats to democracy.

generally, the american continent has shown a tendency to move
away from the idea that human rights related only to the
political sphere, as obtained during the era of dictatorships.

the concept has now been extended to other areas such as the
environment, the economy and society.

human rights activists insist that economic repression is now
the main, the most serious, violation against the right to live
in dignity in the americas.

they feel that the unjust distribution of wealth forces the
poor to protest and struggle for more worthy lives, but the
responses of governments and private bodies to this struggle have
been repression, imprisonment, persecution, torture or death.

''what happens with the structural adjustments and debt
payments is that latin america is poorer, and poverty is one of
the biggest human rights violations,'' says sonia picado,
executive director of thee inter-american institute of human
rights. (more)
----


in its latest annual report, the humanitarian organization
''america's watch'' indicates that in latin america periodic
elections and transference of power have not automatically
improved the quality of democracy.

it is evident that the poor were disillusioned by
democratization this year. roberti cuellar, assistant director of
the inter-american institute of human rights, said that people
wanted development alternatives. so far democracy has not
provided these.

while the most severe violations of human rights were
perpetrated within the context of armed conflicts and the fight
against drug trafficking, violence and repression have also
spread considerably in other spheres.

street children, peasants, the poor, people detained without
trial, delinquents and battered women are the new groups on whose
defence human rights activists are now focussing.

forecasts for 1993 range from guarded optimism to deep
pessimism.

''i am optimistic,'' admits sonia picada, ''latin america has
great development potential and it is important to take advantage
of all the changes in the international context to integrate the
large marginalized majorities.''

the coordinator of the central american commission for the
defence of human rights, silvia porras, feels the horizon is
still bleak.

''nothing will change as long as the development model does
not change. i therefore have little hope that things will change
in the short term,'' she said.

human rights officials forecast outbursts of political
violence without ideological motivations in countries like
brazil, nicaragua and venezuela.

''countries which peacefully resolved armed conflicts, like
nicaragua and el salvador, are going to rearm, not because of
ideological issues, but because of economic ones,'' roberto
cuellar predicted.

the arrival of president-elect bill clinton in the white house
will give thousands of latin americans hope that they will be
able to experience the sweet taste of economic reactivation
promised by the incoming u.s. head of state.

''if the bodies that control economic policy in latin america
do not become aware of the situation of misery, there will be no
barrier, no electric hurdle, nor any rio bravo (rio grande)
capable of stopping latin americans from going to the united
states in search of clinton's gold,'' cuellar said. (more)
----


all agree that the controversial issue of human rights will
not lose its pertinence in 1993.

san jose, costa rica, will be the venue in january of the
biggest human rights meeting ever held on the american continent:
the regional preparatory meeting for the international conference
on human rights, scheduled for june in vienna.

the regional encounter will be preceded by a meeting of latin
american non-governmental human rights organizations, key
witnesses of the suffering of the region's poor. the
inter-american commission on human rights estimates that there
are 290 formally constituted rights groups in the region.

industrialized and developing countries of the hemisphere are
expected to be on opposite sides of the fence on at least one
issue: whether or not economic rights should be included in the
general discussion on human rights.

''the countries of the north have separated economic
development from human development. for them the economic aspect
should not be taken into account,'' sonia picado explained.

the south, on the other hand, insists that violations of
economic rights should be considered as serious as or even more
serious than torture and physical violence.

''if economic, cultural and social aspects are not taken into
consideration, it will be very difficult to achieve civil and
political'' aspects, picado said.

poverty, insecurity and uncertainty cloud the horizon in latin
america. it will not be easy to wipe out the stains they leave.
(end/ips/trd/so/im-mso/kb/92)
----