From: hrcoord@igc.apc.org (Human Rights Coordinator)
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Subject: HUMAN RIGHTS: Communal violence bla
Date: 12 Dec 92 15:49:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700866:000:7832
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Dec 12 07:49:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: HUMAN RIGHTS: Communal violence bla

/* Written 12:16 am  Dec 12, 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: HUMAN RIGHTS: Communal violence blamed for many abuses in
1992

washington, dec 9 (ips/jim lobe) -- the ''epidemic of communal
violence'' accounted for much of the serious human rights abuse
experienced by people in various regions of the world during 1992,
according to the annual human rights report released here
wednesday by the new york-based human rights watch.

the report, published to coincide with the 44th anniversary of the
universal declaration of human rights thursday, also calls on u.s.
president-elect bill clinton to upgrade the importance of human
rights in u.s. foreign policy and to recognise that its abuse
derives from many causes, including ethnic conflict.

human rights watch, the umbrella group for five human rights
committees which serve different regions, called for a greater
understanding that the protection of human rights requires more
than periodic elections which it said was the view of the
administrations of presidents ronald reagan and george bush.

''the fruits of this shallow vision of democracy have been reaped
in the emergence of elected tyrants whose one-time designation as
'freedom fighters' cannot mask their appeal to hatred,
intolerance, and virulent nationalism,'' the report said.

many of these new leaders have used ethnic conflict to actually
promote violence, according to the report, which argues that such
violence ''highlights the importance of human rights to the
maintenance of global peace''.

the major communal conflicts of 1992 were often caused by abusive
governments determined to hold onto or enhance their power in the
face of pressure for greater democratisation, according to the
424-page report.

in some of the most serious cases, including continuing violence
in liberia, somalia, sri lanka, and sudan, ethnic conflict was
spurred by a history of governments favouring certain groups while
repressing others.

in other cases, serious government abuses in response to
separatist movements resulted in a downward spiral of violence.

this has applied to the indian government's efforts to defeat
separatists in kashmir, punjab, and assam, the turkish
government's campaign against kurdish separatists, ''ethnic
cleansing'' efforts in nagorno karabakh by both armenian and azeri
forces, and the ''systematic abuses'' by israeli forces in the
occupied territories, the report said. (more/ips)

human rights: crises expose fragility of improvements in americas

washington, dec 9 (ips) -- latin america and the caribbean made
important progress in human rights this year, but crises in haiti,
peru and venezuela exposed the fragility of the improvements made,
''americas watch'' said in a report released wednesday.

''the dawn of democracy is rather cloudy,'' sub-director for
''human rights watch,'' kenneth roth, said on presenting the
report.

he explained that, despite the worldwide democratic trend, there
have been signs that some sectors still show little regard for
democracy.

as examples he cited peruvian president alberto fujimori's
dissolution of parliament on apr. 5, the overthrow of haitian
president jean-bertrand aristide on sep.30, 1991 and the fact that
he has had to remain in exile for over a year and the two attempts
to overthrow the venezuelan government on feb.4 and nov.  27.

''human rights watch'' comprises humanitarian organizations which
monitor the observance of rights such as those of women and
prisoners and freedom of expression in the americas, africa, asia,
europe and the middle east.

roth said another trend his group has observed in the past year
was that of confronting past perpetrators of human rights abuses.

he said a case in point was el salvador, where two commissions
created under peace accords between the government and the
guerrillas -- an ''ad hoc'' and a ''truth'' commission -- were
involved in this area.

the ad hoc commission recommended the dismissal of over 100
ranking military officials, he pointed out.

also in el salvador, the existence of a 1991 massacre, which had
been denied by the salvadorean and u.s. governments, was proved,
he added.

other cases included chile, where the judicial inquiry into the
murder of diplomat orlando letellier is under way, and paraguay,
where lawsuits have been filed against military officials who
committed abuses during the dictatorship of alfredo stroessner.

however, in other countries, impunity continues to be the norm,
stated roth, mentioning peru, thailand, indonesia and kuwait.
(more)
----

human rights: communal violence blamed for many abuses in
1992(2-e)

human rights: communal violence (2)

it notes that in still other cases, governments, such as those in
kenya, south africa, and zaire, have fomented ethnic violence to
resist calls for democratisation.

in several conflicts, elected governments have appealed to the
''basest form of nationalism and ethnic exclusion,'' said the
report which cited the governments of serbia, croatia and several
states of the former soviet union as examples.

''the lesson of these conflicts is that human rights violations by
governments play a large role in transforming communal differences
into violent clashes. the answer to halting or preventing such
violence lies not in a return to an authoritarian past but in an
end to the official abuse that fuels this strife,'' the report
said.

another problem is when states are conceived as a single national
group -- an impossibility given ''the natural shifting of
populations'' around the earth.  thus, in addition to the ''ethnic
cleansing'' of the balkans and elsewhere, estonia and latvia have
disenfranchised much of their russian-speaking populations, as has
kuwait with respect to its bedoon peoples.

germany's virtual refusal to grant citizenship to those of non-
german origin is yet another example cited in the report.

beyond ethnic conflict, 1992 has also shown the fragility of the
global movement towards democracy.

elected leaders have in some cases shown little hesitation in
committing abuses of their own, while others have shown open
contempt for electoral results.

in peru, for example, president alberto fujimori defended his
''self-coup'' by citing the need to fight corruption and
incompetence. in that apr. 5 ''coup'', fujimori suspended the
country's constitution, dissolved congress, and imposed an
emergency government of national reconstruction.

the report said that in algeria, the military simply annulled
parliamentary elections won by the islamic salvation front by
claiming it was protecting democracy and human rights.

similar reasons were cited by the military which ousted elected
president jean-bertrand aristide in 1991 and by venezuelan rebel
troops in the two coup attempts this year.

many governments also refused to establish accountability for past
gross abuses of human rights, a key measure of the health of a
country's democracy. while some prosecutions for past abuses have
taken place in chile, paraguay, germany, amnesties for such abuses
were declared in thailand, south africa, and kuwait.

human rights watch called on the clinton administration, which
takes office jan. 20, to look beyond the holding of elections in
assessing a country's human rights performance and to press
governments to hold gross abusers accountable for their actions.

it also urged the clinton administration to drop all double
standards in assessing abuses by u.s. friends and foes and to halt
all aid to governments which systematically commit gross
violations. (end/ips/jl)/yjc/92)