New Zealand urges the warring factions in Afghanistan to make every effort to reach a peaceful resolution to their conflict. We are also deeply concerned by reported human rights abuses in Zimbabwe including serious threats to Opposition MPs, tolerance of violence, murder and intimidation, interference with the independence of the judiciary and the press, and a growing climate of fear. New Zealand supports the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recent letter to President Mugabe appealing to him to address these concerns and assure the full exercise of human rights in Zimbabwe. Armed conflict and massive population movements continue to lead to serious human rights violations in other parts of Africa, notably Sierra Leone and the African Great Lakes region , including the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Implementation of this resolution offers a real opportunity to secure lasting peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Armed conflict is also a major concern in Chechnya .
We urge Russia to work for a lasting political settlement, and to strengthen efforts to prevent human rights abuses and to ensure that serious violations do not go unpunished. New Zealand acknowledges the co-operative efforts of the Russian Federation Government in facilitating access by international humanitarian agencies to Chechnya and visits to the Northern Caucusus by two of the special mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights. Finally, turning to the human rights situation in our part of the world, we welcome the positive role being played by the Fiji Human Rights Commission in response to intimidation of both Indo-Fijians and indigenous Fijians by extremist supporters of the failed 19 May 2000 putsch. We also applaud the decision by the President of Fiji and his caretaker government to set a firm date for elections in order to restore Fiji to full democracy. We welcome the efforts of the Peace Monitoring Council in the Solomon Islands to bring about the disarmament of former militants and restore peace.