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December 12, 2004

Observing International Human Rights Day

Human rights abuse soars in Asia'
Human rights abuses are growing in Asia as most countries in the region face a breakdown of the rule of law, a Hong Kong-based rights group said.

The Asian Human Rights Commission said it had documented rights violations in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, with most victims coming from poorer communities.

"The incidence of rights abuse in Asia is growing exponentially," it said in a statement to mark International Human Rights Day on December 10.

"Asia's human rights situation remains very bleak with most countries facing the breakdown of the rule of law that makes their people live in instability and constant fear," it said in Hong Kong.

"The absence of the rule of law permits the exercise of absolute power." More Asians were ready to defend and assert their rights, but many who dared to make complaints and seek justice often met harsher and more violent state reactions, it said.

"This popular upsurge in almost all countries is greater than at any time in the past," the group said. But of those who protested, "some were harassed and intimidated; some were killed," the group said. Forced disappearances and custodial torture are major threats to human rights in many places in the region, it said. It highlighted Nepal and southern Thailand as places where the rising number of disappearances was causing deep concern. Many countries used torture to maintain law and order, it said.

"Police stations and military barracks in most places double as torture chambers."

The group said police were "the greatest obstacle" to the protection and promotion of human rights throughout the region, and were often the law breakers violating human rights.

"The majority of people suffer, a handful obtain extraordinary benefits. State security forces enjoy virtual impunity, and engage in extreme forms of cruelty," the group said.

Source: Reuters, Hong Kong

Freedom and security under strain: UN rights chief
The UN's human rights chief, Louise Arbour, on criticised the global response to terrorism, warning that the international community's pledge to uphold freedom and security was under "considerable strain".

"As we commemorate International Human Rights Day 2004, the vision and the promise contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are under considerable strain," the High Commissioner said in a statement.

"Few of us are free from fear; many us are still not free from want."

"The sinister shadow of terrorism is generating a confused response, unanchored in the principles that have guided us in the search for a proper balance between our desire for collective security and our need for liberty and individual freedom," she added.

UN human rights officials have repeatedly raised concerns about detainees held in the US military base in Guantanamo Bay as well as abuse in the US-run Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged member states to protect human rights and not to become "prisoners of a culture of fear and an ideology of exclusion and arrogance".

Source: AFP, Geneva.

South Asian nations for joint assault on terrorism
Seven South Asian nations pledged a joint assault on terrorism and transnational crime in response to regional violence and fraud.

Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Thailand agreed during a two-day meeting here to set up a series of programmes and mechanisms for more effective action, an official statement said.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) will serve as a platform for cooperation to enhance "operational and strategic capabilities in preventing and suppressing terrorism and transnational crime".

India's northeast, which borders other BIMSTEC nations, is wracked by myriad insurgencies in which thousands of people have been killed over the past five decades.

A 13-point agenda was adopted at the meeting of the BIMSTEC Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (JWG- CTTC).

The JWG was set up at the first BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok in July to coordinate efforts in areas such as intelligence sharing and capacity building to combat terrorism and transnational crimes.

The summit had noted that terrorist groups gather strength from networking, taking advantage of the porous borders to operate across countries of the region and that action by one country on its own or bilaterally was insufficient to deal with the problem.

The meeting decided to enhance information and intelligence sharing regarding terrorism and transnational crime, deny sanctuary and transit facilities to and take effective measures against individuals, groups and entities involved in or associated with terrorist activities and prevent illicit trade and trafficking in arms.

It also decided to strengthen legal frameworks for cooperation, including through extradition and mutual legal assistance arrangements, and taking appropriate steps to meet the obligations of UN Security Council Resolution 1373 and other UN resolutions on combating terrorism.

Other decisions included preventing of currency counterfeiting, fraudulent use of travel and immigration documents and illegal movement of persons, including human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, by implementing effective border controls and other measures. The meeting also decided to set up several sub-groups to deal with various subjects.

Source: Crime Agencies, New Delhi