Africa and Balkans See Progress in Human Rights. U.S. Annual Report Views the State of the World
<a href=www.zenit.org>ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome Date: 2003-04-05
WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 5, 2003 (Zenit.org).- On Monday Colin Powell released the U.S. State Department's "2002 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices." In his remarks the U.S. secretary of state reaffirmed his country's resolve to extend respect for human rights around the world.
The report comes at a time when the United States itself is under heavy criticism for its pre-emptive war on Iraq. Be that as it may, Powell explained that the Bush administration's efforts to improve human rights involves a variety of means: working with government leaders, non-governmental organizations, and free trade unions; fostering accountable governance and encouraging political, legal and economic reforms; channeling development assistance to nations that govern justly; supporting the rule of law, independent media, religious liberty and the rights of minorities.
The report gives detailed information on no fewer than 196 countries. Not all is negative. Positive developments included the progress in establishing democratic institutions in East Timor, and improvements in civil liberties in Taiwan. Turkey also approved laws covering freedom of speech, political activity and association, and fair trials.
In the Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina held its first general elections conducted by local authorities since the Dayton Peace Accords. Macedonia held elections, and its Parliament completed a number of constitutional and legislative reforms. In terms of political rights the report held out hope that Kenya's free election and peaceful transfer of power last December could mean a consolidation of democracy.
There was positive news concerning some domestic conflicts. Sri Lanka saw progress last year in the implementing of a cease-fire agreement between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil-Eelam. Sierra Leone saw an end to its civil war, and peaceful elections were held in May.
An end to conflict also came about in Angola, where the former UNITA rebel movement has disarmed and is transforming into a political party. This has led to a notable decrease in human rights abuses, even though some problems remain. In Afghanistan the new regime has implemented human rights improvements, including women and ethnic minorities serving in the government. And an estimated 1 million girls are back in school.
Ex-Soviet republics
As for the bad news, the State Department reported problems in several republics of the former Soviet Union. In Turkmenistan an attack on President Saparmurat Niyazov's motorcade last November led to widespread arrests, forced evictions of suspects' families, use of torture, threats of rape and summary trials. In Kazakhstan an already poor human rights record worsened. Opposition leaders were selectively prosecuted and the media harassed.
Uzbekistan saw some positive developments, but there were also at least four deaths in detention due to torture. In Kyrgyzstan, harassment of the media continued, and police killed six unarmed protesters in one confrontation.
In the Chechnya conflict, Russian forces and Chechen rebels continued to commit serious human rights violations. The U.S. State Department accused government forces of committing extrajudicial killings and of using indiscriminate force, resulting in civilian casualties. For their part, Chechen rebels increased their killings of civilian officials and militia associated with the Russian-appointed Chechen administration.
Civil strife also led to widespread human rights abuses in Nepal. The Maoist guerrillas resort to killings, bombing, torture and forced conscription of children. Government forces, meanwhile, were accused of killing civilians and abusing others suspected of Maoist sympathies.
Asian powers assailed
The State Department had strong words concerning human rights in China: "Citizens lacked both the freedom to peacefully express opposition to the party-led political system and the right to change their national leaders or form of government."
While the Chinese Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, in practice the government and the Communist Party frequently interfered in the judicial process and directed verdicts in many high-profile cases. The various bodies making up the security apparatus were also accused of numerous human rights abuses. China's family planning policy also came in for criticism. Repressive measures include fines for those who have more than one child, forced abortion and sterilization, and obligatory insertion of IUDs.
China made efforts at the start of 2002 to improve the rights situation. It freed a number of prominent dissidents, allowed the Dalai Lama to visit, and reformed the legal system. But these positive developments were undermined by arrests of democracy activists, the imposition of death sentences without due process on two Tibetans, and the trials of labor leaders on "subversion" charges, the U.S. report said. As well, authorities rapidly suppressed religious, political and social groups that they perceived to be a threat to government power or national stability.
In North Korea, the government's human rights record remained poor, noted the report. Citizens cannot change the country's rulers, and the leadership "viewed most international human rights norms, particularly individual rights, as illegitimate, alien and subversive to the goals of the State and Party."
Failings in human rights include extrajudicial killings, disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture, the lack of an independent judiciary, denial of freedom of speech, tight control of all forms of cultural and media activities, and restrictions on freedom of religion and worker rights.
Mixed results in Latin America
In Latin America the human rights situation is a mixed bag. In a number of other countries -- Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay -- the report noted that in spite of some problems governments generally respected human rights.
Greater concern was expressed over Brazil. While the federal authorities do generally respected human rights, "there continued to be numerous serious abuses, and the record of some state governments was poor," noted the report.
State police forces committed many extrajudicial killings, tortured and beat suspects under interrogation, and arbitrarily arrested and detained persons. Police were also implicated in a variety of criminal activities, including killings for hire, death squad executions, extortion, kidnappings for ransom, and narcotics trafficking.
Elsewhere, the situation was even worse. Colombia had free and fair elections, but "the government's human rights record remained poor," according to the report. In spite of efforts to improve laws and institutional mechanisms, there was a lack of implementation.
Moreover, some members of the government security forces continued to commit serious abuses, as well as collaborating with paramilitary groups that committed serious abuses. As for the judiciary, it is inefficient, overburdened by a large backlog, and undermined by corruption and intimidation, the U.S. report said.
Guerrillas too, particularly the FARC, were responsible for a large percentage of civilian deaths. Guerrillas killed politicians, journalists, labor union members and numerous religious leaders. And the FARC continued to kidnap, torture and kill off-duty members of the public security forces. Guerrillas also continued to kidnap thousands of civilians to help finance subversion and put political pressure on the government.
In Venezuela, the government's human rights record remained poor. Vigilante killings, torture by the security forces, harsh prison conditions and arbitrary arrests were some of the abuses singled out by the report. President Hugo Chávez also came in for censure. His frequent criticisms of the media, opposition groups and the Church were interpreted by many "as tacit approval of violence."
Cuba, labeled as "a totalitarian state controlled by Fidel Castro," was strongly condemned for human rights abuses. A rubber-stamp Parliament, party control of the judiciary and security forces, active suppression of political opposition, prison beatings, and control of the media were some of the aspects covered in the report. Moreover, the security forces were accused of committing numerous, serious human rights abuses. Worldwide, civil liberties can still be a scarce commodity.