<a href=www.herald.co.zw>The Herald Online Last Updated: Friday, 18 April 2003 Herald Reporters

THE United Nations Human Rights Commission has rejected a European Union and United States-sponsored resolution to condemn Zimbabwe for alleged human rights abuses while the UN secretary-general Mr Kofi Annan said the world body was heartened by the continued leadership, commitment and support of the country.

Out of the 53-members of the commission, 28 countries — mostly from Africa and Asia — rallied around a South African proposal for a "no action" motion while 24, mostly EU members, voted against Zimbabwe.

In a congratulatory message to President Mugabe yesterday on the occasion of Zimbabwe’s 23rd independence anniversary today, Mr Annan said: "It is heartening to know that the United Nations can count on the continued leadership, commitment and support of Zimbabwe."

Mr Annan said there should be efforts in the world to fight against threats and forces seeking to divide humankind.

"There is no time to lose if we are to translate into reality the agenda of peace and development.

"From poverty to pollution, from Aids to armed conflict and terrorism, the international community must redouble its efforts if we are to bequeath to our children a world of choices, not constraints," he said.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cde Stan Mudenge, yesterday told journalists that attempts by the EU and the US for action to be taken against Zimbabwe failed because the majority members of the UN Human Rights Commission supported Zimbabwe.

"We are grateful to the 14 countries from Southern Africa and the rest of countries from Asia, including also such countries as Cuba, Venezuela and Russia," said Cde Mudenge.

He said the majority in the UN Human Rights Commission expressed solidarity with Zimbabwe despite pressure from the US and Britain to do otherwise.

Zimbabwe was last year elected into the influential 53-member UN human rights body, amid protests from some Western countries led by Britain.

The US last month stepped up its demonisation of President Mugabe and the Government and led a campaign to condemn Harare for what it called flagrant and ruinous human rights abuses.

The US State Department produced a glossy 16-page report entitled "Zimbabwe’s Man-made Crisis" documenting what it described as a litany of abuses committed by the country’s leadership since 1980.

The booklet was widely distributed at the annual meeting of the UN human Rights Commission.

The aim of the Americans was that the booklet would have a strong impact and "stir vigorous debate" against Zimbabwe.

It painted a gloomy picture of life in Zimbabwe, from alleged torture of members of the opposition to the land redistribution programme and food availability.

But all this failed to work as Algeria, Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Cuba, the DRC, Gabon, India, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Venezuela and Vietnam, all voted against the resolution.

The countries that voted for the resolution are Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, the US and Uruguay.

Last year, a British-sponsored resolution by the EU to call for an investigation into alleged human rights violations in Zimbabwe was thrown out before debate by a top UN human rights forum in Geneva.

Nigeria managed to rally support from 14 African, Asian and Middle East countries to thwart the British move.

On the Sadc Ministerial Task Force which is scheduled to come to Zimbabwe, Cde Mudenge insisted that the task force was coming at the request of the Government.

"It is at my request and not an inquisition by my brother (Angolan Foreign Affairs Minister) but an act of solidarity," said Cde Mudenge.

Cde Mudenge said he needed to meet with the Angolan Foreign Affairs Minister first before the Sadc Taskforce visits Zimbabwe.

He dismissed reports that the Government intended to thwart the Sadc ministers from undertaking independent assessments of the situation prevailing in the country, saying the ministers were free to come up with their own itinerary.

He said the Sadc ministers, through their ambassadors in the country, were well informed about the situation currently prevailing in Zimbabwe.

<a href=reuters.com>Reuters Thu April 17, 2003 02:15 PM ET By Richard Waddington

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations' top human rights body kept up the pressure on Cuba over its rights record on Thursday by urging the Communist state to accept a visit by a U.N. envoy to probe alleged abuses.

But the 53-state Human Rights Commission spurned a tougher resolution from Costa Rica, backed by Washington and the European Union, demanding freedom for some 75 dissidents recently handed lengthy jail terms on the Caribbean island.

Presented by four Latin American countries -- Peru, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Uruguay -- the approved text merely called on Cuba to accept a commission decision taken last year that the envoy should visit.

Cuba has so far refused to let French magistrate Christine Chanet into the country because it says the U.N. should focus instead on the U.S. Guantanamo naval base, where Washington is holding captives whom it suspects of terrorism.

Mexico, one of 11 countries on the commission to back the call for the envoy's visit, said the "procedural" measure aimed only at winning cooperation from Cuba, where Marxist leader Fidel Castro has run a one-party state for more than 40 years.

"The Mexican vote will be consistent with its principles not to condemn or to criticize Cuba," said Mariclaire Acosta, Mexico's Deputy Minister for Human Rights and Democracy.

But Cuba, which sees the vote as interference in its domestic affairs, lashed out at the four Latin American countries behind the resolution, calling them "disgusting lackies" who had bowed to "shameful" pressure from Washington.

"The sole object has been to concoct a pretext to justify the genocidal blockade and policies of aggression that the United States has practiced for 40 years," ambassador Jorge Ivan Mora Godoy told the commission ahead of the vote.

POLITICALLY CHARGED

Votes on Cuba are traditionally among the most politically charged at the annual meetings of the 53-state commission, with Latin American countries, even those most closely aligned with Washington, feeling that they have to tread carefully.

Argentina and Brazil both abstained, while Venezuela joined Cuba in voting against the motion. It was approved by 24 votes to 20, with nine abstentions.

Thursday's decision came only after the Costa Rican amendment condemning the recent jailing of dissidents for up to 28 years, and another draft presented by Cuba attacking the U.S. economic embargo, were both defeated.

The move by Costa Rica caught its U.S. and EU allies off guard and forced a 24-hour delay in the vote on Cuba, which had initially been set for Wednesday.

European diplomats, who had previously lobbied hard and unsuccessfully with Latin American countries for a stronger text, feared that the late maneuver by Costa Rica could have pushed more votes into the Cuban camp on the main resolution.

But in the end the margin was wider than last year, when Cuba lost by just two votes.

U.S. ambassador Kevin Moley welcomed the vote but said he would have preferred a more critical resolution to reflect "the egregious violations of human rights that have taken place since this commission began."

He was referring to both the jailing of the dissidents and last week's execution of three men who hijacked a Havana ferry in a failed bid to reach the United States.

A number of countries, including Russia and China, backed Cuba's demand that the commission also condemn the U.S. economic embargo as a human rights violation, saying such an amendment would add "balance" to the resolution.

<a href=reuters.com>Reuters, Thu April 17, 2003 11:55 AM ET GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations top human rights body kept up the pressure on Cuba over its record on Thursday by urging the Communist state to accept a visit by a U.N. envoy to probe alleged abuses.

The resolution, presented by four Latin American countries, was approved by the Geneva-based Commission on Human Rights by 24 votes to 20, with nine abstentions.

But the decision came only after an amendment brought by Costa Rica to condemn the recent sentencing of dozens of dissidents to heavy jail terms and another draft presented by Cuba attacking a U.S. economic embargo were defeated.

The Caribbean Marxist state, which sees the vote as interference in its domestic affairs, lashed out at the four Latin American states -- Peru, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Uruguay -- calling them "disgusting lackeys" who had bowed to "shameful" pressure from the United States.

Seven of the 11 Latin American countries on the commission voted in the favor of the call, including Mexico and Paraguay. Argentina and Brazil abstained, while Venezuela and Cuba voted against.

Cuba, which has been ruled by Marxist President Fidel Castro since 1959, remains a politically-sensitive issue throughout much of Latin America and none of its representatives on the commission backed the toughly-worded Costa Rican motion.

The resolution approved by the 53-state body urged Cuba to respect a 2002 commission decision to send a special envoy to monitor its progress in respecting human rights.

Cuba has so far refused to allow the envoy, French magistrate Christine Chanet, to make a visit, saying that the U.N. should focus instead on the U.S. Guantanamo naval base which is used to hold suspected terrorists.

<a href=www.cascfen.org>cascfen.org Posted on Thursday, April 17 @ 14:36:20 CDT by admin

17 April 2003, CASCFEN - UN High Commission on Human Rights welcomed the abolition of death penalty while remained critical to the situtaion with other human rights issues including freedom of press and expression. This was expressed in the press release of UN HCHR dated April 16, 2003: "In a resolution on the situation of human rights in Turkmenistan, adopted by a roll-call vote of 23 in favour to 16 against, with 14 abstentions, the Commission expressed its appreciation at the country's recent abolition of the death penalty, but expressed grave concern, among other things, at the persistence of a governmental policy based on the repression of all political opposition activities and on the abuse of the legal system through arbitrary detention, imprisonment and surveillance of persons who tried to exercise their freedoms of thought, expression, assembly and association, and through harassment of their families.

A Representative of Turkmenistan said the text was harshly worded, was based on a one-sided assessment and arbitrary interpretations of decisions taken by the Government and judicial bodies, and had been drawn up without any consultation with the Government of Turkmenistan, which was struggling to promote human rights.

Under a resolution on the situation of human rights in Turkmenistan (E/CN.4/2003/34/Rev.1), adopted by a roll-call vote of 23 in favour to 16 against, with 14 abstentions, the Commission expressed its appreciation at the recent announcement by the Government of Turkmenistan to uphold the decision by the Turkmen Peoples' Congress to abolish the death penalty; expressed grave concern at the persistence of a governmental policy based on the repression of all political opposition activities and on the abuse of the legal system through arbitrary detention, imprisonment and surveillance of persons who tried to exercise their freedoms of thought, expression, assembly and association, and harassment of their families; called upon the Government of Turkmenistan to ensure full respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms; to put an end to forced displacements and guarantee freedom of movement inside the country; to fulfil its responsibility to ensure that those responsible for human rights violations were brought to justice; to cooperate fully with all the mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights; urged the Government of Turkmenistan to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience; called on the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers, on the question of torture, on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, and on freedom of opinion and expression, as well as the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons, to seek invitations from the Government of Turkmenistan to visit the country; and decided to continue its consideration of this question at its sixtieth session.

The results were as follows:

In favour (23): Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, and Uruguay. Against (16): Armenia, Bahrain, China, Cuba, Gabon, India, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine, Viet Nam, and Zimbabwe.

Abstentions (14): Algeria, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, and Venezuela.

A Representative of Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said the draft resolution on Turkmenistan had been submitted without any prior consultation with the country itself. So far, the situation of human rights in Turkmenistan had not been considered by any human rights mechanism, or under the Commission's 1503 procedure. The Organization of the Islamic Conference was therefore bewildered as to the reason for this draft resolution, especially given the willingness of the Government of Turkmenistan to cooperate with European Union. This had not even been reflected in the draft resolution. The submission of resolutions without the prior knowledge of the country in question set a dangerous precedent and would no doubt lead to further politicization of the Commission. For these reasons, the Organization of the Islamic Conference would call for a roll-call vote and would urge that for these reasons other countries should vote against the resolution.

A Representative of China said Turkmenistan had been added to the list of countries which had fallen victim to interference in their internal affairs under the pretext of human rights. Turkmenistan had acceded to several international human rights instruments and had undertaken efforts to promote and protect human rights. All this attested to the positive attitude of Turkmenistan. China found no reason to support this resolution and would therefore vote against it.

A Representative of Cuba said Cuba shared the views expressed by the representative of Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Such resolutions were being used more and more by the European Union, including in the Latin American region. There was no clear human rights consideration in the draft resolution concerning Turkmenistan. The Cuban delegation would vote against the draft resolution.

A Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic said the draft resolution on Turkmenistan was another example of how developing countries were targeted by an obvious political agenda, preventing the Commission from concentrating on human rights. There must be an end to the targeting of developing countries under agenda item 9. This targeting did not meet the objective of greater cooperation in achieving human rights for all. Syria would therefore vote against the draft resolution.

A Representative of Turkmenistan said that in the short course of its independence, Turkmenistan had become deeply integrated into the international community and had taken upon itself all corresponding obligations and had complied with them on the basis on international law. It valued its independence and sovereign rights. Turkmenistan was the first in Asia to abolish the death penalty, it gave special attention to the creation of a secular society and put equal emphasis on rights and duties. However, it needed time and cooperation from the international community. The emergence of the draft resolution on the human rights situation in Turkmenistan was an unpleasant surprise. The harshly worded text was based on a one-sided assessment and arbitrary interpretations of decisions taken by the Government and judicial bodies. Furthermore, the draft had been drawn up without any consultation with the Government of Turkmenistan. Moreover, Turkmenistan had never been the subject of any special procedures of the Commission, including the1503 procedure."

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By Vanessa Bauza <a href=www.sun-sentinel.com<South Florida SUN sentinel HAVANA BUREAU Posted April 17 2003

HAVANA -- At a time when Cuba has meted out severe sentences for prominent government critics and almost dismantled a growing opposition movement, it is unclear whether Fidel Castro's government will be censured by the United Nations Human Rights Commission -- as it has been for nearly a decade -- when that body votes today on the island's human rights record.

The vote, often decided by the narrowest of margins, was scheduled for Wednesday. However, the 53-member commission postponed it after several last-minute amendments were introduced, including one urging the immediate release of 75 dissidents who were recently sentenced to as much as 28 years in jail on charges they worked with U.S diplomats to undermine Castro's government.

Costa Rican envoy Manuel Gonzalez Sanz said his country introduced the amendment as a result of "serious events … which oblige us to make a more vehement appeal to Cuba with a view to achieving greater respect for human rights."

However, some diplomats and human rights activists said the amendment's harsher tone may jeopardize approval of the controversial resolution, which previously had sought only for Cuba to accept a visit from a U.N. rights monitor.

In an unexpected turn of the tables, Cuba introduced two amendments of its own: one condemning the U.S. economic embargo as a human rights violation against the Cuban people, the other calling for the high commissioner on human rights to investigate terrorist acts planned from the United States against Cuba.

Subhed can move

Rights activists and diplomats said it was far from certain that the Costa Rican resolution would be passed by the commission. For some Latin American countries with strong leftist constituencies, censuring Cuba is as much an internal policy decision as an international declaration, said Jaime Suchlicki, director of the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies.

"I don't know that it's going to pass," Suchlicki said. "Argentina is looking at an election, Venezuela supports Cuba, and Brazil is probably going to abstain. The key factor is how countries consider … the power of the left in their country and the elements that support Cuba. In many of these countries, Cuba has a following."

Anger over the U.S.-led war in Iraq also has affected the stance of some members. Argentina's transitional president, Eduardo Duhalde, announcing in Buenos Aires that his country would abstain on the Cuba vote, said his delegation "is not going to condemn Cuba, a small country under embargo.

"We consider the vote very inopportune, given this unilateral war that has violated human rights," Duhalde said.

To some Cuban dissidents, the wording of the U.N. human rights resolution was not as important as simply having an international body scrutinize Cuba's rights record.

"A resolution in Geneva, even if it's light, always signifies moral support [for human rights]" said Elizardo Sanchez, head of the independent Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, which has tracked the dissident crackdown. "The Cuban government insists that it cooperates with the United Nations; one way of proving that is to accept a United Nations monitor."

Subhed can move

During testimony on Capitol Hill at a hearing of the House Committee on International Relations, which is looking into the recent dissident crackdown in Cuba, some State Department officials said a weaker resolution is better than no resolution.

"We will try to pursue as strong a language as we can, but we also want to make sure we have a victory," said Kim Holmes, assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of International Organization Affairs. Holmes said a victory is needed to send a message to people in Cuba that the world is watching developments on the island.

The New York Times reported that the President Bush was likely to make a public statement soon about the crackdown, and that the administration is considering a series of steps to punish the Cuban government. Among the more drastic are the possibility of cutting off cash payments to relatives in Cuba -- a mainstay for millions of Cubans -- or halting direct flights to the island, officials said.

The United Nations Human Rights Commission has censured Cuba almost every year. . Last year's resolution, presented by several Latin American countries, was approved by 23 countries and rejected by 21 countries. Cuba accuses the United States of tainting the vote with aggressive lobbying.

Staff Writer Rafael Lorente contributed to this report, which was supplemented by Sun-Sentinel wire services.

Vanessa Bauza can be reached at vmbauza1@yahoo.com