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US
CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON
-- Free elections in populous Indonesia and Nigeria
last year brought more people under democratic
rule than in any year since the fall of the Berlin
Wall, the US State Department said in its global
report on human rights.
Also
encouraging was the international will to act
in Kosovo and East Timor, said Mr Harold Koh,
the Korean-American Assistant Secretary of State
for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.
He
told journalists that the international community's
intervention in Kosovo and East Timor demonstrated
that it possesses the will and capacity to act
when human rights are most threatened.
Despite
these brighter signs and the march of globalisation,
governments have abused the basic civil, religious
and political rights of their people.
Abuses
persist on all continents, and are being reported
from countries as dissimilar as China, Chechnya
and Cuba.
The
world has far to go before it adheres to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, said the 6,000-page
report covering 194 countries and territories
-- the largest review by the US to date.
Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright, who released this
annual report that Congress requires by law, voiced
special concerns about Russia and China, two giants
in transition.
First,
she repeated the administration's call for the
Russian government to launch full investigations
into "credible" reports of massacres
and other acts of violence against civilians in
Chechnya, its breakaway province. She also said
the US would continue to speak out for the Chinese
who were being systematically denied their rights,
but emphasised the need to engage with it substantially.
The
administration has focused lately on winning congressional
support for China's Permanent Normal Trade Relations
status and Mrs Albright made her pitch too, saying:
"Critics
suggest that US concerns about China's human rights
record should be expressed by denying normal relations
on trade. The administration believes that that
approach would actually undercut the positive
forces at work in China."
The
democracy crusader underlined the US position
that promoting human rights is an integral party
of American foreign policy.
"When
governments respect human rights, they contribute
to a more stable, just and peaceful world,"she
said.
The
report carries a generally bleak outlook, as the
progress in human rights seems overshadowed by
persistent brutality.
The
report, which does not rank nations, noted: "Despite
the gains in Nigeria and Indonesia, too many authoritarian
governments continue to deny basic human rights,
including the right to democracy, to their citizens."
While
Indonesia, a familiar target, received more praise
this time because of its dramatic journey towards
democracy, the State Department also highlighted
the complicity of the Indonesian military in the
East Timor rampage.
Also
sobering were these scenarios, the State Department
said: "The coup in Pakistan and popular dissatisfaction
in Latin America clearly demonstrate that the
road to democratic governance is not without its
problems and challenges."
The
entire report can be assessed at the State Department
website www.state.gov.
Web
Master's Note:
No
mention was given to Singapore's Section in the
Human Rights Report. Read it here
in our Website!
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