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Another
Sick Joke 2nd
May 2002 The
United Nations Human Rights Commission reinforced its ranks yesterday with some
of the world's worst human rights violators, including Zimbabwe, which got the
call even though Robert Mugabe secured his own re-election as president in a
violent campaign widely denounced as rigged. Rights
groups attacked the move, pointing out Zimbabwe joins China, Syria, Sudan and
many nations that flout human rights on a commission meant to protect people
against just such abusers. "It's
a huge problem. It has created a crisis," said Joanna Weschler, the UN
representative for Human Rights Watch. "This
is not new. Zimbabwe is only part of a trend that started a few years ago when
countries with quite atrocious human rights records fought and managed to become
members of the Human Rights Commission." She
added that countries guilty of human rights violations have formed an
"abusers' caucus," the only goal of which is to protect members from
scrutiny and censure. Two weeks ago, for example, the commission failed to pass
a resolution criticizing Zimbabwe's presidential election in March, instead
electing to heap criticism on Israel for alleged abuses in Palestinian
territories. Patrick
Chinamasa, the Zimbabwean Justice Minister, called the outcome a victory for
Zimbabwe over "imperialist forces." The
UNHRC consists of 53 seats that are allocated according to geography.
Democracies in Europe and the Americas are a minority. Ms.
Weschler said countries with poor human rights records have banded together to
shield themselves from international criticism. She said democracies need to be
vigilant if they are to save the commission from some members. "It
would truly be a tremendous shame to just turn your back and start
laughing," she said. "Countries
which have at least a stated commitment to human rights have a responsibility to
save the commission. Hopefully, they will wake up and start being as effective,
as proactive and as organized as the other side has been for quite a few years
now." In a
vote on Monday, the United States returned to the commission it helped to found
more than 50 years ago. Italy and Spain pulled out of the race to ensure the
United States would be re-elected after it lost its seat last year. Ms.
Weschler said she is optimistic the United States will use its clout to reform
the commission. In the
meantime, autocrats and one-party states control a body that was set up to
ensure and protect freedom. The following is a snapshot of some of its worst
human rights abusers. ZIMBABWE Mr.
Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Unity-Patriotic Front party won the
presidential election in March in a process that has been almost universally
condemned as rigged. The
Zimbabwean leader has criminalized public opposition to his rule. Independent
media and opposition political leaders are publicly defamed and often beaten by
armed gangs allied with the government. Mr.
Mugabe has backed the violent occupation of white-owned farms, a process
described as land reform and carried out by veterans of the struggle for
independence. Several white farmers have been murdered. NIGERIA Several
states in northern Nigeria have introduced penal codes based on the Islamic law
known as shariah, which demands women be stoned to death for adultery and makes
drinking alcohol an offence punishable by 80 lashes with a cane. International
human rights groups were outraged last October when Safiya Hussaini, an
illiterate mother of five, was found guilty of adultery and sentenced to death
by stoning. The woman said she had been raped. She was eventually acquitted in
March. Olusegun
Obasanjo, the Nigerian President, recently declared shariah illegal, but it is
still widely in force in the Muslim north. CUBA The
40-year dictatorship of Fidel Castro continues unabated. Amnesty International
reports several hundred people have been imprisoned for political offences and
authorities use short-term detention, house arrest, threats and harassment to
stifle dissent. SAUDI
ARABIA The
United States' coalition partner in the Middle East finances mosques and
religious schools all over the Muslim world that preach hatred against Israel
and the United States. The Saudi government gives large cash awards to the
families of Palestinian "martyrs" killed in the conflict with Israel,
likely including families of suicide bombers. Women
in Saudi Arabia face severe discrimination. Suspected political or religious
activists are subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention and punishment under
secret judicial procedures. Political parties and trade unions are banned and
non-governmental human rights organizations are given only restricted access.
Torture and amputations of prisoners' limbs are widely reported. Bill
Sampson, a Canadian citizen, is currently detained in Saudi Arabia. Some reports
say he has been sentenced to death in a secret trial. DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF CONGO Violence
still simmers here between Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed rebels and the central
government, which is supported by Zimbabwe and Angola. All sides use the war as
an excuse to justify the repression of political dissent. Torture and rape are
widespread. A peace process is making little progress. CHINA China
persecutes the Falun Gong spiritual movement and Muslim minorities. The
Communist government controls almost all aspects of public life and dissent is
crushed. Amnesty International reports China executed more people in 2001 than
all other countries combined. This year, the Human Rights Commission did not
table a resolution criticizing China for the first time in years. SYRIA Syria
is a major supporter of Hezbollah, a militant group based in Lebanon that
frequently attacks Israel's northern borders. Dozens of Syrians have been
detained for political reasons and are held in cruel and inhumane conditions.
Reports of torture are widespread. The fate of hundreds of people who
disappeared in the late 1970s and 1980s is still unknown. RUSSIA Russia's
military campaign against Chechen separatists has included gross human rights
violations against civilians. Thousands have been killed in indiscriminate
attacks, and there are reports of torture, incommunicado detention and summary
executions. Prisons
in Russia are overcrowded and disease-ridden. There are reports prisoners in
police custody have been tortured. SUDAN A civil
war continues to devastate civilians throughout the country as pro-government
forces and armed opposition groups battle for control of lucrative oil fields.
People living in contested areas have been subjected to ethnic cleansing,
indiscriminate bombing, abduction, enslavement, torture and killings. Government
forces have harassed and tortured journalists, students and human rights
activists. Restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and association
in cities under government control persist. Michael
Petrou - National Post |