Activists march in Asia to decry rights abuses

Activists march in Asia to decry rights abuses

HONG KONG (AFP): Thousands of Asians from India to Indonesia marched to denounce abuses ranging from mass murder to wife- beating on the 50th anniversary on Thursday of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

In countries where public shows of dissent are stifled, individuals or exile groups took up the call but the message was the same: governments of all shades are failing to live up to the UN declaration.

In China, the main Asian target of many Western watchdogs, President Jiang Zemin vowed fully to safeguard the democratic rights of his people while his police force intensified their crackdown on dissidents.

Jiang pledged to "push forward the progress of human rights in China and fully safeguard the democratic rights and freedom of the Chinese people."

But the founder of the outlawed opposition China Demoracy Party faces trial on sedition charges, two other prominent dissidents have been officially charged and scores of lesser- known activists have been detained for questioning.

"In practice, the People's Republic of China continues to repress advocates for human rights, democracy, labor rights and religious freedoms," said Xiao Qiang from the U.S.-based Human Rights in China.

The crackdown has attracted sharp responses from western governments. But Beijing, like a number of other Asian governments, has accused the West of trying to impose its own notions of rights.

Thousands of Indonesians tested their new-found freedoms after the fall of president Soeharto in May. They took to the streets of Jakarta, demanding an end to the violence that rocked the country for the past few months and calling for the army to give up its role in politics.

South Korea's reformist new president Kim Dae-jung, himself a former death-row political prisoner, came under pressure to release all political prisoners and abolish a draconian security law banning unauthorized contacts with North Korea.

Some 200 protesters staged a silent march at a park, holding portraits of long-term prisoners.

Kim has released dozens of political prisoners. But Amnesty International has said that 400 political prisoners are still behind bars.

In Myanmar (Burma), a focus of international rights protests, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on Southeast Asian leaders to show more respect for human rights at the ASEAN summit next week.

"The most appropriate message is to ask them to show greater respect and concern for human rights all over the world including our region and of course, particularly my country, Burma," she said.

Western governments and international watchdogs accuse Myanmar's military government of violations including torture, forced labor, arbitrary executions and imprisonment without trial.

Malaysia, under the spotlight for the arrest of deposed deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, was urged to ratify international rights conventions.

The People's Coalition for Democracy called on the government to protect basic freedoms, return the independence of the judiciary, ensure equality before the law and abolish undemocratic laws such as the Internal Security Act which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

A Paris-based rights group called for the immediate release of Vietnamese political and religious prisoners and the repeal of laws allowing detention without court order.

But Communist Party supremo Le Kha Phieu slammed governments which he said use human rights as an excuse to meddle in the affairs of other countries.

In New Delhi the emphasis was on social issues. Some 500 activists marched to denounce a spate of evils ranging from domestic violence, rape and child labor to alleged atrocities by Indian security forces.

The Hindustan Times quoted horror stories of the treatment of women in a country blemished by murders of wives over dowries, child marriages, rising child prostitution and rape.

Sri Lanka marked the anniversary with a pledge to punish those responsible for excesses. President Chandrika Kumaratunga in a message said more than 40,000 people had disappeared in the 10 years ending 1994 when her People's Alliance government came to power.

Her own government is also facing allegations of violations. International watchdogs say more than 600 people were killed by government forces in the northern peninsula of Jaffna in 1996 during the continuing war against Tamil rebels.