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.