Amnesty slams UN human rights forum

Amnesty slams UN human rights forum

GENEVA (Reuter): The main United Nations human rights forum approached the end of its annual session yesterday having let China off the hook again, but determined to step up investigations in Africa, particularly Nigeria and Zaire.

The 53-member forum approved a raft of resolutions condemning traditional transgressors -- including Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, Iraq and Israel. It sent the toughest message to Indonesia to curb its alleged abuses in East Timor since a 1993 motion.

For the first time, the UN Human Rights Commission formally urged states to consider abolishing capital punishment.

But the human rights group Amnesty International, in a statement, slammed the body for sidestepping abuses elsewhere.

"During its session, the Commission confronted Indonesia about violations in East Timor and appointed a special rapporteur on Nigeria. But once again, major human rights violators including Algeria, China and Turkey escaped scrutiny by the UN primary human rights body."

For the seventh year in a row, China averted censure despite alleged repression and Western concern for political prisoners.

"China exploited the divisions within the Western Group to its own advantage to avoid a vote on a draft resolution mildly critical of its human rights record," Amnesty said.

Amnesty accused some member states, who this year backed away from co-sponsoring a Western resolution on China, of having bowed to commercial interests. Denmark presented a motion which Beijing's delegation succeeded in quashing.

"France's decision to block European Union consensus on China earned it applause from the Chinese government and confirmation of lucrative business contracts," Amnesty said. "With millions of dollars on the line, any commitment to human rights principles just faded away.

"For now, China has suppressed Commission scrutiny. This diplomatic victory was achieved through threats and bullying tactics and because countries like Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain put business before human rights," the group added.

Turning to Africa's Great Lakes region, Amnesty said the Commission was "almost irrelevant" in the face of "some of the worst human rights abuses since the Second World War".