Asian convention on human rights?

Asian convention on human rights?

As an occasional reader of The Jakarta Post, I noticed an
article on Sept. 17, 1997 entitled Rights declaration needs
revision.

The article states that the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights from 1948 needs to be revised seen
with Asian eyes, it being a Western creation not recognizing
economic, social and cultural rights as human rights.

I must admit that the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights
probably should be revised, although the Vienna Declaration of
1933 is a form of updating.

In my opinion, it is, for instance, a human right not to be
exposed to pollution (smoke) and corruption.

The American, African and European continents have their own
human rights respectively: the American Convention on Human
Rights, the African Charter on Human and People's rights, and the
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedom.

Drafts of the Arab Charter for Human Rights were prepared in
1986 and 1994, but consensus has not been reached as yet.

It would be a positive contribution to the universal human
rights if Asia, like the other countries, introduced its own
convention.

ERIK BLOCH

Dragor, Denmark