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Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, March 1996.
Title: Overview of Human Rights Practices, 1995
Author: U.S. Department of State
Date: March 1996
OVERVIEW
Several distinctive events of 1995 marked progress toward resolution of
some of the world's most catastrophic human rights crises. Most
dramatically, the November Dayton Accords ended the fighting in Bosnia,
which for the first 6 months of the year was the source of continuing,
massive, and highly publicized crimes against humanity. At the heart of
the Dayton Accords is a framework of commitments and institutional
mechanisms aimed at restoring human rights and promoting justice,
without which peace cannot be secured.
Other conflicts which had spawned major human rights violations also
moved closer to resolution; 1995 saw steps towards peace in Angola, the
Middle East, and Northern Ireland, with inevitable setbacks along the
way towards the resolution of long struggles. In Haiti, continued
progress toward the restoration of democratically elected government,
with the assistance of the U.S.-led Multinational Force, marked another
bright spot for human rights. In Central and Eastern Europe, as well as
in Latin American and in parts of Asia and Africa, some new democracies
consolidated their movement towards more open civil society, and a few
experienced peaceful transfers of power through democratic elections.
Internationally, a number of new human rights institutions took root;
especially noteworthy was the work of the International War Crimes
Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. The U.N.
Fourth World Conference on Women focused global attention on the rights
and empowerment of one half of the world's people, many of whom suffer
discrimination and mistreatment in every part of the globe.
In many countries around the world widespread abuses of human rights
continued unabated. The pages of this volume document innumerable
instances of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture, arbitrary
detention, and denial of fair trial in all parts of the world.
Fundamental freedoms of conscience, expression, assembly, association,
religion, and movement were routinely violated by many governments.
Discrimination based on race, sex, religion, disability, language, or
social status was a pervasive problem in many societies. Basic worker
rights were often denied. While democracy advanced in many countries,
it registered uneven progress in others; some young democracies were
snuffed out by violent coups d'etat. Continuing conflicts in
Afghanistan, Burundi, Chechnya, Guatemala, Kashmir, Sudan, and elsewhere
resulted in major human rights violations. In countries such as Burma,
China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria and North Korea, governments
continued systematically to deny basic rights to their citizens.
The Pursuit of Justice and Peace
The post-Cold War world poses new challenges to human rights.
Familiar abuses committed by strong central governments repression of
dissent, torture, political killing persist. These are increasingly
matched, however, by human rights abuses stemming from the dissolution
of state authority, and from the manipulation by cynical leaders of
ethnic, racial, and religious differences to incite atrocities against
civilians. The experiences of Bosnia, Burundi, Afghanistan, and Liberia
demonstrate that no area of the world can claim immunity from this
danger, which has serious implications for the future of human rights
promotion. Alongside advocacy and more traditional diplomacy, the
development of institutions that will carry human rights protection into
a new century is becoming an increasingly urgent task, as the familiar
shapes of our world steadily undergo significant change.
Bosnia provides a stark example of a human rights nightmare sparked by
aggression against civilians based on their ethnicity. The efforts in
1995 to end the horrors of Bosnia, however, yielded valuable lessons
that might be applied in future conflicts. Intensive U.S. diplomacy
backed by credible force led to the Dayton Accords which ended the
conflict.
The drafters of the Dayton Accords recognized the essential relationship
between peace, justice, and respect for human rights. The Accords
provide an interlocking structure of constitutional guarantees; new
institutions, including a constitutional court, human rights chamber,
and ombudsman; international monitoring of elections and human rights
performance, and a mandate for the investigation and prosecution of war
crimes. This unprecedented peace agreement synthesizes human rights,
justice, and conflict resolution, in a framework that has the best
chance of securing a real peace.
The diplomatic and military efforts to end the human rights crisis and
restore democratic government in Haiti were an important forerunner to
the Dayton Accords; in Haiti, as in Bosnia, we saw that international
support for the reconstruction of civil society, democratic
institutions, and the rule of law is essential to ending human rights
catastrophes.
As the promotion of human rights increasingly moves beyond cessation of
immediate abuses to broader reform of political, legal, and social
institutions, justice assumes an ever larger role in fostering
reconciliation. Individual accountability is a critical element in the
passage of nations from repression to freedom. For human rights to take
hold, leaders must be held accountable to their people and to the
fundamental norms of the international community as set out in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law.
A successful transition from a conflict-ridden past to democratic
governance is aided by official efforts to acknowledge the sufferings
of victims and honestly reckon with the past. In settings ranging from
Chile, Argentina, and El Salvador, to South Africa, Germany, and South
Korea a variety of institutions rooted in local political cultures has
arisen to address the need for accountability as a prelude to
reconciliation. The U.N. War Crimes Tribunals in the Hague represent
one of the clearest attempts by the international community to integrate
justice with reconciliation and peace.
Implementation of the Israeli-Palestinian agreements brought with it a
continued reduction in the level of violence in the West Bank and Gaza.
The withdrawal of Israeli forces drastically diminished the
confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians and resulted in fewer
Israeli human rights violations. The Palestinian Authority, for its
part, took important first steps toward creating institutions of self-
government, though its progress was uneven.
South Africa continued to consolidate its new democratic institutions,
and to deepen national reconciliation by promoting broader justice.
Familiar Abuses in New Contexts
In a number of countries, familiar patterns of abuse occurred in
changing contexts in 1995.
The Chinese Government continues to commit well-documented human rights
abuses in violation of international norms. Although there was greater
emphasis on legal reform, by year's end almost all public dissent
against the central authorities was silenced. At the same time, robust
economic expansion produced increased social mobility and access to
outside information. The experience of China in the past few years
demonstrates that while economic growth, trade, and social mobility
create an improved standard of living, they cannot by themselves bring
about greater respect for human rights in the absence of a willingness
by political authorities to abide by the fundamental international
norms.
In Russia, while Communist totalitarianism has been succeeded by
electoral democracy, the future remains uncertain. This year saw
continued and widespread use of Russian military force against civilians
in Chechnya, the undermining of official institutions established to
monitor human rights, and the continued violation of rights and
liberties by security forces.
The Government of Cuba's behavior regarding human rights remains
deplorable; human rights activists and dissidents are regularly
arrested, detained, harassed, and persecuted, while the Cuban people
continue to be denied the most fundamental rights and freedoms.
Nigeria presents a more classic picture of human rights abuse, as the
regime of General Sani Abacha continues ruthlessly to suppress dissent.
The situation in Colombia has not improved, owing to entrenched conflict
among security forces, guerrilla armies, paramilitary units, and
narcotics traffickers, compounded by the near impunity of narcotics
traffickers.
In Guatemala, serious human rights abuses continued to occur, although
significant progress was made in the peace negotiations between the
Government and the guerrillas. Several human rights activists were also
elected to Congress in the November elections.
Indonesian security forces in East Timor and Irian Jaya were responsible
for significant abuses, although the Government was willing in some
cases to prosecute those charged with abuses.
Outposts of unreconstructed totalitarianism remain in Iraq and Libya.
Severe human rights problems persist in North Korea, despite progress on
some other issues under the Agreed Framework.
In Burma, the State Law and Order Restoration Council continued to rule
with an iron hand and to commit a wide range of serious human rights
violations, although the release from house arrest of democratically
elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was a positive development.
While Turkey has instituted significant legal and constitutional
reforms, it has not yet ended a continuing pattern of serious human
rights abuses, including restrictions on freedom of expression, torture,
and the excessive use of force against its Kurdish population in the
course of the struggle against PKK terrorism in the southeast.
Egypt's long campaign against Islamic extremists has entailed continued
abuses, including alleged extrajudicial killing and torture.
Saudi Arabia continues to restrict basic freedoms of expression,
association, and religion, and systematically discriminates against
women.
The government of Mexico continued its effort to end the culture of
impunity surrounding the security forces and to initiate comprehensive
justice reform; serious problems remain, however, such as extrajudicial
killings by the police and illegal arrests.
Ethnic strife continued to complicate efforts to resolve instability in
Burundi and Rwanda. In Sudan, the brutal civil war waged along ethnic
and confessional lines exacted an inexorable toll in human suffering,
while in Somalia, anarchical regional power centers, based on clan
affiliation, persisted in the absence of a viable central government.
Tentative signs of progress were evident in efforts to end Liberia's
long and costly civil war, although final resolution remained
problematic at year's end.
Rights of Women
This year saw an increased international focus on the human rights of
women and the advancement of their status. The World Summit for Social
Development at Copenhagen in March, and above all the U.N. Fourth World
Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September, cast a spotlight on
the broad range of issues related to the human rights, equality, and
empowerment of women.
At the Beijing Conference, governments reaffirmed the universality of
human rights and explicitly accepted the principle that women's rights
are in the mainstream of all human rights.
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action committed governments to
take specific steps to end violence against women, addressed the problem
of rape in armed conflict as a human rights violation, called on the
United Nations to integrate women into decisionmaking, urged an end to
harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, and
dealt with issues of gender discrimination.
The Beijing Conference drew attention to the political, civil, and legal
rights of women, who continue to be significantly underrepresented in
most of the world's political institutions. Women in many countries are
subjected to discriminatory restrictions on their fundamental freedoms
regarding voting, marriage, travel, property ownership, inheritance
practices, custody of children, citizenship, and court testimony. Women
also face discrimination in access to education, employment, health
care, financial services including credit, and even food and water.
Other longstanding violations of women's human rights include torture,
systematic rape, domestic violence, sexual abuse, harassment,
exploitation and trafficking, and female infanticide.
The 1995 Country Reports chronicle the many abuses of women's human
rights which continue around the world and include information on the
steps some governments are taking to address these problems.
Many countries are making strides towards enabling women to realize
their human rights. The Nongovernmental Organization Forum which took
place in tandem with the formal Beijing Conference vividly illustrated
the courageous and creative human rights work that women are
increasingly undertaking at the grass roots level.
Worker Rights
Failure to respect basic worker rights as defined in several key
International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions is a growing problem
in many countries. These core worker rights include freedom of
association, which is the foundation on which workers can form trade
unions and defend their interests; the right to organize and bargain
collectively; freedom from discrimination in employment; and freedom
from child and forced labor.
Despite broad international recognition of these principles, free trade
unions continue to be banned or suppressed in a number of countries; in
many more, restrictions on freedom of association range from outright
state control to legislation aimed at frustrating workers' legitimate
efforts to organize. For example, in 1995 Nigeria was cited by the ILO
for its failure to repeal decrees dissolving unions and denying unions
the right to elect their own leaders, two of whom in early 1996 remain
jailed without charges. For the third time the ILO condemned Burma for
its refusal to guarantee workers the right to join unions. Similarly,
the ILO called on Burma to terminate its forced labor practices. The
suppression of worker rights in Indonesia has remained a persistent
international concern.
The relationships between worker rights, trade, and foreign investment
remain the focus of ongoing discussions in 1995 in a number of
international forums, including the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development and the ILO. Domestically, the United
States took action that resulted in the suspension of Overseas Private
Investment Corporation benefits in several countries on worker rights
grounds. Concern continues to grow over the practice by several
countries of curtailing the rights of workers in export processing zones
(EPZ's). In South Asia, Pakistan is a case in point, and EPZ's remain
problematical in several Central American countries. A failure to
protect worker rights in EPZ's often has a disproportionate impact on
female workers, since they are usually the large majority of EPZ
workforces.
Religion and Human Rights
In some countries, religious differences were seized upon in 1995 as a
pretext for human rights abuses. Elsewhere, religious differences
themselves set groups in conflict, especially when these differences
were related to ethnic differences as well. The depth of the passions
and commitments surrounding religious issues make this an especially
pressing and sensitive problem.
Religious ideas and institutions have a major role to play in promoting
respect for human rights. All the major religious traditions of the
world offer deep resources and teachings that speak to the theory and
practice of peace and justice, and many courageous men and women are
putting those teachings to work in some of the hardest-fought conflicts
and deeply persecuted societies of the world.
As new technologies foster increasing communication and contact among
groups and societies, the religions of the world will have a major role
to play in helping to articulate ideas and foster institutions that are
authentic and compelling.
Human Rights Activists
No government, no matter how powerful or well-intentioned, can perform
the human rights work being done at the grass roots by nongovernmental
organizations (NGO's), whose members often expose themselves to great
personal risks. The grass roots work of NGO's is irreplaceable not only
because it is effective, but also because it is the strongest proof of
the universality of human rights. Precisely because NGO's are deeply
rooted in local societies and cultures and spring from their own
communities, their work has an undeniable authenticity and legitimacy.
Unfortunately, human rights NGO's continue to face impediments,
harassment, and persecution in many countries of the world.
Looking Forward
With each passing day, we are increasingly at home in the post-Cold War
world. That growing familiarity with the new international setting
brings with it the recognition of what must be done to secure the
progress of human rights into the next century. The challenges human
rights advocates face are significant, indeed greater than one might
have anticipated during the heady days of the Cold War's end. Yet the
new international environment offers opportunities of its own for the
development of institutions that will protect human rights in sustained
and structural ways around the world.
These institutions cannot simply emerge of their own accord. They can
come about only through the concerted effort of people of goodwill from
countries and cultures around the globe, united in a commitment to
reduce human suffering and protect human dignity. One of history's
foremost champions of human rights, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., said that "the arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards
justice." There is still a long way to go along that arc.
John Shattuck
Assistant Secretary for
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
(###)
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