12 December 2000
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY CELEBRATED WORLDWIDE
Around the world, international and national NGOs commemorated International Human Rights Day on 10 December 2000 with various events and reports. To mark the day, the 52nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ARTICLE 19 has published a study on the importance of access to information about past human rights violations as a basis for reconciliation and development, titled ?Who Wants to Forget?? Using Malawi, Zimbabwe and Namibia as case studies, but also drawing on examples from other parts of the world, the report emphasises that the right to information about past human rights violations remains fundamental. It states that governments have an obligation to ensure that citizens have access to this information and surveys the wide range of means whereby this can be achieved. According to Andrew Puddephatt, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, "All approaches to uncovering the facts about past human rights violations discussed are important because they are mechanisms of accountability. As such, they are not a luxury but a precondition for those who are trying to put a history of abuse behind them and construct new societies based upon dignity and respect for human rights." The full report is available on ARTICLE 19's website at:
#">">http://www.article19.org/docimages/872.htm.">#"> http://www.article19.org/docimages/872.htm.
For the third consecutive year, Journaliste en danger (JED), a non-governmental organisation defending free expression, marked International Human Rights Day by releasing its ?Report on Press Freedom in the Democratic Republic of Congo?. The report details violations of freedom of expression during the past year, including the murder of Crispin Kandolo, a freelance photojournalist who was killed in Kahuzi Biega Park while working for a group of UNESCO experts. Other violations include the detention of at least 42 journalists, with four remaining in prison in Kinshasa, the public station RTNC (Radiotélévision nationale congolaise) broadcasting a call to murder journalists from two independent newspapers, ?Le Potentiel? and ?Le Phare?, the daily ?L?Avenir? being shut down for three days, and the expropriation of the station RTKM for political reasons. For a full copy of the report (in French only), please contact JED at: 73, avenue Maringa, Kinshasa/Kasa-Vubu, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tel: +243 12 61576/20659, Fax: +243 88 21974 / 1221974, E-Mail:
jedkin@ic.cd or visit their web site at:
www.congonline.com/Jed/. (As of January 2001, JED?s website will be hosted on the IFEX website at:
www.ifex.org/jed.)
In the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, an international conference entitled "Media for a Democratic Europe", jointly organised by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and the Council of Europe, began on International Human Rights Day. The conference was opened by Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, who declared that the "newly liberated society demands a new liberation of the media scene, which is not an easy job at all -- the responsibility is enormous." According to ANEM chairman Veran Matic, "We from the independent media want to draw on our established contacts and existing expertise to help our governments, ministries, and all those committed to the swift implementation of democracy in the country through reforms in the field of media.? The Council of Europe Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer sent a message to the conference in which he emphasised that "there cannot be any genuine democracy without freedom of expression and information and the existence of a plurality of independent media".
The human rights NGO in Nepal, the Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES), is publishing its regular publication, "Free Expression" ("Swatantra Abhibyakti" in Nepali), with the theme of "the new millennium for human rights", in December 2000 on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. The publication will include feature articles and news covering the concepts of press freedom, freedom of expression, diverse human rights issues, gender justice and the institutionalisation of democracy. CEHURDES believes "there are a lot of challenges in the present Nepali society to translate this goal [of human rights] into reality. It is obvious that there is lack of clear concept about press freedom and freedom of expression. There are increasing cases of human rights violations." CEHURDES reports that the publication is designed "to develop the awareness of people and concerned agencies as well as to make the concept and ideas of the press freedom, freedom of expression, human rights and democratic process intelligible to people from different walks of life in Nepal in the new century." For more information, contact CEHURDES at GPO Box 21179, Kathmandu, Nepal, Tel/Fax: +977 1 267374, E-mail:
cehurdes@enet.com.np.">#">cehurdes@enet.com.np.
In Singapore, the Think Centre and Open Singapore Centre marked International Human Rights Day with an event which included an attempted marathon run and speeches at Hong Lim Park?s Speaker?s Corner. However, on 11 December, News Radio 93.8 FM?s management requested that the re-broadcast of a report on the event be edited to remove a letter from Worker?s Party?s Secretary-General JB Jeyratenam to Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong as well as remarks by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan?s message marking International Human rights day. For more details, visit Think Centre?s website at:
http://www.thinkcentre.org.">#">http://www.thinkcentre.org.
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