HUMAN RIGHTS: The Violations are Far From Over

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Dec 9 1996 (IPS) - An overview of the progress made since the launch of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10 1948, Monday, concluded efforts have not gone far enough.

“The potential of the international community is definitely greater than the results achieved,” said United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala Lasso.

The official drew up a table of the achievements made and the challenges still facing the sector on the eve of the International Day for Human Rights.

Unfortunately, the day when torture and hunger are totally eradicated and there are no more victims of human rights violations is still far off, he said.

Ayala Lasso presented the main recent cases of human rights violations worldwide and asked “has all that is within reach has been done to avoid the tragedy of the victims in Ruanda and to stop the violence in Burundi and other places?”

The genocide perpetrated two years ago in Ruanda alone cost the lives of at least 500,000 people, in events which have left pockets of violence in the African Great Lakes area.

The High Commissioner ended another journey to Ruanda this weekend, saying the level of tension in the area had reduced following the return of some 550,000 refugees from Zaire.

One of the most serious problems in Ruanda is the shortage of around 400,000 houses. The situation will be worsened further with the return from another half million refugees from Tanzania, he warned.

A similar number of Ruandan regugees are also wandering aimlessly in the eastern region of Zaire, he added.

Ayala Lasso said the housing question was fundamental and that the World Bank would be running a pilot construction plan.

“Much can be dome to encourage the promotion and protection of human rights working in cooperation with funding institutions and development organisms,” he said.

The High Commission has placed 120 observers in Ruanda, and will be sending 25 reinforcements within the next few days. Plans are to have 300 staff in the area in the coming year.

The work of the human rights teams will be concentrated on the areas of justice, civic education, and security forces, to “transform the culture of hate into the culture of tolerance.”

In Burundi, there are nine observers although they had asked for 35, and a human rights office will be opened in Zaire Tuesday.

Two weeks ago, Ayala Lasso signed an agreement to open a UN human rights office in Bogota with the Colombian government, and a similar centre will be set up in Abjasia, Georgia.

The UN organ also works to promote and protect human rights in the former Yugoslavia, Malawi, Gaza, Mongolia and Cambodia.

The human rights budget for 1996 and 1997 reached 25 million dollars, equivalent to 1.7 percent of the total UN spending.

“A dollar invested in human rights today saves thousands of dollars of emergency humanitarian aid in future,” said Ayala.

The economic, social and cultural rights are indivisibly linked with equal weighting to the civil and political rights, he concluded.