[asia-apec 413] AI - APEC Summit

[Siti D. Aliyah]

To: apakabar at clark.net
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 11:26:10 -0500
From: Amnesty International <amnesty at oil.ca>
Subject: APEC Summit: Economics and human rights converge (AI INDEX: IOR

* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International *
AI INDEX: IOR 30/09/97
13 NOVEMBER 1997

APEC Summit:   Economics and human rights converge

OTTAWA   APEC will only foster genuine, sustainable development if
government leaders gathering in Vancouver next week for the fifth APEC
summit improve adherence to the rule of law, transparency and
accountability, Amnesty International said today.

Amnesty International's Secretary General Pierre Sane[/] will lead a
delegation to the summit to highlight the relationship between human rights
 and development, and to warn that economic crisis in the region could lead
 to human rights violations as governments crackdown on opponents in their
struggle to maintain growth rates.

"Recent economic shocks and environmental crisis in the region are a
reminder that development is about more than just markets," Mr Sane[/]
said. "Genuine, sustainable development depends on the rule of law,
government accountability and transparency -- the same factors that
guarantee human rights."

"Businesses need to be sure that their investments are protected by a
strong legal framework which is not open to abuse by corrupt officials.
Investors need freedom of information and openness on the part of
governments rather than secrecy and unaccountability."

"But across the APEC region, governments are jailing, torturing and
sometimes killing those people who are standing up and denouncing
corruption or illegal activities, or working to defend the rule of law and
human rights. Their work deserves support from the corporations and
governments gathered in Vancouver -- not silence."

In a report released for the summit, Amnesty International details examples
 of development being pursued at the expense of, rather than in pursuit of
human rights. According to Mr Sane[/], the emerging problems in many
regional economies are likely to exacerbate these pressures.

Recently, the Malaysian government has reportedly banned academics from
making statements about the country's haze problem, and Prime Minister
Mahathir has threatened to use the repressive Internal Security Act against
 currency speculators.  In China, journalists have been jailed under
restrictive state secrets legislation for reporting on financial policies
and structural changes to the civil service.

"APEC should recognise that human rights are at the heart of development,"
Mr Sane[/] said.  "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights embodies
issues at the cutting edge of globalization, from protection for
intellectual property rights to freedom of expression, movement and ideas."

     Amnesty International is calling on APEC leaders to ensure the forum's
 principles and action agendas affirm the place of human rights in
development and promote international human rights standards, including
core International Labour Organization conventions.  The organization is
also urging APEC to step up cooperation and consultation with
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), reflecting the central role of civil
 society in building an Asia-Pacific community.

Amnesty International is inviting business leaders gathered at APEC to work
 with NGOs on how to promote and support human rights in their operations,
to develop codes of conduct incorporating human rights principles and to
promote human rights concerns in their contact with governments and other
businesses.

Among the cases highlighted in Amnesty International's report are:

     Irene Fernadez who runs Tenaganita, a women's non-governmental
organization in Malaysia,  published in August 1995 a report alleging
medical negligence and abuse in detention camps for illegal migrant workers
 who had been attracted by the country's labour shortages. The government
used restrictive defamation legislation to bring her to court, where she
faces a jail term of up to three years.

     South Korea's rapid industrialization has been supported by repressive
 measures against legitimate independent trade union activity. Teachers and
 public servants are not allowed to form independent trade unions and face
arrest for peaceful protests against these measures.

     In Indonesia, trade unionists have been killed and tortured and their
meetings violently broken up by the police. Muchtar Pakpahan, leader of the
 Indonesian Prosperous Workers' Union (SBSI) union has been charged with
subversion which carries a possible death sentence.

     In Mexico, environmental activist Leticia Moctezuma Vargas opposes a
government-sponsored golf course proposed to be built on land sacred to the
 Tepoztlan community. As a result of her peaceful protest she has received
death threats, while other members of her community, including old women
and children, have been brutally beaten by the police.