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News Service 35/96
AI INDEX: IOR 30/01/96
EMBARGOED UNTIL 0001 HRS GMT 27 FEBRUARY 1996


ASEM SUMMIT MUST INCLUDE STRONG COMMITMENT TO HUMAN RIGHTS

As 25 heads of state and governments gather in Thailand for
the first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), Amnesty International
today called on the summit representatives to include in the
agenda a firm commitment to human rights.

       Governments attending the summit want the meeting to
promote dialogue between Europe and Asia, particularly on
trade and investment. However, any dialogue which does not
include a recognition that the protection of civil and
political rights is complementary to sustained economic
growth and development would be a hollow one, the human
rights organization said.

      ~Trade and human rights are not mutually exclusive,~
Amnesty International said. ~Development is about the way
people are able to live and participate in their society, not
just about dollars. At the very least, all the governments
present should reaffirm that human rights are universal and
indivisible.~

      ~In addition, ASEM governments should follow up this
affirmation with concrete steps to ensure that human rights
are respected throughout Europe and Asia. Previous
international summits have included fine words, but these are
not backed up by action.~

      The conference should lead to an ongoing dialogue,
which enables ASEM states to address, monitor and act
regularly upon specific human rights issues which come up,
the organization said.

      ~Human rights concerns are not confined to one side of
the Asia-Europe conference table,~ Amnesty International
said. ~Police ill-treatment is a problem from Germany to
Indonesia and prisoners of conscience are in jail from Greece
to China~.

      The organization urged governments at the summit to put
aside previous arguments between Asian and European
governments about the inclusion of human rights in strategies
for regional cooperation and development, and take into
account the wishes of the peoples they represent.

      ~This is not the West telling Asia what to do,~ Amnesty
International said. ~The demand for human rights comes from
the people of Asia themselves. Governments should listen to
what the people in the region are asking for.~

      In preparations for the summit, governments have used
perceived differences in cultural values as an excuse for not
including human rights in their discussions.

      ~Try telling the mother of the young Indonesian woman
tortured to death for her peaceful work promoting workers~
rights, or the parents of all those killed in Tiananmen
Square that their deaths can be somehow excused as part of an
Asian cultural tradition,~ Amnesty International said.

      The 1993 Vienna Declaration passed at the UN World
Conference on Human Rights  states that "all human rights are
universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated", and
"the promotion and protection of all human rights is a
legitimate concern of the international community".  ASEM
member states must use their previously stated commitment to
upholding this Declaration as a basis for any regional
cooperation and development, the organization said.

      Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) are also in
Bangkok for a parallel NGO forum, and Amnesty International
is calling on governments to recognize the crucial role
played by NGOs in promoting close cooperation between the two
regions. Many members of these NGOs are the targets of state
repression; ASEM member states should ensure that they can
carry out their activities without intimidation and with
adequate protection.

\ENDS

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