AMERICAS-HUMAN RIGHTS: Conspicuous Absentee from Summit Agenda
WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (IPS) - Human rights organisations are concerned with the absence of a key issue from the agenda of the upcoming Summit of the Americas, despite the ironic twist which caused the meeting to be held on International Human Rights Day.
The Miami summit will open the evening of Dec. 9 and wrap up on the morning of Dec. 11, with the main part of the meeting to be held on Dec. 10, a day dedicated globally to human rights.
Local non-governmental organisations are troubled that the issue was not included under the heading democracy, one of the three main categories to be discussed in the summit - the other two being sustainable development and economic integration - and plan to push for its inclusion.
Activists said the region continues to have serious problems in terms of respect for human rights given the impunity with which the military acts in a number of countries, anti-terrorist laws and the restoration of the death penalty in others.
"It is disappointing for the people of America to see that when their leaders meet the issue is not discussed," said Carlos Salinas with the human rights watchdog Amnesty International.
The conspicuous absence of human rights from the agenda blocks "discussion of aspects which are essential for the building of democracy and the constitutional reforms the summit proposes," said Peruvian lawyer Antonio Maldonado.
In charge of Latin American affairs in the Washington-based International Human Rights Legal Group, Maldonado said the issue "troubles" some of the region's countries such as Peru and Nicaragua, but he denied having reports that those nations explicitly blocked its inclusion from the agenda.
Chilean lawyer Jose Miguel Vivanco with Human Rights Watch/Americas announced that in the next few days, U.S. and Latin American human rights groups will release a joint statement regarding the issue.
"We will make a public call throughout Latin America to heads of state and the U.S. government to incorporate the question of full respect of human rights and compliance with international treaties as an important point in the summit," Vivanco said.
He added that on Dec. 10, representatives of the organisations will go to Miami with a report-in-progress that evaluates the general human rights situation in each of the region's countries, and provides details as to what extent elected governments have complied with minimum human rights requirements.
Salinas said regional Amnesty International offices have asked governments to make a commitment during the summit to ratify pending international human rights treaties.
Maldonado said human rights organisations will meet before the summit with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs John Shattuck to discuss the possible inclusion of the issue in the summit.
"Today, no one in the hemisphere can say the subject (human rights) is not essential for relations between countries, and between society and governments," said the Peruvian lawyer.
Vivanco said that if the improvement of quality of life is to be discussed in the meeting, "it is strange that the abusive use of power is not discussed, the impunity with which state agents act and the lack of justice for disadvantaged sectors."
An open Amnesty International letter to the people of the region states that governments have not complied with their promises to respect human rights.
The letter points to Colombia and Peru's "draconian" anti- terrorist laws under which so-called "subversives" have been put away with speedy trials, while in Cuba the Communist Party is the only legal party and some 600 political prisoners are in jail.
It also cites the murders of children in Brazilian and Colombian cities, as well as the widespread use of the death penalty in the United States while ample evidence points to its arbitrary application.
The Amnesty document also expresses its concern over the growing use of the death penalty in English-speaking Caribbean countries.
The letter calls on regional governments to adopt a ten-point accord which includes the abolition of the death penalty, prevention of torture and extrajudicial executions, and the immediate freeing of prisoners of conscience.
The document also includes the protection of victims and witnesses of human rights violations, support of official and non- governmental human rights organisations and the ratification of relevant treaties.
© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service