IHF: Security of Central Asia and Other Regions Threatened

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Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 08:50:04 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: IHF: Security of Central Asia and Other Regions Threatened

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: International Helsinki Federation <[email protected]>

IHF: Security of Central Asia and Other Regions Threatened


IHF Report:  Security of Central Asia and
Other Regions Threatened by Human Rights Violations
 
Vienna, 10 September 1999.  The International Helsinki Federation for
Human Rights (IHF), which represents 39 independent human rights
monitoring organizations in Europe, North America and the Former
Soviet Union, has issued a new, 119-page report to the members of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) about
violations of the Helsinki commitments throughout the region.  The
report, based on research by IHF members and affiliates, is for
consideration at the OSCE Review Conference, which starts on 20
September -1 October in Vienna, and will continue on 8-10 November in
Istanbul.

While the Report describes a variety of serious human rights problems
- in established democracies as well as post-communist states -
demanding attention and follow-up by OSCE participating States, the
Helsinki Federation is especially concerned by human rights violations
that particularly threaten security.

"The OSCE and its members in the region must effectively address the
security situation in Central Asia, not let it deteriorate into
another Yugoslavia" according to Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director of
the IHF.
"When humanitarian civil society groups, legitimate political
opposition groups and independent media come under attack from
authoritarian governments, these violations of human rights contribute
to a loss of confidence by the people, who in some cases reportedly
fear their own governments more than they fear armed, insurgent
'fundamentalist' groups," he added.

The IHF believes that human rights violations in the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia also pose security threats, particularly with regard to
refugees and minorities in Serbia and the future of Montenegro. The
Report includes, inter alia, a compilation of decrees included in
war-time Yugoslavian legislation.  A number of these war-time decrees
have been transformed into laws that seriously violate the Helsinki
signatories' Rule of Law principles
 
The IHF's new Report can be obtained by calling the Secretariat at
43-1-408-8822.

For more information:
 
Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director; Brigitte Dufour, Deputy Executive
Director
43-1-408-8822; 43-676-339-0506 (mobile)

________________________________________________
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Rummelhardtgasse 2/18
1090 VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Tel. +43-1-408 88 22
Fax  +43-1-408 88 22-50
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.ihf-hr.org

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