OSCE: Helsinki Report Finds Human Rights Problems Plague Entire Region :: Charter'97 :: News

The 500-page report by the Vienna-based International Helsinki Federation (IHF) covers human rights developments in 38 member states of the OSCE in 2004. Aaron Rhodes, executive director of the IHF, told RFE/RL: "It`s difficult to make a generalization about human rights in such a group of countries, some of which are the most democratic and liberal countries in the world and some others are extremely repressive. But what you can say is that, in some areas especially, not much progress is being made in human rights."

The 38 countries reviewed in the IHF report are located in Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and North America. Twenty-four are former socialist states, while 13 are established Western democracies. Turkey is also included.

According to the IHF, judicial systems fell short of international standards in more than 60 percent of the 38 countries reviewed.

Corruption, the lack of judicial independence, and the poor training of judicial professionals were of particular concern. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan were singled out as needing further improvement.

Rhodes says reports of police brutality or other police misconduct were received from 80 percent of the countries under scrutiny. "We found that in 80 percent of the countries that we scrutinized in this report, there are serious problems as regards police brutality," he said. "And in 10 of them, some of the practices constituted torture. In a majority of countries that are covered in the report, there are problems in prisons, especially overcrowding."

The document says 60 percent of the countries reviewed violated the right to asylum or other rights of refugees and migrants. According to the report, antiterrorism measures also curtailed many basic rights throughout the region, including in Britain, the Russian republic of Chechnya, the United States, and Uzbekistan.

Rhodes says the IHF`s report should not be construed as a criticism of the OSCE, but is rather meant to highlight how well the group`s members are adhering to their human rights commitments.

"The OSCE is a framework in which participating states can work together to raise the level of compliance with the human rights commitments that are undertaken in the OSCE process," Rhodes said. "Some states honor their commitments, and some states ignore their commitments. Of course, you can`t blame the OSCE as such for the failure of its members to approach their obligations in the OSCE in an honorable way."

Urdur Gunnarsdottir, a spokeswoman for the OSCE`s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw, agrees. "Many of the concerns that the International Helsinki Federation raises are the same concerns that have been raised many times by the OSCE," she said. "Those regard issues such as the situation of free and fair elections, human rights, the fight against intolerance, etc., etc.. This is, of course, the responsibility of participating states. The OSCE, as an organization, is not going to change everything."

The IHF describes itself as a self-governing group of nongovernmental, not-for-profit organizations that act to protect human rights throughout the Caucasus, Central Asia, Europe, and North America.

COUNTRY-BY-COUNTRY FACT SHEET: BELARUS PART

President Alyaksandr Lukashenka kept Belarus in a tight, authoritarian grip in 2004.

Both the October parliamentary elections and referendum to decide Lukashenka`s eligibility in the forthcoming presidential elections fell seriously short of international standards.

The government imposed excessive restrictions on the freedom of expression, association, and the media, while violations of the right to peaceful assembly continued.

Fair trial standards were repeatedly violated by the courts. Police misconduct continued, including arbitrary arrests and ill treatment of detainees.