19 June 2008
This July, the G8 summit will be held in Toyako Lake, Japan.
This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognized human rights as
an inherent right for all. However, serious violations of human rights
are continually being committed around the world. At this summit, we
urge the G8 countries to take clear initiatives not only on the
environment and on poverty reduction but also to end human rights
violations. Economic development, international security and
environmental conservation will never be achieved if the governments of
the world ignore human rights.
Human Rights Now, a Tokyo-based
international human rights NGO, calls the attention of the G8 nations
to the most critical human rights issues and urges them to express
their clear commitment to addressing the following human rights
violations:
1. We express deep concern over the human rights
violations made by the military junta in Burma, by the Sudanese
government in Darfur, and by the G8 countries in the name of the
anti-terrorism. We strongly urge the G8 countries to discuss these
severe human rights violations and act to resolve them.
In Burma,
the military junta (the SPDC) brutally repressed peaceful
demonstrations for democracy led by massive numbers of monks last
September. Since then over 1,900 monks and democracy activists have
been detained.
On May 2nd and 3rd, Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, leaving
an estimated 77,000 people dead and 2.4 million more suffering from the
destruction. The SPDC, however, compounded the damage by initially
refusing to accept foreign aid when urgent outside relief was
essential. Even after the SPDC expressed its acceptance of foreign
relief, the junta continued to neglect its responsibility to supply
food, medical care and sanitation to the cyclone’s victims. As a
result, the lives of many of the suffering, especially women, children
and the elderly, are at risk. Further, the SPDC has forcibly displaced
the evacuees from evacuation centers and sent them back to
cyclone-devastated areas, where basic infrastructure and health
services have not yet been restored.
At the same time, the SPDC
forced through its referendum on the new constitution, which is
designed only to prolong the survival of military regime and which
makes the realization of respect for human rights and democracy even
more distant. The SPDC also prevented Aung San Suu Kyi from
participating in the referendum process and extended her detention.
In the Darfur region of Sudan,
serious human rights violations have been taking place since February
of 2003. The government and government-supported militias have
continuously attacked the region’s non-Arab residents and more than
200,000 people have reportedly been victimized. Rape and other forms of
violence against women have frequently been used to terrorize the
population. Two to three hundred thousand people have been forcibly
displaced and turned into refugees. Further, the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA) agreed to by the northern Sudanese government and
southern Sudanese government in January 2005 is in jeopardy because of
the ongoing conflicts in the Abyei region.
At the same time, the
G8 countries must recognize that they are not exempt from
responsibility for human rights violations in the 21st century. In
particular, since September 11th in 2001, in the name of “the War on
Terror,” innocent civilians have been killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Chechnya.
Other grave breaches of international human rights and humanitarian law
include, but are not limited to, the torture and indefinite detention
of terrorism suspects in Guatanamo Bay and at other disclosed and undisclosed locations worldwide.
However,
the G8 countries refuse to accept any accountability for these
violations, contributing to the spread of human rights violations
throughout the world in the name of “the War on Terror”.
Violations
of human rights will be repeated as long as the international community
tolerates them. If the G8 countries continue to extol democracy and
civil liberties, they should live up to the ideals they proclaim and
fulfill their responsibilities toward the above-mentioned human rights
violations. The silence alone at this summit of the G8 nations with
regards to these abuses would worsen the human rights situation..
Mindful of this, we urgently call on members of the G8 to issue a strong public statement on the following areas:
I The Situation in Burma;
1)Condemn
the brutal crackdown against pro-democracy activists last September,
the imposition of the constitutional referendum, and the extension of
Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention. Urge the SPDC to immediately initiate the
democratization process by opening a serious dialogue with
pro-democracy groups, ethnic minority leaders and others concerned.
2)
Given the humanitarian crisis that many cyclone victims still face,
increase the amount of G8 countries’ relief aid and at the same time
urge the SPDC to fulfill its obligation to provide for the basic needs
of victims, such as food, health, medical treatment and sanitation in
close cooperation with donor countries.
II The Situation in Darfur
1)Express
deep concern about the recent fighting in Abyei and call on the
Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army to adhere to
the ceasefire agreed upon as part of the CPA.
2)Condemn the ongoing
violations of the arms embargo established by U.N. Security Council
Resolution 1591, and urge all states to stop all arms transfers, direct
or indirect, to Darfur in violation of Resolution 1591.
3)Establish a clear plan for how G8 governments will support efforts to establish a sustainable peace in Darfur and the full implementation of the CPA.
4)Support the ICC’s efforts to hold accountable those parties who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur
and urge the Sudanese Government to immediately cooperate with the ICC
prosecutor on the execution of warrants for the arrest of State
Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed militia
leader Ali Kosheib.
III Human Rights Violations Committed by G8 Member States in the ” War on Terror”
1)State
clearly theG8 member states’ commitment to adhere to established
international human rights standards and international humanitarian law
in all circumstances
and address the past breaches of the Geneva
conventions in the course of the ” War on Terror,” including attacks on
civilians and the practice of torture in interrogations. The parties
responsible for these violations should be identified and held
accountable in a court of law.
2)Establish concrete measure to prevent the recurrence of human rights violations in the course of the “War on Terror”.
President Koki Abe
Secretary General Kazuo Ito