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