Amnesty International's main concerns are:
(1) that all people in the Macao region continue to be protected by the provisions of the international human rights instruments which currently apply to Macao;
(2) that all people in Macao be afforded effective guarantees against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
(3) that the right to life be guaranteed to all people in Macao;
(4) that all people in Macao be guaranteed the right to a fair trial;
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(5) that all people in Macao be afforded those rights which will safeguard them against imprisonment as prisoners of conscience that is, for the non-violent exercise of their counscientiously-held beliefs or on account of their ethnic origin, sex, colour or language; and
(6) that during any declared state of emergency all people in Macao retain all rights which are non-derogable under the ICCPR, including the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the right to be free from arbitrary deprivation of life, and the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Amnesty International is also concerned that one particular provision of the Draft Basic Law should be amended in order not to place a broad limitation on the exercise of human rights in Macao.
Amnesty International identifies in the present memorandum several crucial areas of concern on which it makes recommendations for amendments to the Draft Basic Law of Macao. The organization calls on the Basic Law Drafting Committee and on the Governments of China and Portugal to take these recommendations into account in the process of amending the Draft Basic Law and in all measures they may take in connection with Macao in the years to 1999 and beyond.
KEYWORDS: LEGISLATION1 / AI AND GOVERNMENTS / POLITICAL BACKGROUND / UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS / ICCPR / ICESCR / UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE / PORTUGAL / DEATH PENALTY / TORTURE/ILL-TREATMENT / TRIALS / EMERGENCY LEGISLATION / PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE / MINORITIES / RELIGIOUS GROUPS
This report summarizes a 27-page document (9,658 words), Macao: Strengthening human rights safeguards: Memorandum from Amnesty International to the Basic Law Drafting Committee (AI Index: ASA 27/01/91), issued by Amnesty International in October 1991. Anyone wanting further details or to take action on this issue should consult the full document.
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