E/CN.4/1503 page 25
53. Some groups continue to be persecuted or placed in re-
education camps because of their faith or opinion. Their
plight is of direct concern to the Commission on Human Rights.
Article 20: (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21: (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
54.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall
the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Democracy is in short supply in many parts of the world, and the majority are ruled without "taking part in the govern- ment of their country directly or through freely chosen rep- resentatives". Article 20 (1) is frequently violated and "the will of the people" is too seldom "the basis of the authority of government", though it may be interpreted as such by the autocratic régimes in power
in power to give legitimacy to their pol- icies. "Genuine elections by universal and equal suffrage", "free voting procedures" are part of a vocabulary which seems
to be understood by a very small proportion of nations.
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