TNAG-2320-FCO40-3364-Human-rights-in-Hong-Kong-1991 — Page 71

INTRODUCTION / WORK WITH INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

14 rights violations, and requires them to refuse to use evidence which they know

or believe to have been obtained by unlawful means, such as torture.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 1991

The General Assembly at its 45th session adopted Resolution 45/121 of 14 December welcoming the new instruments and resolutions adopted by the Eighth Congress and inviting governments to be guided by them in the formula- tion of appropriate legislation and practice and to make efforts to ensure their implementation.

Amnesty International attended the Eighth UN Crime Congress and distributed a paper setting out its recommendations to the participants. During the Congress the organization also held an ancillary meeting on "Worldwide Moves To Abolish the Death Penalty" with the participation of three distinguished guest speakers: Justice P.N. Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India; Professor Sofia Kelina, Deputy Director of the Institute of State and Law, Academy of Sciences of the USSR; and Doctor Carimo Issa, a judge and adviser to the Minister of Justice of Mozambique.

There was some progress during the year in respect of ratifications of interna- tional human rights treaties (see Appendix VI). Four countries ratified or acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - Burundi, the Republic of Korea, Malta and Somalia - bringing the total number of ratifications of these instruments as of 31 December to 92 and 97 respectively. The Republic of Korea, Malta and Somalia also became Party to the first Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, bringing the total number of ratifications to 51. In addition, Yugoslavia signed the Optional Protocol. The first ratifications of the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR Aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty took place dur- ing the year (see Amnesty International Report 1990, Introduction/Work with International Organizations and Appendix IX): Australia, the (former) German Democratic Republic, New Zealand, Portugal and Sweden became Party to it. A further 15 countries signed this Protocol - Belgium, Costa Rica, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Finland, Honduras, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Romania, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela. Seven countries ratified or acceded to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - the Federal Republic of Germany, Guatemala, Liechtenstein, Malta, Paraguay, Romania and Somalia - bringing the total number of States Parties to this treaty to 55.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the UN in 1989, came into force on 2 September 1990 following receipt of the requisite 20 ratifications (see Amnesty International Report 1990, Appendix XI). By the end of the year there were 63 States Parties to this Convention and a further 69 states had signed it. A World Summit for Children, convened at UN headquarters in New York on 29 to 30 September, was attended by some 72 heads of state or government. Amnesty International's Secretary General attended and the organization issued a press release and an external document drawing attention to its concerns about the continuing serious abuses to which children are subject in several countries, noting in particular Albania, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chad, China, El Salvador,

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