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Human rights advocates are voicing disappointment with what they have seen so far of President Obama's approach to human rights issues in forming U.S. foreign policy. They applaud Obama for working to restore U.S. influence on human rights by changing President George W. Bush's policies on interrogating and detaining terrorism suspects. But they also see evidence that the Obama administration is reluctant to challenge authoritarian governments for clamping down on political dissidents or rigging elections. As one example, these critics complain that Obama should not have tried to curry favor with the Chinese government by postponing a meeting with the Dalai Lama until after the president visits China in November. Administration officials insist Obama is devoted to human rights and democratization and cite among other moves the decision to join the United Nations Human Rights Council. Conservative critics, however, say the council is a flawed institution and the United States should have stayed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the curtain rises on the Summer Olympics next month in Beijing, China will eagerly showcase its hypersonic economic growth and its embrace of what it calls the "rule of law." But 19 years after its bloody suppression of protesters in Tiananmen Square, China will also be displaying its human-rights record for all to judge. Human-rights advocates say the sheen of Chinese progress and prosperity hides repression and brutality by the Chinese Communist Party, including the violent repression of pro-independence protesters in Tibet, forced abortions stemming from China's one-child policy and the trampling of basic freedoms of speech, religion and assembly. Chinese government officials say their nation of 1.3 billion people has made huge strides on the legal and human-rights fronts and that the West has no business interfering in China's internal affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten years ago, nearly a million ethnic-minority Rwandans died in a government-planned massacre. Political leaders in the United States and the United Nations later admitted they should have intervened and vowed "Never again" — just as they vowed after the Holocaust. But as ethnic killings occurring today in western Sudan make tragically clear, genocide still flourishes. The Bush administration supports sanctions against the Khartoum government, but human-rights activists say an international force is needed to protect civilians. With U.S. troops stretched thin in Iraq, however, the United States has been reluctant to act. Some question whether Americans, preoccupied with terrorism, have the appetite for humanitarian military actions. The U.N. has tried to improve its poor record of mobilizing troops by authorizing Western powers to lead forces in recent crises. But many believe the U.N. is politically paralyzed by the competing interests of the five major members of the Security Council, who can veto any military action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The war on terrorism unleashed by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has raised questions about how civilized nations should confront enemies that flout established international humanitarian law. Amnesty International and other groups contend the United States is violating the Geneva Convention -- which mandates humane treatment of civilians and prisoners of war (POWs) -- by holding captives from the war in Afghanistan incommunicado. But the administration says its Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners do not warrant POW status because they did not represent legitimate states. Meanwhile, religious leaders say attacking Iraq would not constitute a "just war" because Saddam Hussein does not pose an imminent threat. But others say Hussein must be confronted because he has used weapons of mass destruction before and could do so again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A U.S. bombing campaign has helped drive out the Taliban — the strict Islamist regime that ruled Afghanistan for the last five years. Now, an interim government will seek to unite the country and heal ethnic and religious animosities. But after 23 years of war, Afghanistan faces an immense challenge of political, social and economic reconstruction. The economy is in ruins, the land and the infrastructure devastated. Hunger is widespread after a three-year drought. The education and health-care systems are in shambles. The United States and other donor countries have pledged to help rebuild Afghanistan. Some groups say that as much as $25 billion will be needed over the next 10 years, but the Bush administration has not yet proposed an aid package. And the administration may give greater attention, some experts warn, to the next steps in its war against terrorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin America has made great advances toward democracy over the past decade. Mostcountries are now accustomed to relatively free elections and peaceful transitions of power. But poverty rates and economic inequities remain high in many countries. And even though political violence has subsided in the region, crime rates are high. Some democratic governments are too weak to deal effectively with civil-disorder issues, and many are rife with corruption. Critics say that Peru and Venezuela illustrate the continuing threat to democracy from authoritarian or stridently populist leaders. But Mexico's election of a new president from the opposition party provides a hopeful sign for democratization in the United States' closest Latin American neighbor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human rights advocates are preparing to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first comprehensive charter of individual freedoms. Fifty years later, most of the world's countries have ratified a series of binding treaties committing them to respect key civil, political, social and economic rights. Human rights advocates say that conditions have improved since 1948 and that the U.N.'s human rights machinery has been strengthened. But they also say that flagrant abuses continue to occur in countries throughout the world. The United States itself has been criticized for failing to ratify many human rights treaties and for opposing a new proposal to create an International Criminal Court for serious human rights violations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After World War II, the Soviet Union sequestered most of Eastern Europe behind an Iron Curtain of communist rule. Then in 1989, popular discontent toppled communist governments in rapid succession. Today, 10 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, most of the former communist nations are functioning democracies with free elections and multiparty political systems. In the former Yugoslavia, however, ethnic-religious rivalries have spawned bloody conflicts and thwarted efforts by the United States and NATO to help establish peaceful democracies. Elsewhere in Eastern Europe, however, democracy appears secure although the public in many of the countries are unhappy with specific government policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a NATO bombing campaign that lasted more than two months, the United States and its NATO allies forced Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to stop driving ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. While the "ethnic cleansing" has stopped, it has produced Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. The military intervention was but the latest in a series of efforts to stem a rising tide of refugees fleeing ethnic conflicts and civil wars that have erupted the world over in the 1990s. Critics of U.S. military involvement say the bombing only made the refugees' situation worse. But supporters of military action call it an unqualified success. Still other critics say that resettling the refugees in the United States makes it unlikely that they will ever return home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic and religious conflict throughout the world has sparked horrific violence against women and girls in recent years. From Bosnia to Rwanda, combatants use rape, mutilation and enslavement to terrorize civilian populations. Islamic militants in Afghanistan subject women to severe punishment for minor offenses. In the absence of conflict, women still face violence - from wife-burning in India to "honor killings" of rape victims in the Middle East to forced prostitution in Asia. An international women's rights movement is gathering strength, with strong United Nations and Clinton administration support, but the Senate has yet to ratify a key U.N. convention designed to protect women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, but Nazi Germany's war against European Jews also had a financial side. The Nazis confiscated homes and personal belongings of Jews, took over Jewish-owned businesses and looted artworks from Jewish collectors. Now, some Holocaust survivors and heirs are seeking restitution for financial losses. In one case, Swiss banks have agreed to pay $1.25 billion to heirs of Holocaust victims who opened accounts before their deaths. Other survivors are seeking payment on insurance policies, return of stolen art or compensation for forced labor in German factories. Some say the litigation will provide a measure of justice for Holocaust survivors, but others fear the efforts create a misleading picture about the nature of history's worst genocidal slaughter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1979, religious dissidents deposed the shah of Iran, casting aside his attempts to Westernize the oil-rich nation. Twenty years later, some scholars say that Iran is once again on the verge of profound change. They point to the election of moderate Mohammad Khatami to the presidency as proof that most Iranians reject the conservatism of the Islamic Republic. But other Iran-watchers say that Khatami has no desire to reverse the changes brought by the 1979 revolution, nor could he. Meanwhile, there is growing disagreement over whether U.S. economic sanctions against Iran bolster Iranian moderates and discourage Iran from supporting terrorism or encourage hard-liners within Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democracy has not fared well in Asia, through history or in recent times. Today, most Asians live under communist governments, military regimes or virtual one-party states. But Asia also includes two big, long-established democracies: India and Japan. And with the fall of Indonesia's autocratic longtime president, Suharto, the world's fourth most populous country could be joining the ranks of democratic nations. But the country's new president, B.J. Habibie, faces a dire economic crisis, and some reformers doubt his commitment to political change. In addition, some Asians continue to debate whether democracy conflicts with Asian values, and U.S. policy-makers are often at odds with interest groups on how best to promote democracy in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Fidel Castro welcomes Pope John Paul II to Cuba in January, it will be yet another indication that the communist nation may be opening up. As further evidence of the trend, some Cuba-watchers point to increased freedom of worship and the small but steady steps toward a market economy. But to others, the papal trip merely reflects Castro's search for new allies to prop up his unpopular, economically struggling regime. The United States, meanwhile, continues its strict trade and travel embargo in an effort to force Castro to move toward democracy. But embargo opponents say that the U.S. sanctions hurt ordinary Cubans and help Castro, by giving him a powerful propaganda tool to use at home and abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christianity is the world's largest and richest religion. But Christians in many countries say they face discrimination or repression because of their faith, particularly in Islamic and communist nations. Now, activists are waging a worldwide campaign on behalf of persecuted Christians. In the United States, Christian groups are lobbying Congress to pass legislation cutting off non-humanitarian aid to countries responsible for religious persecution. But leaders of the campaign have touched off a bitter debate by accusing liberal human rights and religious groups of ignoring the mistreatment of Christians - accusations that those organizations vigorously reject. Some religious experts also dispute the claim that persecution of Christians is on the rise and complain that the campaign is ignoring mistreatment of people of other faiths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The refugee crisis in Zaire and Rwandahas once again focused world attention on displaced people. Affecting more than 5 million people,the crisis has forced refugee-aid groups, governments and others to reassess the way aid to refugees is now rendered. For the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian relief organizations,the situation raises fundamental questions about aiding refugees: Can efforts to help actually make matters worse? And how can tragedies like the one in Central Africa be prevented or at least mitigated in the future? For the United States and other developed nations, the crisis has reopened the debate over whether using soldiers to assist humanitarian relief efforts is appropriate, and whether dramatic media coverage of crises can lead to bad policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American shoppers may not know it, but many of the name-brand products they purchase - from clothing to carpets to sports equipment - were made under appalling circumstances. Grim reports of worker exploitation contain images straight out of a Charles Dickens novel: children kidnapped and sold into prostitution, or toiling at age four in hazardous worksites alongside adults struggling for subsistence- level wages. Though the bulk of the abuse takes place in Third World countries, Americans were stunned by the recent discovery of virtual slave-labor conditions in garment sweatshops in California and New York City. Now a growing movement of U.S. and international officials, union and business leaders, human rights activists and celebrities has mobilized to challenge these deep-rooted practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations celebrates its golden anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, world leaders will gather in New York on Oct. 22-24 for a special commemorative meeting of the General Assembly. The event is designed to draw attention to a half-century of achievements in economic and social development, decolonization, human rights, disarmament and peacekeeping. But the U.N.'s past accomplishments may be overshadowed by concerns about its current operations. The failure of U.N. peacekeeping forces to end the civil war in the former Yugoslavia is raising questions about the U.N.'s future role in world affairs. Some American lawmakers are questioning the value of U.S. participation in multilateral organizations. And critics around the world accuse the U.N. of squandering its 185 members' contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wars in Bosnia and Rwanda have been waged with brutal, wide- scale attacks against civilians. Serbs have carried out their policy of "ethnic cleansing" in the former Yugoslavia by detaining thousands of Croats and Muslims in camps where murder, torture and rape have been common. In Rwanda, the majority Hutus killed hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis in the now-ended civil war. Under pressure from international human rights groups and an outraged world community, the United Nations has convened the first international war crimes tribunal since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials after World War II. Supporters hope that punishing individuals responsible for wartime atrocities will deter future abuses. But critics say the prosecutions are unworkable and may hamper peacemaking and reconciliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After winning independence from European colonial powers, most African nations fell victim to one-party or one-man rule. But democracy has begun to advance in the last few years. Today, 18 countries of sub-Saharan Africa are counted as functioning democracies, and as many as 35 are in some stage of democratic transition. But entrenched autocrats continue to rule some of Africa's largest countries, including Nigeria, Zaire and Kenya. Barriers to democratization persist throughout the continent: grinding poverty, widespread illiteracy, limited investment, huge foreign debts and ethnic and religious conflicts. And the Republican-controlled Congress may cut U.S. aid for Africa. Nonetheless, advocates of African democracy say that popular pressure within Africa itself will bring about more political reform in the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]