*EPF207 02/27/01
Parmly Discusses U.S. Human Rights Report
(Attention paid this year to trafficking in people) (640)
By David Pitts
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- There was "much more attention this year to trafficking in people" in the 25th annual U.S. Human Rights Report, Michael Parmly, acting assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, said February 27.

Briefing journalists at the Foreign Press Center a day after the report was released, Parmly said for the year 2000 reports were included on 195 countries totaling 6,000 pages. He emphasized that it was "not just a bad news story" on human rights in the world during the past year. "There are good news stories in the report" as well, he added, mentioning Ghana, Peru and Serbia as success stories. Parmly also said the reports describe progress in some other countries.

Asked about the U.S. decision to sponsor a resolution on China's human rights situation at the upcoming 57th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in Geneva, Parmly noted that President Bush "only came to that decision recently." On the content of the resolution, Parmly said that "we will have intensive consultations in the days and weeks ahead" with other countries. On February 26, the State Department's deputy spokesman, Philip Reeker, said "Our goal in sponsoring this resolution is to encourage China to take positive, concrete steps to meet its international obligations to protect the fundamental freedoms and civil liberties of the Chinese people." He noted that China's human rights record "worsened" last year.

A resolution on China has not passed at previous sessions of the UNCHR, Parmly noted. "We will seek to use our diplomatic persuasion," he added. He also mentioned that the U.S. report details the human rights situation in China and that "the report speaks for itself." He said the human rights report essentially is "shining a light on a situation." In response to other questions, Parmly also commented on the situation in Azerbaijan, Cameroon, India, El Salvador, South Korea, Hungary, Burma and along the Guinea/Liberia border. On the latter, he said "the situation is very worrisome. We need to get on top of that situation."

One reporter wanted to know why the United States does not issue a human rights report on itself. Parmly said, "I don't want to belittle the argument," which he said he had heard before. His answer revolved around the issue of whether the U.S. reporting on itself would be believable. "We don't believe it would be credible to do reports on ourselves," he remarked. But he stressed that the United States does not object to other countries reporting on its human rights record. "No country should fear dialogue with other countries" on this issue, he added.

Asked how the U.S. Human Rights report is put together, Parmly explained that U.S. embassies are key. They write the first draft based on information they gather during the year, he said. "We supplement it," he added, referring to the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL). He said DRL has the primary responsibility, but also coordinates with the regional bureaus in the State Department. He also stressed that "governments don't have a monopoly of the truth," and that newspapers, the Internet, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) also supply valuable information.

On the new administration's commitment to human rights, Parmly noted that two senior advisors have been appointed to the National Security Council, one specializing in democracy, the other in human rights. "This underlines the commitment of the new administration," he said. Asked whether Secretary of State Colin Powell would attend this year's UNCHR in Geneva, he responded that he did not yet know the secretary's travel plans.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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