Draft convention on rights of child approved by Human Rights Commission; report on Cuba received, Special Rapporteur for Romania to be named.

A 54-article draft convention on the rights of the child the result of more than a decade of negotiations -was approved in March by consensus by the Commission on Human Rights. The text calls for recognition of the inherent dignity and human rights of every child, protection of vulnerable children from attacks, and smoothing the way for the difficult transition from infancy to adulthood.

The Commission, in adopting 101 texts during its forty-fifth session (30 January-10 March, Geneva), also reviewed a report on the situation of human rights in Cuba. The. mission was undertaken at Cuba's invitation in 1988. It called for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Romania, and a ban on toxic waste dumping across national borders.

The 43-member body, a subsidiary of the Economic and Social Council, adopted 88 resolutions and 13 decisions on a wide range of topics-from alleged human rights violations in certain countries and regions, to rights of particular groups, including migrants and minorities, to realization of economic, social and cultural rights.

The Commission adopted texts on the human rights situation in southern Africa. The United States, the United Kingdom and some other Western States voted against or abstained on most of them.

Among other things, the Commission strongly urged the immediate holding of free and fair elections in Namibia under UN super'vision to attain the independence of the country. The immediate abolition of the apartheid system and its replacement with a non-racial representative government based on the principle of universal suffrage was asked. It called for an Academic Year against apartheid',' with the subject "The evils of apartheid" taught in all educational institutions throughout the world.

Another group of resolutions was adopted regarding the human rights situations in Israeli-occupied Arab territories and southern Lebanon. The United States voted against all five, with other Western countries voting against some drafts.

The Commission welcomed the declaration of the state of Palestine and considered the 15 November 1988 decisions of the Palestine National Council a prerequisite for the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. Intensified international efforts were asked to induce the parties concerned to respond to the Palestinian peace initiative and to expedite the convening of the international peace conference on the Middle East.

The body affirmed that extreme poverty and exclusion from society constituted a violation of human dignity and wanted urgent national and international action to eliminate them. It also censured the actions of all persons responsible for taking hostages,. whatever their motives, and demanded that they should immediately release those they were holding.

Work also proceeded on the elaboration of documents to protect the right or rights of- indigenous populations; everyone to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country; persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities; persons detained on grounds of mental ill-health or suffering from mental disorder; and migrant workers and their families.

Also under consideration were documents concerning unacknowledged detention of persons; traditional practices affecting the health of women and children; the question of states of emergency; the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, jurors and assessors and the independence of lawyers; the status of...