Rights of indigenous peoples, release of hostages asked.

• Position: By Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities

Better protection of the human rights of indigenous peoples and

the release of hostages in the Middle East were called for by the UN Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities at its fortieth session (8 August-2 September, Geneva). The session also discussed violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in southern Africa and the Israelioccupied territories.

The body-a subsidiary of the UN Commission on Human Rights-recommended Nelson Mandela as a suitable recipient for a human rights award on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of thc Universal Declaration of Human Rights for his life-long struggle for human dignity and against apartheid.

In adopting resolutions on a wide variety of topics, the SubCommission called on all parties, local and regional, involved in the war in Lebanon to release immediately and unconditionally all their hostages held for political, religious, or ethnical reasons or any other reason inconsistent with the norms of human rights and to use whatever influence they had on those in direct control of the hostages to bring about their release.

It also called for the release of all persons detained for defending the human rights of others or for publicizing alleged human rights abuses.

The body expressed concern over incidences of detention, torture, disappearances, and extra-legal

execution of individuals working to protect basic human rights and fundamental freedoms in their own countries.

The Sub-Commission made considerable progress this year towards the development of new human rights standards. It proposed to the Commission on Human Rights the adoption of an optional protocol on the abolition of the death penalty and declarations on...