Nigeria faces criticism after execution of writer: follow-up to Vienna conference a priority.

• Position: Includes other topics on human rights which brought General Assembly resolutions

The arbitrary execution in Nigeria on 10 November of writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others was condemned by the fiftieth General Assembly, which in other action urged the Government of Myanmar to engage in a dialogue with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders as the best means of promoting national reconciliation and restoring democracy. The Assembly also expressed the hope that the recent violence in Haiti would not impede the consolidation of democracy, as well as outrage at human rights violations in the former Yugoslavia.

With a broad human rights mandate, the Assembly also acted on the rights of children, indigenous peoples, racism and discrimination, self-determination, follow-up to the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, and situations in individual countries. In all, it adopted 46 resolutions on human rights matters, based on the recommendations of its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).

UN joins international protest

A concerned General Assembly, in a resolution (50/199) adopted by a vote of 101 to 14, with 47 abstentions, "condemned the arbitrary execution, after a flawed judicial process, of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his eight co-defendants" in Nigeria. Joining an international chorus of protest, it also expressed "deep concern about other violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms" in the country, and called on the Government to restore habeas corpus, release all political prisoners, guarantee freedom of the press and ensure the rights of all individuals. Immediate, concrete steps to restore democratic rule should be taken, it stated, in welcoming measures taken by the Commonwealth and other States to underline to Nigeria the importance of a return to democratic rule and human rights observance. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in cooperation with the Commonwealth, will undertake discussions with Nigeria and report back to the Assembly.

In Third Committee debate, States opposing the draft--most of them African--and some of those abstaining considered it had crossed the line between concern for human rights and interference in a State's internal affairs. Nigeria asserted that the nine had been executed only after due process had been observed. On 10 November, Mr. Boutros-Ghali, saying he was "shocked and appalled to learn of the executions by hanging of the nine Nigerian minority-rights activists, including the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa", urged the Government "to...