The 53rd session of the UN Commission on Human Rights will meet from 10 March to 18 April 1997. This document describes Amnesty International’s concerns which the organization will raise as a matter of priority in the forthcoming session. This year AI is calling on the Commission to act in particular on five countries situations where there is a pattern of persistent, severe and systematic violations of human rights. These are: Algeria, Colombia, Indonesia/East Timor, Nigeria and Turkey. AI will also pay particular attention to the following theme issues: the draft Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the draft Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the human rights of women, and the review of the Vienna Declaration and the Programme of Action and the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
