Now, about those nasty stains

When it comes to respecting their citizens' human rights, some of our Apec visitors are far from lily white. By Jan Corbett

They might be fun to invite for cocktails. But if any of these Apec leaders asks you home for an extended stay, you would be wise to be urgently needed elsewhere. Nothing personal, you understand. It's just that they control some of the most unpleasant regimes on the planet.

INTRODUCING

Jiang Zemin

As President of the People's Republic of China, Jiang Zemin presides over one of the world's most authoritarian and repressive governments.

China's human rights abuses did not begin and end with the 1989 massacre of student protesters in Tiananmen Square; you've all read Wild Swans, the novel which charts the human cost of China's past political upheavals.

Extrajudicial killing, torture, imprisonment without trial and repression of opposing political or religious views is commonplace in China. So is forced labour.

INTRODUCING

Phan Van Khai

He's the Vietnamese Prime Minister, whose communist government has a pitiful human rights record.

Religious, political and media freedom is quashed by the threat of arrest and detention in harsh prisons.

Workers' rights are restricted, and corruption, violence and discrimination against women and ethnic minorities is widespread.

INTRODUCING

Mahathir Mohamad

Even western journalists tremble at the prospect of exploring human rights abuses in Malaysia for fear of attracting court action from this man who has been Prime Minister since 1981.

Or they might suffer the fate of his dissenting former deputy Anwar Ibrahim and be charged with sodomy.

Although Malays can vote in free and fair elections, Dr Mahathir's ruling party is difficult to unseat because of restrictions on campaigning, bans on political rallies and restrictions on the press.

Torture, beating and even death at the hands of police is not uncommon in Malaysia.

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Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah

There was little doubt of this man ascending to the throne of Brunei Darussalam in 1967. After all, his family has ruled the oil-rich Muslim state for 600 years. Its citizens have little hope of changing that state of affairs, given there are no democratic elections and no parliament.

Unhappy subjects can write the sultan a letter, or perhaps have a quiet chat at a cocktail party. But that could be risky because, under the Internal Security Act, critics can be arrested.

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Kim Dae Jung

Human rights watchers were optimistic when Kim Dae Jung won the Republic of Korea's 1997 presidential election.

The former human rights activist promised to introduce new freedoms, but his attention appears to have been diverted by the country's economic crisis.

Not only does South Korea continue to hold some of the world's longest-serving political prisoners, but under Kim Dae Jung hundreds more have been arrested, particularly trade unionists. Gatherings likely to disturb public order are still banned.

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Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie

Post-Suharto Indonesia is still no holiday in Bali if you're Indonesian. Even worse if you're in East Timor or Irian Jaya, where security forces use peaceful protesters for target practice.

There was much promise of human rights reform when Habibie took over from his mentor, President Suharto, last May, but aside from an initial release of political prisoners and a relaxation of media censorship, not a lot of action.

Habibie's government never addressed the legal and institutional changes needed to protect human rights. As a result, arbitrary arrest, torture, disappearances and unlawful killings all continue.

INTRODUCING

Joseph Estrada

This movie star President may head a democratic republic, but political and judicial corruption remains endemic in the Philippines.

Plus, the security forces are still prone to taking insurgents away for a bullet behind the bike sheds. Either that or trouble-makers mysteriously disappear. Detention of political prisoners continues.

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Goh Chok Tong

Opposing this Singaporean Prime Minister and his ruling People's Action Party has been a costly business for those who have tried. They have either been landed with an expensive law suit or had to endure prolonged solitary interrogation by the feared Internal Security Department.

The Government has been talking about loosening its grip on people's rights to discard their chewing gum in the streets, and other basic freedoms, but progress is slow.

INTRODUCING

Chuan Leekpai

As Thailand's Prime Minister he may head a democratically governed constitutional monarchy, but corruption permeates the administration. Police have a nasty habit of killing people in the process of arresting them. Some extrajudicial killings get investigated but seldom is anyone prosecuted.

Bribery is common throughout Thailand's bureaucracy and judiciary, and offences such as tax evasion, gambling, drug trafficking and prostitution are seldom investigated.

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Sir Mekere Morauta

A new face among Pacific Rim leaders, he recently won the job of Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea after beating former leader Bill Skate in an election race.

Since the 1997 ceasefire in Bougainville, PNG has polished up its human rights record, although no one has yet been prosecuted for abuses during that struggle.

There has been progress in reducing police brutality and preserving citizen's privacy in PNG, but protesters still need a permit to hold a rally.

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Vladimir Putin

Russia's human rights record is about as wobbly as its President, Boris Yeltsin. Apart from trouble with the republics, police and prison guards routinely beat and torture their captives, and prison conditions are so barbaric that as many as 20,000 prisoners die each year from beatings or disease.

Inside the military it gets worse, with high rates of death or suicide among soldiers.

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Ernesto Zedillo

President of Mexico since 1994, he heads a party which has been in power since 1929 thanks to public patronage, taxpayer-funded electioneering and some good old-fashioned election fraud.

The government funds a National Human Rights Commission which is kept busy with complaints of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture, police
corruption, poor prison conditions, and arbitrary arrest.

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Alberto Fujimori

He presides over what looks like a multiparty democratic republic, but his executive branch controls both the legislature and the judiciary, which is inefficient and corrupt.

Peru's constitutional tribunal was neutered after two of its members opposed Fujimori's redrafting of the electoral laws to allow him to run for a third term as president.

Security forces continue to beat and torture with impunity, and detain prisoners without trial.

Journalists face harassment. Violence against women and children is endemic, as is child labour.

INTRODUCING

Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle

Chile has cleaned up its act since the barbaric military rule of General Augusto Pinochet. Under this new president, it can describe itself as a constitutional multiparty democracy. However, police and prison staff in Chile remain partial to torture and brutality. Discrimination and child labour persist.