Rights of indigenous peoples, release of hostages asked.

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 the right to leave and to return to one's home country, the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, jurors, and assessors and the independence of lawyers, and the rights of mentally-ill persons.

Work continued on a draft universal declaration on indigenous rights with Governments and nongovernmental organizations asked to provide their comments on the text. Work also continued on a draft declaration 'against unacknowledged detention, a draft body of principles for the protection of persons under arrest or detention.

The Sub-Commission requested the preparation of summary information on the relocation of Hopi and Navajo families in the United States for further consideration of the issue at its 1989 session. The Sub-Commission has also proposed the proclamation of an international year for indigenous peoples,

The Sub-Commission also reviewed human rights situations in Albania, Burundi, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala andHaiti and then passed resolutions urging action to improve those situations.

Other subjects examined: slavery and slavery-like practices such as child prostitution and the traffic in children, the human rights of persons imprisoned, all detained persons, guidelines on the use of computerized personnel files, human rights and states of emergency and traditional practices affecting the health of women and children.