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Article: Reconciling universal human rights and pluralism.
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- June 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MICHAEL FREEMAN has commented that "The concept of human rights raises problems that are, on the one hand, practical and urgent, and, on the other hand, theoretical and abstract." This situation is exemplified by the South-East Asian region. In Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, abuses such as arbitrary arrests, detentions, restrictions on freedom of speech and association, torture and summary killings continue unabated. These are indeed practical and urgent problems.
While such abuses may be perpetrated by actors who do not seek to justify their actions within the discourse of human rights, others within the region use their positions of authority in ways that ...