International Human Rights Day was marked throughout the world yesterday by protests against alleged abuses, by official pardons for prisoners in the Philippines and Taiwan, and by a human rights march in Morocco which ended with the detention of protesters.
In Morocco, dozens of human rights activists were in custody after being beaten and arrested by riot police in a demonstration called to demand an investigation into past abuses.
Local reports said anti-riot squads with batons moved in and beat the protesters outside parliament in Rabat before arresting more than two dozen of them. Ms Devadass Gnanan, director of Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific regional office, said that Asian governments "had to realise that they cannot just pay lip service to the notion of human rights". Most Asian governments showed little interest in changing global opinion, however. Only in the Philippines and Taiwan did governments take major steps to mark the day.
In the Philippines, President Joseph Estrada - currently facing a corruption trial - announced that he would commute the sentences of 1,000 prisoners on death row to life imprisonment, possibly paving the way for a full revocation of the death penalty.
President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan marked the day by granting an amnesty to 21 prisoners, including a trade union leader and 19 "prisoners of conscience" - 19 Jehovah's Witnesses had been jailed for refusing to accept military conscription.
The president's chief of staff, Mr Yu Shyi-kun, said Taiwan would revise its laws to embody international human rights covenants. "May the Republic of China become the new human rights norm in the 21st century," he said, referring to Taiwan's official name. President Chen also attended a "human rights wedding" for 36 couples.
But in other parts of Asia, the day was marked by low-key protests.
In Kashmir, police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators calling for an end to alleged abuses by Indian security forces. In New Delhi, India's chief justice, Judge A.S. Anand, described custodial crimes as the worst form of human rights violation. "Custodial torture, which today is widespread, is a naked violation of human dignity," he said.
Pakistan's military government condemned as "mischievous and misleading" a report by Human Rights Watch which said respect for civil and political rights had slumped following last year's coup.
In Hong Kong, 200 practitioners of the spiritual movement Falungong called for an end to what they said was an escalating persecution of adherents in China.
A handful of activists rallied in Speaker's Corner in the Singapore city-state to demand the abolition of legislation which they claim allows detention without trial.
The day was marked in North Korea by claims that foreign powers were using the topic of human rights to launch "aggression and armed intervention". Rodong Sinmun, the daily newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party, accused unnamed "imperialist" nations of imposing their human rights standards.