Liberia's vainglorious President, Gen. Samuel K. Doe, may not care a whit about American protests over his five-year record of repression. But he plainly cares about the Reagan Administration's suspension of $25 million in economic aid, which those protests triggered.
To placate Washington, he has now ordered the release of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and 16 jailed students, evidence that financial pressure works.
Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf had returned recently to Liberia to challenge General Doe in a presidential vote next month. She was clapped in jail, charged with sedition and drew a 10-year sentence from a military tribunal. Her case attracted attention because she is a Harvard-trained economist and vice president of Citibank, unusual credentials for a seditionist.
But her plight also drew attention to General Doe's erratic despotism. Having promised elections, he eliminated rival parties, altered his birthday so that he will be 35, the required age, and jailed opposition journalists. Still in custody are Momolu Sirleaf, a relative of Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf, and Klon Hinneh, both on the staff of Footprints Today, Liberia's only remaining independent daily.
Until all such prisoners are freed, and newspapers are unmuzzled, why free that suspended aid money?
Source: New York Times
Sunday, September 29, 1985
Tuesday, September 17, 1985
Marshals Seeking Ex-Official Of Liberia After His Escape
Federal marshals today joined a search for a man awaiting extradition to Liberia who escaped from jail with four other inmates by sawing off a bar on a window and sliding down sheets. The man, Charles Taylor, 37 years old, is the former director of the Liberian General Service Agency, according to Bill Steely, chief deputy of the United States Marshal Service in Boston.
Chief Steely said Mr. Taylor was arrested May 24, 1984, in a Somerville apartment on a warrant charging him with embezzling about $1 million while he served as director of the agency. The other escapees were identified as Anthony C. Rodriques Jr., 18, of Fall River, Mass.; Thomas Devoll, 21, of New Bedford, Mass.; Carlos Guilbe, 22, and Frederick O'Connor, 23, both of Brockton, Mass.
Source: New York Times
Chief Steely said Mr. Taylor was arrested May 24, 1984, in a Somerville apartment on a warrant charging him with embezzling about $1 million while he served as director of the agency. The other escapees were identified as Anthony C. Rodriques Jr., 18, of Fall River, Mass.; Thomas Devoll, 21, of New Bedford, Mass.; Carlos Guilbe, 22, and Frederick O'Connor, 23, both of Brockton, Mass.
Source: New York Times
Sunday, September 15, 1985
FORMER LIBERIAN OFFICIAL IS SENTENCED TO PRISON
A former Liberian Finance Minister was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday night after a military court found her guilty of sedition. The former official, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, 46 years old, an international banker who at one time represented Citibank in Nairobi, Kenya, was quoted by the Liberian press agency as thanking the military court for the manner in which the trial was conducted. She also pleaded to the military leader, Gen. Samuel K. Doe, for mercy, saying Liberia needed all its resources to tackle the many problems it faced.
Miss Johnson-Sirleaf, who served as Finance Minister under President William Tolbert in the late 1970's, called members of the present military-led administration "idiots" while on a speaking tour of the United States last July. She told the tribunal Friday night that she had spoken out of frustration because her political party at the time faced problems in getting legal recognition.
Source: New York Times
Miss Johnson-Sirleaf, who served as Finance Minister under President William Tolbert in the late 1970's, called members of the present military-led administration "idiots" while on a speaking tour of the United States last July. She told the tribunal Friday night that she had spoken out of frustration because her political party at the time faced problems in getting legal recognition.
Source: New York Times
Monday, August 26, 1985
Less Liberty in Liberia
Unhappy Liberia has its own version of one man, one vote. There, only one man's vote matters. The man is Samuel K. Doe, the former sergeant who at age 28 ensconced himself as president in 1980 after his soldiers bayoneted a civilian predecessor. Mr. Doe is now a five-star general whose most conspicuous victory is over the calendar. He has added two years to his age so that, officially, he will be 35, as required by the Constitution, when the people of his West Africa country choose him as president in November's election.
To assure that result, all serious opposition parties have been ruled ineligible, their leaders jailed, their newspapers silenced. His most formidable challenger is Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, candidate of the Liberal Action Party. Harvard-educated and a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf has been Citibank's representative in Nairobi. In a speech she gave recently on a visit to Philadelphia, she faulted Liberia's lavish public spending. For this, she was arrested on her return to Monrovia, accused of endangering stability. Last week, incredibly, she was put on trial for sedition.
All this cries out for more than a routine response from Washington. Americans have special historic ties to Liberia's two million people. Liberia was established in 1822 with American help as a haven for freed black slaves. Its use of English, its Constitution and even its flag reflect this history. But the promise of liberty has never been realized. Liberians have endured poverty and corrupt misgovernment, and General Doe's erratic despotism now outdoes his predecessors'.
Nonetheless, since his coup, U.S. foreign aid to Liberia has quadrupled, to $83 million this year, the highest per capita figure in Africa. To induce him to hold the elections he promised, $250,000 of this aid was earmarked to help pay the costs. General Doe denounced Washington for interfering and vowed to return the money. Wholly in character, he hasn't.
The general seemingly assumes that the Reagan Administration will put up with anything so long as he makes anti-Communist noises and causes no trouble about a vital Voice of America transmitter. But jailing a Citibank representative for preaching fiscal conservatism shows neither scruple nor sense. If Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf and other challengers are barred from Liberia's elections, a healthy cut in Liberian aid - especially $13 million in military aid - is one vote that America can cast.
Source: New York Times
To assure that result, all serious opposition parties have been ruled ineligible, their leaders jailed, their newspapers silenced. His most formidable challenger is Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, candidate of the Liberal Action Party. Harvard-educated and a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf has been Citibank's representative in Nairobi. In a speech she gave recently on a visit to Philadelphia, she faulted Liberia's lavish public spending. For this, she was arrested on her return to Monrovia, accused of endangering stability. Last week, incredibly, she was put on trial for sedition.
All this cries out for more than a routine response from Washington. Americans have special historic ties to Liberia's two million people. Liberia was established in 1822 with American help as a haven for freed black slaves. Its use of English, its Constitution and even its flag reflect this history. But the promise of liberty has never been realized. Liberians have endured poverty and corrupt misgovernment, and General Doe's erratic despotism now outdoes his predecessors'.
Nonetheless, since his coup, U.S. foreign aid to Liberia has quadrupled, to $83 million this year, the highest per capita figure in Africa. To induce him to hold the elections he promised, $250,000 of this aid was earmarked to help pay the costs. General Doe denounced Washington for interfering and vowed to return the money. Wholly in character, he hasn't.
The general seemingly assumes that the Reagan Administration will put up with anything so long as he makes anti-Communist noises and causes no trouble about a vital Voice of America transmitter. But jailing a Citibank representative for preaching fiscal conservatism shows neither scruple nor sense. If Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf and other challengers are barred from Liberia's elections, a healthy cut in Liberian aid - especially $13 million in military aid - is one vote that America can cast.
Source: New York Times
Friday, August 23, 1985
LIBERIAN CITIBANK AIDE ON TRIAL
A international banking executive for Citibank, who is a leader of an opposition party in Liberia, went on trial yesterday on sedition charges in Monrovia, the Liberia capital, according to United Nations and State Department officials. The trial by military tribunal of the executive, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, as well as that of two journalists, comes two months before scheduled elections, which are to mark a return to civilian rule in Liberia.
Gen. Samuel K. Doe, Liberia's leader, has charged that a speech given by Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf in Philadelphia last month was "detrimental to the peace and stability of the country."
Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf, a 46-year-old Harvard-educated economist, was Minister of Finance in Liberia at the time of the 1980 military coup. She later worked at the World Bank before becoming Citibank's African representative. She was placed under house arrest on July 31 after arriving in Liberia and was taken to a military stockade on Aug. 9.
United States Embassy officials in Monrovia have '"expressed concern" to the Liberian Government over the case, according to Robert Bruce, a spokesman for the State Department. "We're urging prompt due process," he said. In addition, Edward Derwinski, a State Department counselor, went to Monrovia last month to review election procedures and to voice concern about the impending trials, said Mr. Bruce.
Despite the proliferation of political parties that sprang up when elections were called, only one party besides General Doe's ruling National Democratic Party of Liberia has successfully registered for the election. The other parties - including Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf's Liberal Action Party, which she helped found -have been blocked by the courts or special election panels, or the parties' leaders have been jailed or banned from political activity. In her speech in Philadelphia to the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas, Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf criticized Liberia's program of constructing large public buildings to the detriment of the rest of the economy. "While agricultural and rural development programs are on the verge of closure for lack of funding, a wide range of buildings - Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health and scores of buildings - are being constructed," she said, adding that this activity "represents a nonproductive investment."
In New York City yesterday, Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf's sister, Jennie Bernard, said she was deeply worried about her sister's fate. "My family members have tried to get permission to see her but that hasn't been granted," Mrs. Bernard said.
Source: New York Times
Gen. Samuel K. Doe, Liberia's leader, has charged that a speech given by Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf in Philadelphia last month was "detrimental to the peace and stability of the country."
Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf, a 46-year-old Harvard-educated economist, was Minister of Finance in Liberia at the time of the 1980 military coup. She later worked at the World Bank before becoming Citibank's African representative. She was placed under house arrest on July 31 after arriving in Liberia and was taken to a military stockade on Aug. 9.
United States Embassy officials in Monrovia have '"expressed concern" to the Liberian Government over the case, according to Robert Bruce, a spokesman for the State Department. "We're urging prompt due process," he said. In addition, Edward Derwinski, a State Department counselor, went to Monrovia last month to review election procedures and to voice concern about the impending trials, said Mr. Bruce.
Despite the proliferation of political parties that sprang up when elections were called, only one party besides General Doe's ruling National Democratic Party of Liberia has successfully registered for the election. The other parties - including Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf's Liberal Action Party, which she helped found -have been blocked by the courts or special election panels, or the parties' leaders have been jailed or banned from political activity. In her speech in Philadelphia to the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas, Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf criticized Liberia's program of constructing large public buildings to the detriment of the rest of the economy. "While agricultural and rural development programs are on the verge of closure for lack of funding, a wide range of buildings - Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health and scores of buildings - are being constructed," she said, adding that this activity "represents a nonproductive investment."
In New York City yesterday, Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf's sister, Jennie Bernard, said she was deeply worried about her sister's fate. "My family members have tried to get permission to see her but that hasn't been granted," Mrs. Bernard said.
Source: New York Times
Friday, August 9, 1985
Victoria Mxenge and the 'act of cowardice'
Three weeks ago, Victoria Mxenge commented on the murders of four Cradock leaders at their funeral. “A dastardly act of cowardices” she said.
Two weeks later she became the next victim in a series of mysterious killings of outspoken opponents of apartheid. This Durban civil rights lawyer will be buried in King William’s Town on Sunday next to her husband Griffiths Mxenge. He was found butchered with 45 stab wounds and his throat slit in the Umlazi cycle stadium on November 19, 1981. His murderers have never been found.
Victoria vowed to bring his killers to justice. But last Thursday night her mission was thwarted when four attackers gunned her down and bludgeoned her to death outside her Umlazi home. While her death makes her a martyr of her political struggle, during her life she was looked up to as a formidable example of courage and energy.
A nurse by profession, she later studied law and joined her husband’s practice as an attorney in 1981. After his murder, she took over the reigns and became one of the most popular civil right lawyers in Natal. She plunged into the fight against injustice and apartheid in the courts, instructing some of the country’s top advocates in treason trials.
Mxenge represented families of victims of the Matolo raid and Lesotho raid—cases from which most attorneys would have shied away. She was elevated from political obscurity to the forefront in Natal when she became the widow of Griffiths Mxenge. From being virtually unknown in political organisations, she sat on the executive of the Natal Organisation of Women, the United Democratic Front and the Release Mandela Committee after her husband was killed.
However, her real influence was among the youth who loved her as their adopted mother. Two years ago, she successfully defended students against the confiscation of their results by the Department of Education. Her death was felt so strongly by the students that the day after her death they took to the streets in their thousands in protest.
They also immediately called for a week—long boycott of classes in mourning. They expressed the fear of UDF leaders that a sinister campaign of assassinations that had claimed the lives of political activists in the Eastern Cape was now spreading to Natal.
A UDF spokesman speculated that the recent explosion at the home of Amichand Rajbansi, Cabinet Minister and leader of the National People’s Party, was not intended to harm him, but was a tactic to justify “revenge attacks”. “Some people have looked closely at the whole event and believe some device used was of such a nature that it could not harm Rajbansi seriously,” he said.
The motive could be similar to attacks in the Eastern Cape where assaults on pro-government targets were followed by retributive attacks on opposition activists. Police still have not come up with any leads on Victoria Mxenge’s murder.
The Port Natal divisional commissioner has been assigned to the case—in contrast to her husband’s murder where numerous allegations were made during the inquest about inadequacies in the police investigation.
Another unusual response came from Natal’s Judge President, Mr Justice Milne, who opened the UDF treason trial this week by deploring Mxenge’s killing. She was killed four days before she was due to appear on behalf of the treason trialists in the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court.
“It grieves me to have to record that one of the most recent of the tragic ‘and deplorable acts of violence that are afflicting this country is Mrs Mxenge’s death,” Justice Milne said.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Two weeks later she became the next victim in a series of mysterious killings of outspoken opponents of apartheid. This Durban civil rights lawyer will be buried in King William’s Town on Sunday next to her husband Griffiths Mxenge. He was found butchered with 45 stab wounds and his throat slit in the Umlazi cycle stadium on November 19, 1981. His murderers have never been found.
Victoria vowed to bring his killers to justice. But last Thursday night her mission was thwarted when four attackers gunned her down and bludgeoned her to death outside her Umlazi home. While her death makes her a martyr of her political struggle, during her life she was looked up to as a formidable example of courage and energy.
A nurse by profession, she later studied law and joined her husband’s practice as an attorney in 1981. After his murder, she took over the reigns and became one of the most popular civil right lawyers in Natal. She plunged into the fight against injustice and apartheid in the courts, instructing some of the country’s top advocates in treason trials.
Mxenge represented families of victims of the Matolo raid and Lesotho raid—cases from which most attorneys would have shied away. She was elevated from political obscurity to the forefront in Natal when she became the widow of Griffiths Mxenge. From being virtually unknown in political organisations, she sat on the executive of the Natal Organisation of Women, the United Democratic Front and the Release Mandela Committee after her husband was killed.
However, her real influence was among the youth who loved her as their adopted mother. Two years ago, she successfully defended students against the confiscation of their results by the Department of Education. Her death was felt so strongly by the students that the day after her death they took to the streets in their thousands in protest.
They also immediately called for a week—long boycott of classes in mourning. They expressed the fear of UDF leaders that a sinister campaign of assassinations that had claimed the lives of political activists in the Eastern Cape was now spreading to Natal.
A UDF spokesman speculated that the recent explosion at the home of Amichand Rajbansi, Cabinet Minister and leader of the National People’s Party, was not intended to harm him, but was a tactic to justify “revenge attacks”. “Some people have looked closely at the whole event and believe some device used was of such a nature that it could not harm Rajbansi seriously,” he said.
The motive could be similar to attacks in the Eastern Cape where assaults on pro-government targets were followed by retributive attacks on opposition activists. Police still have not come up with any leads on Victoria Mxenge’s murder.
The Port Natal divisional commissioner has been assigned to the case—in contrast to her husband’s murder where numerous allegations were made during the inquest about inadequacies in the police investigation.
Another unusual response came from Natal’s Judge President, Mr Justice Milne, who opened the UDF treason trial this week by deploring Mxenge’s killing. She was killed four days before she was due to appear on behalf of the treason trialists in the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court.
“It grieves me to have to record that one of the most recent of the tragic ‘and deplorable acts of violence that are afflicting this country is Mrs Mxenge’s death,” Justice Milne said.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Tuesday, April 16, 1985
UN Consumer protection: A/RES/39/248
Recalling Economic and Social Council resolution 1981/62 of 23 July 1981, in
which the Council requested the Secretary-General to continue consultations on
consumer protection with a view to elaborating a set of general guidelines for
consumer protection, taking particularly into account the needs of the
developing countries, Recalling further General Assembly resolution 38/147 of 19 December 1983, Noting Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/63 of 26 July 1984,
1. Decides to adopt the guidelines for consumer protection annexed to the
present resolution;
2. Requests the Secretary-General to disseminate the guidelines to
Governments and other interested parties;
3. Requests all organizations of the United Nations system that elaborate
guidelines and related documents on specific areas relevant to consumer
protection to distribute them to the appropriate bodies of individual States.
Annex
GUIDELINES FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION
I. Objectives
1. Taking into account the interests and needs of consumers in all
countries, particularly those in developing countries; recognizing that
consumers often face imbalances in economic terms, educational levels, and
bargaining power; and bearing in mind that consumers should have the right of
access to non-hazardous products, as well as the right to promote just,
equitable and sustainable economic and social development, these guidelines
for consumer protection have the following objectives:
(a) To assist countries in achieving or maintaining adequate protection for
their population as consumers;
(b) To facilitate production and distribution patterns responsive to the
needs and desires of consumers;
(c) To encourage high levels of ethical conduct for those engaged in the
production and distribution of goods and services to consumers;
(d) To assist countries in curbing abusive business practices by all
enterprises at the national and international levels which adversely affect
consumers;
(e) To facilitate the development of independent consumer groups;
(f) To further international co-operation in the field of consumer
protection;
(g) To encourage the development of market conditions which provide consumers
with greater choice at lower prices.
II. General principles
2. Governments should develop, strengthen or maintain a strong consumer
protection policy, taking into account the guidelines set out below. In so
doing, each Government must set its own priorities for the protection of
consumers in accordance with the economic and social circumstances of the
country, and the needs of its population, and bearing in mind the costs and
benefits of proposed measures.
3. The legitimate needs which the guidelines are intended to meet are the
following:
(a) The protection of consumers from hazards to their health and safety;
(b) The promotion and protection of the economic interests of consumers;
(c) Access of consumers to adequate information to enable them to make
informed choices according to individual wishes and needs;
(d) Consumer education;
(e) Availability of effective consumer redress;
(f) Freedom to form consumer and other relevant groups or organizations and
the opportunity of such organizations to present their views in
decision-making processes affecting them.
4. Governments should provide or maintain adequate infrastructure to
develop, implement and monitor consumer protection policies. Special care
should be taken to ensure that measures for consumer protection are
implemented for the benefit of all sectors of the population, particularly the
rural population.
5. All enterprises should obey the relevant laws and regulations of the
countries in which they do business. They should also conform to the
appropriate provisions of international standards for consumer protection to
which the competent authorities of the country in question have agreed.
(Hereinafter references to international standards in the guidelines should be
viewed in the context of this paragraph.)
6. The potential positive role of universities and public and private
enterprises in research should be considered when developing consumer
protection policies.
III. Guidelines
7. The following guidelines should apply both to home-produced goods and
services and to imports.
8. In applying any procedures or regulations for consumer protection, due
regard should be given to ensuring that they do not become barriers to
international trade and that they are consistent with international trade
obligations.
A. Physical safety
9. Governments should adopt or encourage the adoption of appropriate
measures, including legal systems, safety regulations, national or
international standards, voluntary standards and the maintenance of safety
records to ensure that products are safe for either intended or normally
foreseeable use.
10. Appropriate policies should ensure that goods produced by manufacturers
are safe for either intended or normally foreseeable use. Those responsible
for bringing goods to the market, in particular suppliers, exporters,
importers, retailers and the like (hereinafter referred to as "distributors"),
should ensure that while in their care these goods are not rendered unsafe
through improper handling or storage and that while in their care they do not
become hazardous through improper handling or storage. Consumers should be
instructed in the proper use of goods and should be informed of the risks
involved in intended or normally foreseeable use. Vital safety information
should be conveyed to consumers by internationally understandable symbols
wherever possible.
11. Appropriate policies should ensure that if manufacturers or distributors
become aware of unforeseen hazards after products are placed on the market,
they should notify the relevant authorities and, as appropriate, the public
without delay. Governments should also consider ways of ensuring that
consumers are properly informed of such hazards.
12. Governments should, where appropriate, adopt policies under which, if a
product is found to be seriously defective and/or to constitute a substantial
and severe hazard even when properly used, manufacturers and/or distributors
should recall it and replace or modify it, or substitute another product for
it; if it is not possible to do this within a reasonable period of time, the
consumer should be adequately compensated.
B. Promotion and protection of consumers' economic interests
13. Government policies should seek to enable consumers to obtain optimum
benefit from their economic resources. They should also seek to achieve the
goals of satisfactory production and performance standards, adequate
distribution methods, fair business practices, informative marketing and
effective protection against practices which could adversely affect the
economic interests of consumers and the exercise of choice in the
market-place.
14. Governments should intensify their efforts to prevent practices which are
damaging to the economic interests of consumers through ensuring that
manufacturers, distributors and others involved in the provision of goods and
services adhere to established laws and mandatory standards. Consumer
organizations should be encouraged to monitor adverse practices, such as the
adulteration of foods, false or misleading claims in marketing and service
frauds.
15. Governments should develop, strengthen or maintain, as the case may be,
measures relating to the control of restrictive and other abusive business
practices which may be harmful to consumers, including means for the
enforcement of such measures. In this connection, Governments should be
guided by their commitment to the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable
Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices adopted
by the General Assembly in resolution 35/63 of 5 December 1980.
16. Governments should adopt or maintain policies that make clear the
responsibility of the producer to ensure that goods meet reasonable demands of
durability, utility and reliability, and are suited to the purpose for which
they are intended, and that the seller should see that these requirements are
met. Similar policies should apply to the provision of services.
17. Governments should encourage fair and effective competition in order to
provide consumers with the greatest range of choice among products and
services at the lowest cost.
18. Governments should, where appropriate, see to it that manufacturers
and/or retailers ensure adequate availability of reliable after-sales service
and spare parts.
19. Consumers should be protected from such contractual abuses as one-sided
standard contracts, exclusion of essential rights in contracts, and
unconscionable conditions of credit by sellers.
20. Promotional marketing and sales practices should be guided by the
principle of fair treatment of consumers and should meet legal requirements.
This requires the provision of the information necessary to enable consumers
to take informed and independent decisions, as well as measures to ensure that
the information provided is accurate.
21. Governments should encourage all concerned to participate in the free
flow of accurate information on all aspects of consumer products.
22. Governments should, within their own national context, encourage the
formulation and implementation by business, in co-operation with consumer
organizations, of codes of marketing and other business practices to ensure
adequate consumer protection. Voluntary agreements may also be established
jointly by business, consumer organizations and other interested parties.
These codes should receive adequate publicity.
23. Governments should regularly review legislation pertaining to weights and
measures and assess the adequacy of the machinery for its enforcement.
C. Standards for the safety and quality of consumer goods
and services
24. Governments should, as appropriate, formulate or promote the elaboration
and implementation of standards, voluntary and other, at the national and
international levels for the safety and quality of goods and services and give
them appropriate publicity. National standards and regulations for product
safety and quality should be reviewed from time to time, in order to ensure
that they conform, where possible, to generally accepted international
standards.
25. Where a standard lower than the generally accepted international standard
is being applied because of local economic conditions, every effort should be
made to raise that standard as soon as possible.
26. Governments should encourage and ensure the availability of facilities to
test and certify the safety, quality and performance of essential consumer
goods and services.
D. Distribution facilities for essential consumer goods
and services
27. Governments should, where appropriate, consider:
(a) Adopting or maintaining policies to ensure the efficient distribution of
goods and services to consumers; where appropriate, specific policies should
be considered to ensure the distribution of essential goods and services where
this distribution is endangered, as could be the case particularly in rural
areas. Such policies could include assistance for the creation of adequate
storage and retail facilities in rural centres, incentives for consumer
self-help and better control of the conditions under which essential goods and
services are provided in rural areas;
(b) Encouraging the establishment of consumer co-operatives and related
trading activities, as well as information about them, especially in rural
areas.
E. Measures enabling consumers to obtain redress
28. Governments should establish or maintain legal and/or administrative
measures to enable consumers or, as appropriate, relevant organizations to
obtain redress through formal or informal procedures that are expeditious,
fair, inexpensive and accessible. Such procedures should take particular
account of the needs of low-income consumers.
29. Governments should encourage all enterprises to resolve consumer disputes
in a fair, expeditious and informal manner, and to establish voluntary
mechanisms, including advisory services and informal complaints procedures,
which can provide assistance to consumers.
30. Information on available redress and other dispute-resolving procedures
should be made available to consumers.
F. Education and information programmes
31. Governments should develop or encourage the development of general
consumer education and information programmes, bearing in mind the cultural
traditions of the people concerned. The aim of such programmes should be to
enable people to act as discriminating consumers, capable of making an
informed choice of goods and services, and conscious of their rights and
responsibilities. In developing such programmes, special attention should be
given to the needs of disadvantaged consumers, in both rural and urban areas,
including low-income consumers and those with low or non-existent literacy
levels.
32. Consumer education should, where appropriate, become an integral part of
the basic curriculum of the educational system, preferably as a component of
existing subjects.
33. Consumer education and information programmes should cover such important
aspects of consumer protection as the following:
(a) Health, nutrition, prevention of food-borne diseases and food
adulteration;
(b) Product hazards;
(c) Product labelling;
(d) Relevant legislation, how to obtain redress, and agencies and
organizations for consumer protection;
(e) Information on weights and measures, prices, quality, credit conditions
and availability of basic necessities; and
(f) As appropriate, pollution and environment.
34. Governments should encourage consumer organizations and other interested
groups, including the media, to undertake education and information
programmes, particularly for the benefit of low-income consumer groups in
rural and urban areas.
35. Business should, where appropriate, undertake or participate in factual
and relevant consumer education and information programmes.
36. Bearing in mind the need to reach rural consumers and illiterate
consumers, Governments should, as appropriate, develop or encourage the
development of consumer information programmes in the mass media.
37. Governments should organize or encourage training programmes for
educators, mass media professionals and consumer advisers, to enable them to
participate in carrying out consumer information and education programmes.
G. Measures relating to specific areas
38. In advancing consumer interests, particularly in developing countries,
Governments should, where appropriate, give priority to areas of essential
concern for the health of the consumer, such as food, water and
pharmaceuticals. Policies should be adopted or maintained for product quality
control, adequate and secure distribution facilities, standardized
international labelling and information, as well as education and research
programmes in these areas. Government guidelines in regard to specific areas
should be developed in the context of the provisions of this document.
39. Food. When formulating national policies and plans with regard to food,
Governments should take into account the need of all consumers for food
security and should support and, as far as possible, adopt standards from the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health
Organization Codex Alimentarius or, in their absence, other generally accepted
international food standards. Governments should maintain, develop or improve
food safety measures, including, inter alia, safety criteria, food standards
and dietary requirements and effective monitoring, inspection and evaluation
mechanisms.
40. Water. Governments should, within the goals and targets set for the
International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, formulate, maintain
or strengthen national policies to improve the supply, distribution and
quality of water for drinking. Due regard should be paid to the choice of
appropriate levels of service, quality and technology, the need for education
programmes and the importance of community participation.
41. Pharmaceuticals. Governments should develop or maintain adequate
standards, provisions and appropriate regulatory systems for ensuring the
quality and appropriate use of pharmaceuticals through integrated national
drug policies which could address, inter alia, procurement, distribution,
production, licensing arrangements, registration systems and the availability
of reliable information on pharmaceuticals. In so doing, Governments should
take special account of the work and recommendations of the World Health
Organization on pharmaceuticals. For relevant products, the use of that
organization's Certification Scheme on the Quality of Pharmaceutical Products
Moving in International Commerce and other international information systems
on pharmaceuticals should be encouraged. Measures should also be taken, as
appropriate, to promote the use of international non-proprietary names (INNs)
for drugs, drawing on the work done by the World Health Organization.
42. In addition to the priority areas indicated above, Governments should
adopt appropriate measures in other areas, such as pesticides and chemicals in
regard, where relevant, to their use, production and storage, taking into
account such relevant health and environmental information as Governments may
require producers to provide and include in the labelling of products.
IV. International co-operation
43. Governments should, especially in a regional or subregional context:
(a) Develop, review, maintain or strengthen, as appropriate, mechanisms for
the exchange of information on national policies and measures in the field of
consumer protection;
(b) Co-operate or encourage co-operation in the implementation of consumer
protection policies to achieve greater results within existing resources.
Examples of such co-operation could be collaboration in the setting up or
joint use of testing facilities, common testing procedures, exchange of
consumer information and education programmes, joint training programmes and
joint elaboration of regulations;
(c) Co-operate to improve the conditions under which essential goods are
offered to consumers, giving due regard to both price and quality. Such
co-operation could include joint procurement of essential goods, exchange of
information on different procurement possibilities and agreements on regional
product specifications.
44. Governments should develop or strengthen information links regarding
products which have been banned, withdrawn or severely restricted in order to
enable other importing countries to protect themselves adequately against the
harmful effects of such products.
45. Governments should work to ensure that the quality of products, and
information relating to such products, does not vary from country to country
in a way that would have detrimental effects on consumers.
46. Governments should work to ensure that policies and measures for consumer
protection are implemented with due regard to their not becoming barriers to
international trade, and that they are consistent with international trade
obligations.
Source: United Nations
which the Council requested the Secretary-General to continue consultations on
consumer protection with a view to elaborating a set of general guidelines for
consumer protection, taking particularly into account the needs of the
developing countries, Recalling further General Assembly resolution 38/147 of 19 December 1983, Noting Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/63 of 26 July 1984,
1. Decides to adopt the guidelines for consumer protection annexed to the
present resolution;
2. Requests the Secretary-General to disseminate the guidelines to
Governments and other interested parties;
3. Requests all organizations of the United Nations system that elaborate
guidelines and related documents on specific areas relevant to consumer
protection to distribute them to the appropriate bodies of individual States.
Annex
GUIDELINES FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION
I. Objectives
1. Taking into account the interests and needs of consumers in all
countries, particularly those in developing countries; recognizing that
consumers often face imbalances in economic terms, educational levels, and
bargaining power; and bearing in mind that consumers should have the right of
access to non-hazardous products, as well as the right to promote just,
equitable and sustainable economic and social development, these guidelines
for consumer protection have the following objectives:
(a) To assist countries in achieving or maintaining adequate protection for
their population as consumers;
(b) To facilitate production and distribution patterns responsive to the
needs and desires of consumers;
(c) To encourage high levels of ethical conduct for those engaged in the
production and distribution of goods and services to consumers;
(d) To assist countries in curbing abusive business practices by all
enterprises at the national and international levels which adversely affect
consumers;
(e) To facilitate the development of independent consumer groups;
(f) To further international co-operation in the field of consumer
protection;
(g) To encourage the development of market conditions which provide consumers
with greater choice at lower prices.
II. General principles
2. Governments should develop, strengthen or maintain a strong consumer
protection policy, taking into account the guidelines set out below. In so
doing, each Government must set its own priorities for the protection of
consumers in accordance with the economic and social circumstances of the
country, and the needs of its population, and bearing in mind the costs and
benefits of proposed measures.
3. The legitimate needs which the guidelines are intended to meet are the
following:
(a) The protection of consumers from hazards to their health and safety;
(b) The promotion and protection of the economic interests of consumers;
(c) Access of consumers to adequate information to enable them to make
informed choices according to individual wishes and needs;
(d) Consumer education;
(e) Availability of effective consumer redress;
(f) Freedom to form consumer and other relevant groups or organizations and
the opportunity of such organizations to present their views in
decision-making processes affecting them.
4. Governments should provide or maintain adequate infrastructure to
develop, implement and monitor consumer protection policies. Special care
should be taken to ensure that measures for consumer protection are
implemented for the benefit of all sectors of the population, particularly the
rural population.
5. All enterprises should obey the relevant laws and regulations of the
countries in which they do business. They should also conform to the
appropriate provisions of international standards for consumer protection to
which the competent authorities of the country in question have agreed.
(Hereinafter references to international standards in the guidelines should be
viewed in the context of this paragraph.)
6. The potential positive role of universities and public and private
enterprises in research should be considered when developing consumer
protection policies.
III. Guidelines
7. The following guidelines should apply both to home-produced goods and
services and to imports.
8. In applying any procedures or regulations for consumer protection, due
regard should be given to ensuring that they do not become barriers to
international trade and that they are consistent with international trade
obligations.
A. Physical safety
9. Governments should adopt or encourage the adoption of appropriate
measures, including legal systems, safety regulations, national or
international standards, voluntary standards and the maintenance of safety
records to ensure that products are safe for either intended or normally
foreseeable use.
10. Appropriate policies should ensure that goods produced by manufacturers
are safe for either intended or normally foreseeable use. Those responsible
for bringing goods to the market, in particular suppliers, exporters,
importers, retailers and the like (hereinafter referred to as "distributors"),
should ensure that while in their care these goods are not rendered unsafe
through improper handling or storage and that while in their care they do not
become hazardous through improper handling or storage. Consumers should be
instructed in the proper use of goods and should be informed of the risks
involved in intended or normally foreseeable use. Vital safety information
should be conveyed to consumers by internationally understandable symbols
wherever possible.
11. Appropriate policies should ensure that if manufacturers or distributors
become aware of unforeseen hazards after products are placed on the market,
they should notify the relevant authorities and, as appropriate, the public
without delay. Governments should also consider ways of ensuring that
consumers are properly informed of such hazards.
12. Governments should, where appropriate, adopt policies under which, if a
product is found to be seriously defective and/or to constitute a substantial
and severe hazard even when properly used, manufacturers and/or distributors
should recall it and replace or modify it, or substitute another product for
it; if it is not possible to do this within a reasonable period of time, the
consumer should be adequately compensated.
B. Promotion and protection of consumers' economic interests
13. Government policies should seek to enable consumers to obtain optimum
benefit from their economic resources. They should also seek to achieve the
goals of satisfactory production and performance standards, adequate
distribution methods, fair business practices, informative marketing and
effective protection against practices which could adversely affect the
economic interests of consumers and the exercise of choice in the
market-place.
14. Governments should intensify their efforts to prevent practices which are
damaging to the economic interests of consumers through ensuring that
manufacturers, distributors and others involved in the provision of goods and
services adhere to established laws and mandatory standards. Consumer
organizations should be encouraged to monitor adverse practices, such as the
adulteration of foods, false or misleading claims in marketing and service
frauds.
15. Governments should develop, strengthen or maintain, as the case may be,
measures relating to the control of restrictive and other abusive business
practices which may be harmful to consumers, including means for the
enforcement of such measures. In this connection, Governments should be
guided by their commitment to the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable
Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices adopted
by the General Assembly in resolution 35/63 of 5 December 1980.
16. Governments should adopt or maintain policies that make clear the
responsibility of the producer to ensure that goods meet reasonable demands of
durability, utility and reliability, and are suited to the purpose for which
they are intended, and that the seller should see that these requirements are
met. Similar policies should apply to the provision of services.
17. Governments should encourage fair and effective competition in order to
provide consumers with the greatest range of choice among products and
services at the lowest cost.
18. Governments should, where appropriate, see to it that manufacturers
and/or retailers ensure adequate availability of reliable after-sales service
and spare parts.
19. Consumers should be protected from such contractual abuses as one-sided
standard contracts, exclusion of essential rights in contracts, and
unconscionable conditions of credit by sellers.
20. Promotional marketing and sales practices should be guided by the
principle of fair treatment of consumers and should meet legal requirements.
This requires the provision of the information necessary to enable consumers
to take informed and independent decisions, as well as measures to ensure that
the information provided is accurate.
21. Governments should encourage all concerned to participate in the free
flow of accurate information on all aspects of consumer products.
22. Governments should, within their own national context, encourage the
formulation and implementation by business, in co-operation with consumer
organizations, of codes of marketing and other business practices to ensure
adequate consumer protection. Voluntary agreements may also be established
jointly by business, consumer organizations and other interested parties.
These codes should receive adequate publicity.
23. Governments should regularly review legislation pertaining to weights and
measures and assess the adequacy of the machinery for its enforcement.
C. Standards for the safety and quality of consumer goods
and services
24. Governments should, as appropriate, formulate or promote the elaboration
and implementation of standards, voluntary and other, at the national and
international levels for the safety and quality of goods and services and give
them appropriate publicity. National standards and regulations for product
safety and quality should be reviewed from time to time, in order to ensure
that they conform, where possible, to generally accepted international
standards.
25. Where a standard lower than the generally accepted international standard
is being applied because of local economic conditions, every effort should be
made to raise that standard as soon as possible.
26. Governments should encourage and ensure the availability of facilities to
test and certify the safety, quality and performance of essential consumer
goods and services.
D. Distribution facilities for essential consumer goods
and services
27. Governments should, where appropriate, consider:
(a) Adopting or maintaining policies to ensure the efficient distribution of
goods and services to consumers; where appropriate, specific policies should
be considered to ensure the distribution of essential goods and services where
this distribution is endangered, as could be the case particularly in rural
areas. Such policies could include assistance for the creation of adequate
storage and retail facilities in rural centres, incentives for consumer
self-help and better control of the conditions under which essential goods and
services are provided in rural areas;
(b) Encouraging the establishment of consumer co-operatives and related
trading activities, as well as information about them, especially in rural
areas.
E. Measures enabling consumers to obtain redress
28. Governments should establish or maintain legal and/or administrative
measures to enable consumers or, as appropriate, relevant organizations to
obtain redress through formal or informal procedures that are expeditious,
fair, inexpensive and accessible. Such procedures should take particular
account of the needs of low-income consumers.
29. Governments should encourage all enterprises to resolve consumer disputes
in a fair, expeditious and informal manner, and to establish voluntary
mechanisms, including advisory services and informal complaints procedures,
which can provide assistance to consumers.
30. Information on available redress and other dispute-resolving procedures
should be made available to consumers.
F. Education and information programmes
31. Governments should develop or encourage the development of general
consumer education and information programmes, bearing in mind the cultural
traditions of the people concerned. The aim of such programmes should be to
enable people to act as discriminating consumers, capable of making an
informed choice of goods and services, and conscious of their rights and
responsibilities. In developing such programmes, special attention should be
given to the needs of disadvantaged consumers, in both rural and urban areas,
including low-income consumers and those with low or non-existent literacy
levels.
32. Consumer education should, where appropriate, become an integral part of
the basic curriculum of the educational system, preferably as a component of
existing subjects.
33. Consumer education and information programmes should cover such important
aspects of consumer protection as the following:
(a) Health, nutrition, prevention of food-borne diseases and food
adulteration;
(b) Product hazards;
(c) Product labelling;
(d) Relevant legislation, how to obtain redress, and agencies and
organizations for consumer protection;
(e) Information on weights and measures, prices, quality, credit conditions
and availability of basic necessities; and
(f) As appropriate, pollution and environment.
34. Governments should encourage consumer organizations and other interested
groups, including the media, to undertake education and information
programmes, particularly for the benefit of low-income consumer groups in
rural and urban areas.
35. Business should, where appropriate, undertake or participate in factual
and relevant consumer education and information programmes.
36. Bearing in mind the need to reach rural consumers and illiterate
consumers, Governments should, as appropriate, develop or encourage the
development of consumer information programmes in the mass media.
37. Governments should organize or encourage training programmes for
educators, mass media professionals and consumer advisers, to enable them to
participate in carrying out consumer information and education programmes.
G. Measures relating to specific areas
38. In advancing consumer interests, particularly in developing countries,
Governments should, where appropriate, give priority to areas of essential
concern for the health of the consumer, such as food, water and
pharmaceuticals. Policies should be adopted or maintained for product quality
control, adequate and secure distribution facilities, standardized
international labelling and information, as well as education and research
programmes in these areas. Government guidelines in regard to specific areas
should be developed in the context of the provisions of this document.
39. Food. When formulating national policies and plans with regard to food,
Governments should take into account the need of all consumers for food
security and should support and, as far as possible, adopt standards from the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health
Organization Codex Alimentarius or, in their absence, other generally accepted
international food standards. Governments should maintain, develop or improve
food safety measures, including, inter alia, safety criteria, food standards
and dietary requirements and effective monitoring, inspection and evaluation
mechanisms.
40. Water. Governments should, within the goals and targets set for the
International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, formulate, maintain
or strengthen national policies to improve the supply, distribution and
quality of water for drinking. Due regard should be paid to the choice of
appropriate levels of service, quality and technology, the need for education
programmes and the importance of community participation.
41. Pharmaceuticals. Governments should develop or maintain adequate
standards, provisions and appropriate regulatory systems for ensuring the
quality and appropriate use of pharmaceuticals through integrated national
drug policies which could address, inter alia, procurement, distribution,
production, licensing arrangements, registration systems and the availability
of reliable information on pharmaceuticals. In so doing, Governments should
take special account of the work and recommendations of the World Health
Organization on pharmaceuticals. For relevant products, the use of that
organization's Certification Scheme on the Quality of Pharmaceutical Products
Moving in International Commerce and other international information systems
on pharmaceuticals should be encouraged. Measures should also be taken, as
appropriate, to promote the use of international non-proprietary names (INNs)
for drugs, drawing on the work done by the World Health Organization.
42. In addition to the priority areas indicated above, Governments should
adopt appropriate measures in other areas, such as pesticides and chemicals in
regard, where relevant, to their use, production and storage, taking into
account such relevant health and environmental information as Governments may
require producers to provide and include in the labelling of products.
IV. International co-operation
43. Governments should, especially in a regional or subregional context:
(a) Develop, review, maintain or strengthen, as appropriate, mechanisms for
the exchange of information on national policies and measures in the field of
consumer protection;
(b) Co-operate or encourage co-operation in the implementation of consumer
protection policies to achieve greater results within existing resources.
Examples of such co-operation could be collaboration in the setting up or
joint use of testing facilities, common testing procedures, exchange of
consumer information and education programmes, joint training programmes and
joint elaboration of regulations;
(c) Co-operate to improve the conditions under which essential goods are
offered to consumers, giving due regard to both price and quality. Such
co-operation could include joint procurement of essential goods, exchange of
information on different procurement possibilities and agreements on regional
product specifications.
44. Governments should develop or strengthen information links regarding
products which have been banned, withdrawn or severely restricted in order to
enable other importing countries to protect themselves adequately against the
harmful effects of such products.
45. Governments should work to ensure that the quality of products, and
information relating to such products, does not vary from country to country
in a way that would have detrimental effects on consumers.
46. Governments should work to ensure that policies and measures for consumer
protection are implemented with due regard to their not becoming barriers to
international trade, and that they are consistent with international trade
obligations.
Source: United Nations
Saturday, March 9, 1985
60 killed by Beirut car bomb
A car bomb killed about 60 people and injured more than 200 at dusk yesterday near the home of a prominent Shi'ite clergyman in a southern Beirut suburb. The booby-trapped vehicle exploded 10 yards from the home of Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. It pulled down the outer walls of an apartment block which is being built, set fire to cars and gouged a crater in the road. Beirut radio said Fadlallah was unharmed.
Security sources estimated that the blast was the equivalent of 440lbs of dynamite. After the explosion, gunmen of the Muslim fundamentalist Hezbollah (Party of God) and the Shi'ite Amal movement fired automatic weapons into the air to clear roads for ambulances taking the victims to hospitals in mainly-Muslim West Beirut . The blast was the worst such explosion in Beirut since the truck bombing of American and French peacekeeping headquarters here in October, 1983, which killed 241 US servicemen and 55 French soldiers.
The US aircraft carrier, Eisenhower, left Majorca hurriedly last night, apparently to be in position if a decision is made to evacuate Americans from Lebanon. The State Department spokesman, Mr Edward Djerejian, said: 'Embassy personnel are not being evacuated from Lebanon. Obviously we continue to be concerned about the security of US government personnel and have their safety and their status continually under review.' The Eisenhower left Majorca three days ahead of schedule, so fast that 110 of its crewmen were left behind.
Rescuers were still searching for survivors buried under the rubble of the eight-storey building more than an hour after the blast, and firemen were fighting blazes in dozens of cars set on fire in a parking area between the cinema and the mosque.
Mr Fadlallah accused Israel and its 'internal allies' of being behind the explosion. He warned 'all those who are playing with fire that their hands will be burned by the flames.' The Shi'ite Amal movement, which has been fighting Israeli occupation troops in southern Lebanon, also blamed Israel for the blast, and said in a statement: 'We shall have a reply appropriate in size which will reach those who committed it.'
The blast brought pandemonium to the streets of West Beirut , as fleets of ambulances rushed to hospitals, truckloads of gunmen fired wildly into the air, and passers-by fled for cover. Hospitals quickly filled up, and staff worked late into the night to treat the wounded, many of them in serious condition. Beirut 's crowded southern suburbs are inhabited mainly by poor Shi'ite Muslim families, many of them refugees from the south. Unemployment is high, and street fighting between rival militias is an almost daily occurrence. A car bomb in the southern suburbs on February 18 killed six people and wounded 35.
The US State Department refused to say how many US embassy personnel it had in Beirut , but estimated that there were 1,400 US citizens in Lebanon. It said that many of them were dual citizens. Other sources said that the Eisenihower, accompanied by the US guided-missile destroyer, Mississippi, headed for the eastern Mediterranean. The CBS television network said that two US C-130 Hercules transports, which could be used for an evacuation, arrived in Cyprus yesterday.
Source: The Guardian
Security sources estimated that the blast was the equivalent of 440lbs of dynamite. After the explosion, gunmen of the Muslim fundamentalist Hezbollah (Party of God) and the Shi'ite Amal movement fired automatic weapons into the air to clear roads for ambulances taking the victims to hospitals in mainly-Muslim West Beirut . The blast was the worst such explosion in Beirut since the truck bombing of American and French peacekeeping headquarters here in October, 1983, which killed 241 US servicemen and 55 French soldiers.
The US aircraft carrier, Eisenhower, left Majorca hurriedly last night, apparently to be in position if a decision is made to evacuate Americans from Lebanon. The State Department spokesman, Mr Edward Djerejian, said: 'Embassy personnel are not being evacuated from Lebanon. Obviously we continue to be concerned about the security of US government personnel and have their safety and their status continually under review.' The Eisenhower left Majorca three days ahead of schedule, so fast that 110 of its crewmen were left behind.
Rescuers were still searching for survivors buried under the rubble of the eight-storey building more than an hour after the blast, and firemen were fighting blazes in dozens of cars set on fire in a parking area between the cinema and the mosque.
Mr Fadlallah accused Israel and its 'internal allies' of being behind the explosion. He warned 'all those who are playing with fire that their hands will be burned by the flames.' The Shi'ite Amal movement, which has been fighting Israeli occupation troops in southern Lebanon, also blamed Israel for the blast, and said in a statement: 'We shall have a reply appropriate in size which will reach those who committed it.'
The blast brought pandemonium to the streets of West Beirut , as fleets of ambulances rushed to hospitals, truckloads of gunmen fired wildly into the air, and passers-by fled for cover. Hospitals quickly filled up, and staff worked late into the night to treat the wounded, many of them in serious condition. Beirut 's crowded southern suburbs are inhabited mainly by poor Shi'ite Muslim families, many of them refugees from the south. Unemployment is high, and street fighting between rival militias is an almost daily occurrence. A car bomb in the southern suburbs on February 18 killed six people and wounded 35.
The US State Department refused to say how many US embassy personnel it had in Beirut , but estimated that there were 1,400 US citizens in Lebanon. It said that many of them were dual citizens. Other sources said that the Eisenihower, accompanied by the US guided-missile destroyer, Mississippi, headed for the eastern Mediterranean. The CBS television network said that two US C-130 Hercules transports, which could be used for an evacuation, arrived in Cyprus yesterday.
Source: The Guardian
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