The World : Rights Worker Deaths Told

More human rights workers were killed or suffered persecution in countries under freely elected leaders than under dictatorships of either the left or the right, according to a survey by the Human Rights Watch. The Washington-based group includes Americas Watch, Asia Watch and Helsinki Watch. The 217-page report said the most violence against those trying to preserve human rights during the past year came in the Philippines, while the Soviet Union showed some of the greatest progress in support of human rights. The report for 1988 documented 750 cases of persecution against people monitoring human rights in 61 countries, including 30 killings or deaths under detention and 16 killings of people associated with human rights monitoring.