The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed in 1948 with the aim of achieving a world free of governmental cruelty and injustice.

Pierre Sane: 'Governments hide behind arguments'

But in this year's annual report detailing the state of human rights across the world in 1997, Amnesty's secretary-general says it remains little more than a paper promise.

He said it was "deeply worrying" that some Asian and other governments were now challenging the whole notion of a universal standard of human rights.

The report records abuses in more than 140 countries, including torture in every continent, the imprisonment of people for their beliefs, widespread mass killings and extra-judicial executions.

Discrimination cannot be justified

Amnesty notes arguments that international standards are incompatible with Asian and African societies because they are based primarily on western concepts, and it criticises attempts to justify discrimination against women and punishments like amputation and flogging on the grounds that they are authorised by Islam.

In this year of the 50th anniversary of the human rights charter, Amnesty is calling on all citizens of the world to re-dedicate themselves to the values and principles contained in the Universal Declaration.

"Governments have failed us," said secretary-general Pierre Sane. "It is now our responsibility to organise massive pressure on governments to ensure that they fulfil their obligations."

'Catalogue of abuses'

The BBC's Diplomatic Correspondent says the report contains a depressingly familiar catalogue of abuses:

• Africa

  There were appalling violations in Africa, it says, with mass killings in the Great Lakes region.

• Latin America

  Latin America saw increasing attacks on human rights campaigners and journalists.

• Asia

  Amnesty picked out human rights violations by the military in Burma, and the reported detention of thousands of people in Afghanistan because of their ethnic background or alleged un-Islamic behaviour.

• Europe

  Torture and ill-treatment by the authorities were the most widely reported abuses in Europe.

• Middle East

  In the Middle East thousands of people were said to have been the victims of unlawful killings, torture and unfair trials, with a significant rise in the number of executions.

• Israel

  Amnesty says Israel is continuing to legalise practices which violate human rights, such as the torture of detainees during interrogation and the holding of Lebanese hostages to secure the release of Israelis.

• Australia

  Australia, the report says, moved to introduce legislation effectively allowing the authorities to disregard any human rights treaty it had previously ratified.

• United States

  Amnesty says the United States is reluctant to be bound by human rights treaties embodying the principle of universality. Most foreigners awaiting execution in the United States, it says, were effectively denied access to consular assistance, in violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

Some positive movement

But the BBC correspondent says there were also some positive developments recorded in the report:

• China

  China signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and abolished the death penalty for juveniles.

• Egypt

  The Egyptian Supreme Court decided to uphold a ban on state hospitals performing female genital mutilation.

• India

  India signed the UN Convention against Torture.

• Russia

  President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree covering reform of the Russian prison system.

• Turkey

  A new law in Turkey shortened the length of time the police can detain people in areas under emergency rule.

• Africa

  In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission brought out information about human rights violations in the past; while Mali and Malawi commuted all death sentences - opposed by Amnesty International.