ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS CHARTER - A People’s Charter was declared on 17 May 1998 at a public gathering in Kwangju, south Korea. The declaration, which took place after a three-day conference in the city, coincided with the commemoration of the Kwangju Uprising of 1980 that had thereafter shaped the character of the city. The declaration of the Charter was one of the major features of this year’s commemoration, during which tens of thousands of Kwangju citizens celebrated in streets and gathered at the cemetery where those killed during the massacre were buried. The cemetery is now called the Gateway to Democracy and was declared a national shrine in 1997. Local and national television, radio and media gave wide publicity to the declaration of the Charter. The three-day conference to declare the Charter and to commemorate the Kwangju Uprising was jointly organised by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission and the Kwangju Citizens’ Solidarity in south Korea. (Ed. note: The next issue of Human Rights SOLIDARITY will cover the event in greater detail.)