a028  0252  21 Jul 84
PM-East Germany, Bjt,550
East Germany Defends Shooting At Escapees
By HANNS NEUERBOURG
Associated Press Writer
    GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) - Laws empowering East German border guards
to shoot at people trying to flee the country are not a violation of
international agreements and are necessary to counteract Western
subversion, a government official told the U.N. Human Rights
Committee.
    The concept of human rights varies in different political systems,
and it is a ''realistic view that ... there are no human rights
outside the social and political structures of a country,'' East
German Justice Ministry official Erich Buchholz told the 18-member
committee on Friday.
    East Germany stands ''at the dividing line between two military
alliances,'' Buchholz said. Automatic, self-firing guns installed
along East Germany's border, and the 2-year-old laws that authorize
border guards to shoot escaping citizens, are consistent with
international law, he said.
    Some committee members disagreed.
    Christian Tomuschat of West Germany said it would be ''disastrous''
if each country had a different national human rights concept.
    Sir Vincent Evans, a veteran British jurist, said he ''questioned
very much'' whether East German legislation was consistent with that
in many other countries.
    The human rights committee was established in 1977 under the U.N.
Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, now ratified by 78 countries.
It pledges signatories to ''recognize the right of every human being
to life, liberty, security and privacy of the person.''
    The United States is not a member. Unlike the Helsinki accord and
the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the covenant is
binding international law. Every signatory is required to give a
regular account of how the agreement has been implemented in domestic
legislation and practice.
    But Birame Ndiaye of Senegal said Buchholz gave ''incomplete''
information in response to questions about human rights in East
Germany.
    ''All attempts to defame the measures securing our borders as
incompatible with the (U.N.) Covenant and the Helsinki final act are
doomed to fail,'' Buchholz said. ''To do so, would pervert the
relationship between cause and effect.''
    During the hearing Buchholz also said:
    -The law allowing border guards to shoot people trying to flee the
country has been applied ''in very, very rare cases.'' It was enacted
because East Germany continues to have ''very good reason to protect
its border reliably'' against subversion from the West.
    If possible, the life of a suspect will be spared and juveniles and
women will not be shot, he said. The law is ''consistent with
regulations in other democratic countries.''
    -East Germany restricts travel abroad only to protect ''national
security, public order or morality'' and the ''rights or freedoms of
others.'' Refusal by many countries to recognize East German
citizenship is also a factor.
    -Freedom of the press in East Germany is guaranteed by the
constitution. There are more foreign newspapers available in East
Germany than East German newspapers in the West. East German authors
whose books are published in the West but not in their home country
are not victims of censorship because ''publishing houses are
autonomous.''
    -Freedom of association is allowed in East Germany, but ''I cannot
imagine that a worker would be so stupid as to found a special trade
union'' apart from the official Communist labor federation with its
many benefits, he said.
    
ap-ny-07-21 0553EDT
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