IN THE previous issue of this magazine I wrote that representatives of IHEU were going to Madrid to have talks with a group of people who are interested in establishing a humanist movement in Spain. In the article by Paul Kurtz on p 00 you can read about the successful results of that first meeting.

It is obviously not easy to start a humanist association there because it seems that in general Spaniards are not terribly keen on joining an organisation. Also, there is the difficulty Paul Kurtz mentions of the terms "humanist" and "humanism" not having the same connotation in Spanish as in English and in many other languages. Some people I talked with outside the group we met in Madrid, had only heard of humanism in connection with the "Humanist Party" with which we absolutely do not wish to be identified.

However, this is a minor problem which our Madrid friends will surely manage to solve by using some other term. Or, as one of them suggested, they might indeed call themselves humanists to get more publicity: it could stimulate discussions about the concept of humanism in the media.

Apart from very much enjoying our meetings in Madrid I also got a great deal of pleasure from staying nearly a week in Barcelona, where I lived for several months in 1948, and which I had not visited since. It is a wonderful city for sightseeing. To my surprise I found that much of the Spanish I had learnt all those years ago and which I had not kept up at all, did come back to me. But now that we are going to be in regular touch with Spanish-speaking humanists I certainly intend to brush up my Spanish.

Last month the Dutch former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Max van der Steel, was presented with the Dr. J, P. van Praag Award, called after the founder of the Dutch Humanist League and founder with Harold Blackham of IHEU. Van der Steel received this Award for his outstanding dedication to the promotion of respect for human rights. As well as his position as High Commissioner for National Minorities for the Conference for Safety and Cooperation in Europe, he still holds the office of United Nations rapporteur of possible violations of human rights in Iraq. However, since last year when he reported on the thousands of executions and disappearances under Sadam Hussein's regime, he has not been able to visit Iraq again. His request of six months ago for another entry permit has been ignored so far: "In diplomatic circles silence is a form of saying 'no'." In fact, the Iraq government was furious about his report and accused him of "being paid" for it.

One of the speakers at the presentation ceremony was the present Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor?. H. Kooijmans, whose subject was the role of the United Nations in the fight for human rights. Since he spoke on the eve of the World Conference in Vienna, he paid much attention to the crucial issue of the universality of human rights. Particularly, Asian countries demand consideration for their special national and regional circumstances and their diverse historical, cultural and religious backgrounds. Other themes he treated were the legitimacy of international involvement in human rights issues, and what in his opinion ought to be the main theme of the Conference: human rights, democracy and development. He suggested that developing countries should be given technical help to improve the human rights situation there. A negative element in this context is that of the conditions laid down by the donor countries. And, of course, he mentioned the need of strengthening the UN Centre for Human Rights, and of changing the status of its direct, or into that of a High Commissioner.

Another Dutch "human rights event" that took place just before the Vienna Conference was a very successful meeting organised by the Humanist Council for Human Rights {HOM) and

a Dutch trade union. There were over 700 participants including guests from Pakistan, Chile, Zimbabwe, E1 Salvador and Guatamala.

The main topic of the quite varied programme, which lasted from 12.00 to 23.00 hours, was the human rights of women and trade union rights in connection with the Conference. People were informed of what could be expected there and how women's, trade unions' human rights and development cooperation organisations prepared for it. This was done in speeches, a study conference and forum discussions, and there was an information market with stands of the various organisations. Also provided was a continuous film programme, a workshop for women on self-defence and an Indonesian dinner.

After the dinner the president of HOM, Maarten van Traa, who had also addressed Max van der Stoel at the above-mentioned Award presentation, handed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kooijmans a petition and a number of recommendations for the Vienna Conference. Then, following a debate between a politician, a scientist and a journalism in which the audience could participate, the evening closed with the swinging music of an Afropop band.

We now all know what has come out of the Vienna Conference of which nobody had high expectations. As far as appointing a -Sa-High Commissioner for H-man Rights is concerned, the recommendation to the General Assembly of the United Nations to consider this as a priority, is actually more than Western Countries had dared hope at the beginning of the Conference.

On the Sunday right after it ended, HOM held another meeting to discuss the results of the Vienna Conference, and in particular the principle of universality of human rights. The debate with - among others - Mohammed Arkoun, professor of Islam, was very lively and interesting.

Maybe I am behaving too chauvinistically by filling this column with so much news about what some Dutch humanists are doing in the field of human rights, but I don't mind admitting that I am quite proud of them. And I’ll just make matters worse by also proudly mentioning the artistic achievements of some other Dutch humanists: this year's Critics' Award for the best radio programmes went to a docu-drama about the big flood in the province of Zeeland in the South-West of the Netherlands in 1953, produced by the Humanist Broadcasting Foundation {HOB). This ninety-minute long drama was made with the help of the population of a small village as in a television production: for instance the sound of carts on a road or of people walking on gravel were real and not studio imitations. And finally: in Berlin the prestigious Prix Futura for documentaries was presented to HOB in Berlin for a television film about the Dutch surrealist Melle.

Speaking of Berlin, let's hope for a successful and enjoyable Humanist Congress this summer!