WARSAW — For all that Poland has accomplished since the fall of the Iron Curtain, it has long resisted fully coming to terms with its Communist past — the oppression, the spying, even the massacres. Society preferred to forget, to move on.

So it may come as a surprise that Poland and many of its neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe have decided the time is right to deal with the unfinished business. Suddenly there is a wave of accounting in the form of government actions and cultural explorations, some seeking closure, others payback.

A court in Poland last month found that the Communist leaders behind the imposition of martial law in December 1981 were part of a “criminal group.” Bulgaria’s president is trying to purge ambassadors who served as security agents. The Macedonian government is busy hunting for collaborators, and Hungary’s new Constitution allows legal action against former Communists.

A draft Declaration on Human Rights by the Association, which brings together the countries of South-East Asia leaked. Vientiane, Hanoi and supported by Kuala Lumpur and Naypyidaw, indirectly, impose limits because the state is more important than the individual. Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines for a more progressive and modern version.

Bangkok (AsiaNews) - The recognition and protection of human rights can trigger "conflict and division" that end up dragging a country "into chaos and anarchy." Among the limitations, there is also the control of the "practice of a cult or a religion" that must comply with the laws of a nation in which "the rights of the state 'outweigh' freedoms and rights of individuals." This is what emerges from a draft of the ASEAN Declaration on Human Rights, drafted in January during the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission and published exclusively by a Burmese dissident website (based in India) Mizzima News. Among the ASEAN countries - the association that brings together 10 nations of South-east Asia, from Myanmar to Brunei - it reveals the attempt of Laos to "water down" the Bill of Rights, invoking a number of limitations in the underlying principles, in contrast, the governments of Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines want to promote a more progressive and modern version.

Authorities decide on a Tibetan's case even before his family learns of the charges against him.

A Tibetan monk repeatedly detained by Chinese authorities for the last six years has finally been formally charged—with “splittist activities”—and will be sentenced soon, Tibetan sources say.

Jigme Gyatso , a monk at the Labrang monastery in the Kanlho (in Chinese, Gannan) prefecture of China’s Gansu province, was most recently picked up by Chinese police on Aug. 20, 2011, his brother reported at the time.

“Since then, he has been held without any word concerning his fate,” a Tibetan source close to the family told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. leaders told visiting Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Washington will continue to highlight human rights as its moves to strengthen relations with Beijing.

China’s future leader replied that Beijing is prepared for a "candid and constructive" dialogue with Washington on the prickly issue as long as it is conducted on the basis of mutual respect.

He assured that Beijing will take more steps to improve the human rights situation in the world’s most populous nation.

The White House says President Barack Obama raised specific human rights cases in talks with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Tuesday.

A day after Vice President Xi's talks in the Oval Office, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed that Obama raised individual human rights cases during the discussion. A White House official declined to provide details when asked which cases Obama discussed with Xi.

Carney told reporters accompanying Obama on a cross-country trip that the president raised "the importance of human rights and America's commitment to universal values directly to Vice President Xi" and the situation in Tibet.

When a fish farmer in north Vietnam decided to take up arms against a battalion of police sent to evict him from his land, he sparked a public debate on an issue that has long simmered beneath the surface of Vietnamese society.

Doan Van Vuon

Last month the family of Doan Van Vuon, 49, used guns and homemade landmines to attack officials trying to take their farm. Four policemen and two soldiers were injured, including the local police chief. The incident drew national headlines and a tide of public sympathy for the farmer’s stand.

Retired American diplomat David Brown, says the case mainly highlights the importance of farmers’ rights in the largely agrarian country.