|
International
Justice Watch Discussion List
From:
Human Rights Watch>
hrwatchnyc@igc.org
Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 7:26 PM
Anti-Terror Campaign Cloaking Human Rights Abuse
New Global Survey Finds Crackdown on Civil Liberties
And,
Subject: Direct Action >> Re: HRW: Anti-Terror
Campaign Cloaking Human Rights Abuse
Date:
Thu, 17 Jan 2002 13:28:16 -0500
From:
"Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>
Reply-To: direct_action@yahoogroups.com
For
Fairly Use
This
seems to be true. The US was the victim of terror attacks.
So it passed harsh anti-terror laws. But then other
countries, mostly
those already known for human rights abuses,
although they were
not targeted by terrorists, under the disguise
of joining American anti-terror campaign, passed even
harsher regulations and, without hesitation
(that usually caracterizes US implementation of restrictive
rules), moved to practice them. The most benign example came to me from my friend who
spent his Christmas
vaccation in Croatia. He told me that by far
the most thorough, privacy-invading and flight-delaying checks he had to undergo,
were not
at the US or German airports, but at Croatian ones.
Can you imagine the field day Serbian police must have with the anti-terror
campaign? - they can behave as they always wanted and
now with the
US stamp of approval!
ivo
---------
Anti-Terror
Campaign Cloaking Human Rights Abuse
New Global Survey Finds Crackdown on Civil Liberties
(Washington,
January 16, 2002) -- The anti-terror campaign led by
the United States is inspiring opportunistic attacks
on civil liberties around the world, Human Rights Watch
warned in its annual global survey released today (available
online at: http://hrw.org/wr2k2/).
At
the same time, the campaign offers a chance to focus
attention on the denial of human rights and democracy
in the Middle East and Central Asia, where authoritarian
governments have left millions of people with a choice
between extremist politics and no politics. Many of these authoritarian governments cling to power without
challenge from Westerngovernments.
The
670-page Human Rights Watch World Report 2002 includes
summaries of human rights events in 2001 in 66 countries,
as well as analyses of U.S. and European foreign policy,
refugee issues, international justice, corporate social
responsibility, and the weapons trade.
Some
countries, such as Russia, Uzbekistan, and Egypt, are
using the war on terror to justify abusive military
campaigns or crackdowns on domestic political opponents.
In the United States and Western Europe, measures designed
to combat terrorism are threatening long-held human
rights principles.
"Terrorists
believe that anything goes in the name of their cause,"
said Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights
Watch. "The fight against terror must not buy into
that logic. Human rights principles must not be compromised
in the name of any cause."
The
anti-terrorism campaign will not succeed if it is conducted
merely as a struggle against a particularly ruthless
set of criminals, Roth said. To defeat the fundamental
amorality of terrorism requires a firm grounding in
international human rights.
"The
fight against terror must reaffirm the principle that
no civilian should ever be deliberately killed or abused,"
said Roth. "But
for too many countries, the anti-terror mantra has provided
a new reason to ignore human rights."
On
Afghanistan, Roth said that the demise of the Taliban
regime created an opportunity for positive change. But
he urged that the international community devote real
resources to bringing perpetrators to justice for past
crimes. Establishing
the rule of law will be essential for ending the cycle
of atrocities in Afghanistan.
Roth
said that Human Rights Watch had not yet conducted an
on-the-ground investigation of civilian deaths in the
U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan, but that serious
questions had been raised by reports of civilian casualties.
Human
Rights Watch does not generally take a position on whether
particular wars should be fought, but does urge strict
respect for international humanitarian law in the conduct
of any war. Human Rights Watch urged the U.S. military
to be more forthcoming about civilian casualties in
Afghanistan.
Roth
also said that new restrictions on civil liberties in
the United States, such as the proposed military commissions,
could compromise the U.S. government's ability to criticize
human rights violations in other countries.
"Imagine
the U.S. condemning military tribunals set up by a tin-pot
tyrant to get rid of his political enemies," said
Roth. "That kind of criticism can have real sting.
But now it will ring with hypocrisy -- if the Pentagon
does not narrow President Bush's order on military commissions
with appropriate guidelines." Anti-terror legislation in many Western
European countries would have a similar effect on their
abilities to provide international leadership on human
rights, Roth said.
"The
fight against terror isn't just a matter of security,"
said Roth. "It's a matter of values."
The
willingness of most Western governments to tolerate
abuses by friendly governments in the Middle East and
North Africa has tended to undermine the growth of a
human rights culture there, Roth noted.
The
problems include the West's failure to rein in Israeli
abuses against
Palestinians, and its apparent disregard for
grave civilian suffering caused by sanctions against
Iraq.
"In
societies where basic freedoms flourish, citizens can
press their government to respond to grievances,"
said Roth. "But in Saudi Arabia and other countries
where Osama bin Laden strikes a chord of resentment,
governments prohibit political debate. As the option of peaceful political change is closed off, the
voices of non-violent dissent are
frequently upstaged by advocates of violent opposition."
Human Rights Watch is an international monitoring
organization based in New York. It accepts no financial
support from any government.
|
