Ivo Skoric on Thu, 17 Jan 2002 19:19:01 +0100 (CET)


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[Nettime-bold] Re: HRW: Anti-Terror Campaign Cloaking Human Rights Abuse


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

Date sent:      	Wed, 16 Jan 2002 11:34:27 -0500
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From:           	Andras Riedlmayer <riedlmay@FAS.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject:        	HRW: Anti-Terror Campaign Cloaking Human Rights Abuse
To:             	JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU

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

(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 Western
governments.

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.
==================================================================

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