Human rights climate 'worst in 50 years'
(Jeffery and Mark Oliver, The Guardian, May 26, 2004)
Amnesty International today claimed that governments and armed groups such as al-Qaida were putting human rights and international humanitarian law under the greatest pressure for more than 50 years. . . . From long-running conflicts in countries such as Chechnya and Sudan to the Madrid train bombings, it said global insecurity was combining with increasing human rights violations by powerful governments to create a world of "mistrust, fear and division". . . . It condemns attacks by al-Qaida and others as "sometimes amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity" but says principles of international law that could prevent such attacks were being undermined and marginalised by powerful countries such as the US. . . . "Governments are losing their moral compass, sacrificing the global values of human rights in a blind pursuit of security. This failure of leadership is a dangerous concession to armed groups," said Irene Khan, the secretary general of Amnesty International. . . . "The global security agenda promoted by the US administration is bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle. Violating human rights at home, turning a blind eye to abuses abroad and using pre-emptive military force where and when it chooses has damaged justice and freedom, and made the world a more dangerous place." . . . Amnesty said reports of the torture and ill-treatment of US detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and at jails in Iraq had further underlined the vulnerability of prisoners. "By failing to protect the rights of those who may be guilty, governments endanger the rights of those who are innocent, and put us all at risk," the report says.
posted by Lorenzo 9:46 PM
