Human Rights Watch slams US torture in annual re****t
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
AFP - Jan 18, 2006
http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/060118224758.uzoixst8.html
Human Rights Watch slams US 'torture' in annual re****t
NEW YORK (AFP) - US counter-terrorism policies, with their deliberate use
of
"torture and mistreatment," put the global defense of human rights on the
back foot in 2005, Human Rights Watch said in its annual re****t.
The New York-based monitor said the US strategy has fueled terrorist
recruitment and hampered Wa****ngton's ability to pressure other countries
into respecting international law.
"Fighting terrorism is central to the human rights cause," said Kenneth
Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "But using illegal tactics
against alleged terrorists is both wrong and counterproductive."
The watchdog also criticized US allies in the war on terror for
undermining
critical international protections, citing Britain for seeking to send
suspects to governments likely to torture, and Canada for moves to dilute
a
new treaty outlawing enforced disappearances.
The European Union was also criticized for subordinating human rights in
its
relation****ps with others deemed useful in fighting terrorism, such as
Russia, China and Saudi Arabia.
The annual re****t charged both Moscow and Beijing with exploiting the
prevailing atmosphere to clamp down on political opponents by branding
them
"Islamic terrorists."
In its critique of US policy, Human Rights Watch said the US government
displayed a "hypocritical" attitude comparable to the Cold War era.
"Terrorism has become the new communism, as an overriding rationalization
to
ignore the abuses of human rights," Roth said.
The group dismissed the argument that cases of abusive interrogation could
be put down to a small number of "bad apples" in the military when they
were
clearly "a conscious policy choice" by senior US government officials.
Roth said evidence of that deliberate policy included the threat by
President George W. Bush to veto a bill opposing "cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment," and moves by Vice President Dick Cheney to exempt
the
Central Intelligence Agency from the law.
"Responsibility for the use of torture and mistreatment can no longer
credibly be passed off to misadventures by low-ranking soldiers on the
night****ft," said Roth.
"The Bush administration must appoint a special prosecutor to examine
these
abuses, and Congress should set up an independent, bipartisan panel to
investigate," he added.
The US government's "deliberate disregard for international human rights
law
has weakened the US as a promoter of human rights."
The White House officials dismissed the criticism. "It appears to be based
more on a political agenda than facts," said spokesman Scott McClellan.
Asked what political agenda, McClellan said he had not seen the actual
re****t, only media coverage, but that the White House took issue with
"negative references to our efforts in Iraq."
"The United States does more than any country in the world to advance
freedom and promote human rights," he said.
McClellan denied re****ts that President George W. Bush's meeting Wednesday
with victims of Saddam Hussein's regime was timed to coincide with the HRW
re****t.
Roth at Human Rights Watch said that the climate in the United States had
****fted since the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001, and that
there was a "growing recognition that violating human rights doesn't help
fight terrorism."
The annual re****t comprised a survey of human rights developments in more
than 70 countries in 2005.
Apart from the war on terror, the re****t do***ented numerous serious
abuses,
including the massacre of thousands of demonstrators in Uzbekistan in May
and Sudan's "ethnic cleansing" policy in the region of Darfur.
"Persistent atrocities" were re****ted in the Democratic Republic of Congo
and Chechnya, while "severe repression" continued in Burma, North Korea,
Turkmenistan, and the Chinese regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.
The re****t also highlighted some bright spots in efforts to uphold human
rights, including India's decision to suspend most military aid to Nepal
after the king's coup.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations was cited for forcing Burma to
relinquish its 2006 chairman****p because of its human rights record, and
Kyrgyzstan for rescuing all but four of 443 refugees from the Andijan
massacre despite intense pressure from Uzbekistan.
The group described the human rights situation in Haiti as "disastrous,"
mentioning summary arrests and executions as well as torture, all despite
the presence of a multinational peacekeeping force.
HRW also called into question the fairness of upcoming general elections,
the first since former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in
February 2004.
*
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