[Media-watch] Amnesty international: War on Global values

[Sigi D]

Hello!
enclosed ai's press release - links to the 2004
report, including individual countries, 
all the best,
Sigi


Reply-To : 	<ai-news at amnesty.org>
Sent : 	26 May 2004 10:17:06
Subject : 	Report 2004: War on global values	

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat
of Amnesty International

AI INDEX: POL 10/016/2004     26 May 2004 

Report 2004: War on global values -- attacks by armed
groups and governments
fuel mistrust, fear and division


(London) Governments and armed groups have launched a
war on global values,
destroying the human rights of ordinary people,
Amnesty International said today
as it released its annual assessment of human rights
worldwide. 

Launching the Amnesty International Report 2004, the
organization said that
violence by armed groups and increasing violations by
governments have combined
to produce the most sustained attack on human rights
and international
humanitarian law in 50 years. This was leading to a
world of growing mistrust,
fear and division.

"Callous, cruel and criminal attacks by armed groups
such as al-Qa'ida, pose a
very real threat to the security of people everywhere.
We condemn them in the
strongest possible terms as serious crimes under
international and domestic law,
amounting at times to war crimes and crimes against
humanity," said Irene Khan,
Secretary General of Amnesty International. 

Amnesty International strongly condemned armed groups
responsible for atrocities
such as the March 11 bombing in Madrid and the bomb
attack on the United Nations
building in Iraq on 19 August 2003, which killed UN
High Commissioner for Human
Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello.

It said that violent attacks on civilians and on
institutions established to
provide solutions to conflict and insecurity - such as
the United Nations and
International Committee of the Red Cross - represented
a significant new threat
to international justice.

"But it is also frightening that the principles of
international law and the
tools of multilateral action which could protect us
from these attacks are being
undermined, marginalized or destroyed by powerful
governments," said Irene Khan. 

"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."

"The global security agenda promoted by the US
Administration is bankrupt of
vision and bereft of principle. Violating 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." 

The report details unlawful killings of civilians by
Coalition troops and armed
groups in Iraq. Reports of torture and ill-treatment
underline the vulnerability
of hundreds of prisoners, not only in Iraq but also at
Guant·namo Bay in Cuba,
Afghanistan and elsewhere, incarcerated by the United
States and its allies
without charge, trial, or access to lawyers or
protection of the Geneva
Conventions.

"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 "war on terror" and the war in Iraq has encouraged
a new wave of human
rights abuse and diverted attention from old ones.
Hidden from the eyes of the
world, Report 2004 documents festering internal
conflicts in places like
Chechnya, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Sudan, and Nepal which
have become a breeding ground of some of the worst
atrocities. Violence in
Israel and the Occupied Territories has deepened,
while elsewhere many
governments are openly pursuing repressive agendas.

"While governments have been obsessed with the threat
of weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq, they have allowed the real
weapons of mass destruction--
injustice and impunity, poverty, discrimination and
racism, the uncontrolled
trade in small arms, violence against women and abuse
of children -- to go
unaddressed," said Irene Khan.

"The world is crying out for principled leadership
based on the global values of
human rights."

While underlining abuse and impunity, hypocrisy and
double standards of
governments, Amnesty International highlighted the
emerging power of civil
society to turn the tide in favour of human rights.

There are unequivocal signs of a global justice
movement -- the millions of
citizens who took to the streets around the world in
solidarity with the Iraqi
people, Spaniards who marched in the name of humanity
after the attacks in
Madrid, global citizens who gathered at the World
Social Forum in Brazil. 

"Governments need to listen. In times of uncertainty
the world needs not only
fight against global threats, but to fight for global
justice," said Irene Khan.

Globally, despite the crusade by the United States to
undermine international
justice and ensure global immunity for its citizens,
the International Criminal
Court appointed its prosecutor and began its work in
earnest. Slowly the courts
in the United States and the United Kingdom have begun
to scrutinise the
executive power to restrict human rights.

"Human rights matter because they offer a powerful and
compelling vision of a
better and fairer world, and a concrete plan of how to
get there. These global
values of justice are the most effective route to
security and peace," said
Irene Khan.


To access an online version of Report 2004 , please
select the language
required:

English :
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maachPqaa687mbew2yLb/
French :
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maachPqaa687nbew2yLb/
Arabic :
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maachPqaa687obew2yLb/
Spanish: http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maachPqaa687pbew2yLb/


	
	
		
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