T-word used as front to trample civil rights’

OUTGOING UN human rights commissioner Mary Robinson has accused governments of hiding behind the war on terrorism to trample on civil liberties and crush troublesome opponents.

"Suddenly the "T-word" is used all the time," Mrs Robinson said, referring to terrorism. "And that's the problem.

"So many politicians are using the T-word and it's very blunt and does erode standards of civil rights and civil liberties. Everything is justified by that T-word," the 58-year-old former Irish president said.

"I hope that countries will put human rights back on the agenda because it tended to slip after September 11."

Tracing developments over the past 12 months, Mrs Robinson said that the Bush administration had set the tone for the rest of the world by disregarding international conventions in its treatment of prisoners held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba not to mention its efforts to torpedo the International Criminal Court.

"The world needs leadership in human rights and the United States could give great leadership. It's not giving it at the moment, unfortunately," she said.

When she took other governments to task for abuses in the post September 11 era, they often cited the US as an example of the fact that human rights standards have changed, she said.

"And I've had to say the standards have not changed. The United States must be seen to fully uphold international human rights and humanitarian standards.

"The attacks on New York didn't just kill many innocent people, they were an attack on freedom and democracy and we must uphold these standards. And we can do that and effectively combat terrorism."

Mrs Robinson said a number of countries used the excuse of fighting against terrorism to clamp down on legitimate opposition and curtail freedom of expression. She singled out Russian military operations in Chechnya and China's clampdown on its Muslim Uigur population and Tibet.

It was Mrs Robinson's willingness to use her office as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to stand up to the big powers like the US, Russia and China that won her praise from campaigning groups like Amnesty International.

But it ultimately caused her downfall.

Mrs Robinson initially wanted to leave last year at the end of her four-year term, saying she was frustrated by lack of funding. She was persuaded by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to stay on for an additional year and subsequently let it be known that she was willing to remain in office until 2005.

But the offer was declined according to diplomats and observers because of US annoyance at her criticism of Guantanamo Bay and her perceived anti-Israeli stance, combined with a lingering anger in Moscow at her persistent clamouring for an inquiry into abuses committed during the suppression of pro-independence rebels in Chechnya.

"I do most of the work constructively, diplomatically... but there are times when there must be a voice in the United Nations for the victims of violations," she said in the interview in her office overlooking Lake Geneva.