Amnesty: US bankrupt of vision, bereft of principle

THE United States has proved “bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle” in its fight against terrorism and invasion of Iraq, Amnesty International charged.

In its 2004 report on the state of human rights around the globe, the London-based group cited grave violations in dozens of other nations. However, it targeted in particular the “war on terror” initiated by President George W Bush in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001 for sanctioning human rights abuses in the name of freedom.

The unilateral nature of the conflict to unseat Saddam Hussein in Iraq had additionally “virtually paralysed” the United Nations’ role in guaranteeing human rights on a global level, the report said yesterday.

The 339-page document, detailing the human rights situation in 157 nations and territories, reserved most column inches for the United States, with almost as many critical words meted out to Russia and China.

Other perennial violators were also highlighted, such as North Korea, Cuba, and the central Asian state of Turkmenistan where Amnesty said the situation was simply “appalling”.

“The global security agenda promulgated by the US administration is bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle,” wrote Amnesty’s secretary general, Irene Khan, in the report’s introduction.

“Sacrificing human rights in the name of security at home, turning a blind eye to abuses abroad and using pre-emptive military force where and when it chooses have neither increased security nor ensured liberty.”

The notion of fighting a campaign against terrorism so as to support human rights, while simultaneously trampling on them to achieve this, was no more than “double speak.”

“The United States has lost its moral high ground and its ability to lead on peace and human rights elsewhere,” Khan added at a press conference in London to launch the annual report.

Meanwhile, in another day of bloodshed and killing, US troops captured a key lieutenant of Shi’ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr during overnight clashes in Najaf that killed 24 people and wounded nearly 50.

Riyadh al-Nouri, al-Sadr’s brother-in-law, offered no resistance when American troops raided his home during a series of clashes in this Shiite holy city, according to Azhar al-Kinani, a staffer in al-Sadr’s office in Najaf.

In Baghdad, diplomatic sources confirmed reports published yesterday that Dr Hussain al-Shahristani, a science adviser to the Iraqi government who spent years in Abu Ghraib prison, was among people under consideration for the job of prime minister of an interim government to take power June 30. Before the war, al-Shahristani was among Iraqi exiles who had insisted Saddam Hussein maintained weapons of mass destruction.