The Hindu : 'U.S. neglecting rights in war on terror'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 17, 2003

International

International

'U.S. neglecting rights in war on terror'

Washington Jan. 16. Global support for the war on terrorism is diminishing partly because the United States too often neglects human rights in its conduct of the war, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its World Report 2003.Terrorists violate basic human rights principles because they target civilians. But the United States undermines those principles when it overlooks human rights abuses by anti-terror allies such as Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia and Afghan warlords, Human Rights Watch said in its annual survey of human rights around the world. The 558-page Human Rights Watch World Report 2003 covers human rights in 58 countries in 2002.

It identifies positive trends such as the formal end to wars in Angola, Sudan, and Sierra Leone, as well as peace talks in Sri Lanka. But negative developments included the outbreak of serious communal violence in Gujarat, India, and the continued killing of civilians in wars from Colombia to Chechnya, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Meanwhile, governments continued repressive policies in Burma, China, Cuba,

Iran, Iraq, Liberia and Vietnam.

``The U. S.is far from the world's worst human rights abuser,'' said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "But Washington has so much power today that when it flouts human rights standards, it damages the human rights cause worldwide.'' Human Rights Watch said the Bush administration seemed to recognize the connections between repression and terrorism in its National Security Strategy, and had taken steps to promote human rights in countries directly involved in the struggle against terrorism, such as Egypt and Uzbekistan. The U. S. has also tried to advance human rights in places where the war was not implicated. Yet the U.S. engagement on human rights has been compromised by its unwillingness to confront many crucial partners, and its refusal to be bound by standards it preaches to others. ``To fight terrorism, you need the support of people in countries where the terrorists live,'' said Roth.

"Cozying up to oppressive governments is hardly a way to build those alliances.'' The U. S. is generating popular resentment in Pakistan by uncritically backing General Pervez Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup.

``He's still tight with us on the war against terror, and that's what I appreciate,'' Mr. Bush said.

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