HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
AP. 16 January 2002. Human Rights Group Says World Leaders Are Using Fear of Terrorism to Crack Down on Dissent. WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's war on terror has become a popular excuse for world leaders cracking down on opposition groups and silencing dissent, a human rights group said Wednesday. A report by the Human Rights Watch said some governments have "latched on to the United States' anti-terror campaign." It said the chief offenders are Russia, Uzbekistan and Egypt - which the report says are waging indefensible wars against political opponents, not terrorists. "Terrorists believe that anything goes in the name of their cause," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of the New York-based group. "The fight against terror must not buy into that logic. Human rights principles must not be compromised in the name of any cause." The State Department declined to comment on the report. Roth also had concerns about whether detainees transferred from Afghanistan to a U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were provided adequate shelter. "In our view, being held in cages with tin roofs over your head is not humane treatment," he said during a news conference at the National Press Club. Roth said he has spoken to Cuban political prisoners who "shivered away the night this time of year" in similar conditions. He dismissed Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's claims that the detainees were being treated better at the base than in Afghanistan: "It's utterly beyond the point." "Americans would be utterly appalled if an American soldier captured overseas were stuck in a cage with a tin roof the way the United States is now treating these captured detainees," Roth said. "This is just not acceptable and I hope that the secretary stop these PR defenses." The report notes that Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended escalating military action in Chechnya as a part of the war against terror. U.N. officials have criticized the Russian government for some of its responses to hit-and-run attacks by Chechnyan rebels. The report also said: • Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Abeid has brushed off criticism of torture and summary military trials, suggesting that Western countries should "think of Egypt's own fight against terror as their new model." • Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has repeatedly referred to Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat as "our (Osama) bin Laden" and made other comments to liken the nation's struggles to that of the United States. Some political scientists say the trend is alarming. "There is no question that terrorism is the flavor of the month and that explaining something as an anti-terrorist action is the quickest way to get the United States on board," said Ralph Tagern, a researcher for The Institute on Middle Eastern Policy. "But in truth, many of these struggles are not about terrorism. They are about long-standing fights for independence and other matters," Tagern said. Ali al-Ahmed, an official with the Washington-based Saudi Institute, said the war on terrorism has become a catchall for any military action a government takes. "It is unacceptable for the United States to turn a blind eye to what some leaders in the Middle East are doing under the guise of the war on terror," al-Ahmed said. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
