Britain and the United States are betraying the cause of human rights in pursuit of their ”war on terror”, Amnesty International says in its annual report published on Wednesday.
Irene Khan, Amnesty’s general secretary, launching the report, accused the two governments of condoning torture while trying to keep their consciences clear. Britain used the language of freedom and justice in the context of Iraq, yet insisted that the Human Rights Act did not apply to British soldiers operating there, she said.
The British government was seeking diplomatic assurances from countries, including Algeria, to which it wanted to deport people. By seeking assurances for particular cases, it was admitting that torture was entrenched in those countries and was therefore, in effect, condoning the practice, she said.
”A new agenda is in the making, with the language of freedom and justice being used to pursue policies of fear and insecurity. This includes cynical attempts to redefine and sanitise torture,” said Khan.
She said the US claimed to be promoting freedom in Iraq, yet its troops had committed appalling torture and had ill-treated detainees. She described Guantánamo Bay as ”the gulag of our time”.
She said: ”The US administration attempted to dilute the absolute ban on torture through new policies and quasi-management speak such as ‘environmental manipulation’, ‘stress positions’, and ‘sensory manipulation’.”
As the unrivalled political, military and economic hyper-power, the US sets the tone for governments’ behaviour worldwide, said Khan. ”When the most powerful country in the world thumbs its nose at the rule of law and human rights, it grants a licence to others to commit abuse with impunity,” she said. ”From Israel to Uzbekistan, Egypt to Nepal, governments have openly defied human rights and international humanitarian law in the name of national security and ‘counter-terrorism’.”
Although the US supreme court ruled a year ago that federal courts had jurisdiction over Guantánamo detainees, no detainee had had the lawfulness of his detention judicially reviewed, the Amnesty report says.
And although the US government told the detainees they could file habeas corpus petitions in a federal court, it also argued that they had no basis under constitutional or international law to challenge their detention.
The report contrasts the response of ordinary people to the Indian Ocean tsunami with the failure to deal effectively with other global crises. The report highlights the Darfur region in Sudan. The US had described the situation as genocide, but nothing had been done, said Khan.
The UN was paralysed because of China’s imports of oil from Sudan and Russia’s arms exports to the country.
The US could not garner support in Africa for military intervention at least partly because it had spent its ”moral currency” in Iraq, she said.
Amnesty also highlighted growing violence, including rape, against women, in Darfur. Rape was being used as a ”weapon of war” in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said Khan.
Rights abuses around the world
Israel and the Palestinian territories
Israeli forces killed more than 700 Palestinians, including 150 children in 2004. Armed Palestinian groups killed 109 Israelis in 2004, including 67 civilians, eight of them children.
Greece
The authorities ”tortured and ill-treated” immigrants, and hundreds of children under state supervision disappeared. There were allegations of torture by police in December of about 60 Afghan asylum-seekers, including at least 17 minors.
Afghanistan
Lawlessness and insecurity increased and anti-government forces killed civilians involved in the electoral process, making much of the country inaccessible to humanitarian groups. US forces continued ”arbitrary and unlawful” detentions and failed to investigate complaints of prisoners being tortured or mistreated.
China
There was some progress toward reform, but still ”serious and widespread human rights violations”. Tens of thousands were detained in violation of their rights and were at high risk of torture or ill-treatment; thousands were sentenced to death or executed.
Haiti
Scores were killed before, during and after the rebellion that toppled the former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Russia
”Serious human rights violations” continued in the Chechen conflict. Russian forces enjoyed ”virtual impunity” for abuses, and armed Chechen groups launched bomb attacks and the hostage-taking in Beslan, in which hundreds were killed.
Sudan
Government forces and allied militias killed thousands and displaced tens of thousands in the Darfur region. The ceasefire signed in April was violated by all sides.
United States
Hundreds still held without charge or trial at Guantánamo Bay. Thousands detained during US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and routinely denied access to families and lawyers.
Zimbabwe
Government continued campaign of repression aimed at eliminating political opposition and dissent. Hundreds arrested for holding meetings or participating in peaceful protests. – Guardian Unlimited