Editorial
Amnesty slams US
We do not want a dangerous world
We could not agree more with the Amnesty International's assertion that powerful governments are violating international laws in the 'blind pursuit' of global security. In its annual report, Amnesty accused the United States and its allies of committing major abuses of human rights in their prolonged chase after terrorists. In fact, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the 'war on terror has produced the most sustained attack on human rights and international law in 50 years.'Though the whole world, including people in the United States, is expressly averse to the mindless continuation of the war-like situation, there are attempts to hang on to it turning a deaf ear to the worldwide outcry. Allegations of abuses at Guantanamo Bay were brushed aside, probably because nobody came out with solid proofs as has been the case with the abuses at Abu Ghraib. The AI Secretary General Irene Khan most aptly puts it -- 'the global security agenda promoted by US administration is bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle'. In the name of bringing security, the idea that originated in the post 9/11 situation, they actually pose a bigger threat to security around the world. And the fear is that other countries taking a lead from the US may have also begun to use regressive measures on innocents and put restriction on freedom. As the Amnesty secretary-general says -- 'by failing to protect the rights of those who may be guilty, governments endanger the rights of those who are innocent'. All those hundreds of victims of indiscriminate actions, who remain in indefinite detention without any charge or trial in the US and British jails are ample proof of a systemic or normative breakdown that makes the world vulnerable to tyranny the new millennium has little use for. It's high time the 'war on terror' were replaced by a principled quest for global justice and dignity for all humanity.
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