Human Rights Archives - Page 208 of 375

Cambodias Failing Democracy

by John Gershman, Ronald Bruce St John | Jan 23, 2006

The international community has invested well over $5 billion in Cambodia since 1992 in a flawed attempt to nurture a democratic system. Following elections in 1993, the power elite in Cambodia reverted to sordid aspects of traditional political culture, promoting modernization within an authoritarian model. At a time when some promote democracy as a panacea for the world’s ills, Cambodia offers object lessons in the pitfalls to be overcome to implant a democratic system in less-developed political economies.

A Turning Point for Nepal?

by Erik Leaver, Shirin Shirin | Jan 19, 2006

The tiny country of Nepal wedged between India and China in South Asia is at a major crossroads: one path leads to a monarchy and a society continually plagued by internal strife while another offers the possibility of peace and a modern day democracy. A decade old civil war between the monarchy-controlled army and Maoist rebels is the roadblock. Costing Nepal at least 12,500 lives, the war looms over all segments of Nepalese society, preventing progress on social and economic life and leaving issues of democratic governance in the balance.

Command Responsibility?

by Jeremy Brecher, John Gershman, Brendan Smith | Jan 10, 2006

A jury verdict in Memphis late last year caused little stir among the general public, but it may have caught the attention of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and other high officials of the Bush administration. The jury found Colonel Nicolas Carranza, former Vice Minister of Defense of El Salvador and now a U.S. citizen living in Memphis, responsible for overseeing the torture and killing in that country 25 years ago. 1 Could similar charges be brought against high U.S. officials for the actions of their subordinates in Abu Ghraib, Falluja, and Guantanamo?

Two Justifications for Terrorism: A Moral Legal Response

by John Gershman, Ben Saul | Jan 9, 2006

The U.S. Invasion of Iraq: Not the Fault of Israel and Its Supporters

by John Gershman, Stephen Zunes | Jan 3, 2006

As the official rationales for the U.S. invasion of Iraq—that Iraq possessed “weapons of mass destruction” which threatened the national security of the United States and that the Iraqi government had operational ties to al-Qaida—are now widely acknowledged to have been fabricated, and the back-up rationalization—of bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq—is also losing credibility, increasing attention is being given as to why the U.S. government, with broad bipartisan support, made such a fateful decision.

Israel & Palestine: A Way Out?

by John Gershman, Conn Hallinan | Jan 3, 2006

In a 2002 Le Monde Diplomatique article titled “Constructing Catastrophe,” Israeli journalist Amon Kapeliouk challenged one of the central myths about the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. To wit: that Palestinian President Yasir Arafat was offered a great deal at the Camp David talks in July 2000, but turned it down and launched Intifada II.

Democracy and Double Standards: The Palestinian "Exception"

by John Gershman, Stephen Zunes | Dec 22, 2005

At a time of year when Jews and Christians are celebrating the spirit of justice and peace inspired by events in the Holy Land many centuries ago, Congress has been working to insure that the Holy Land of today experiences neither.

To Link or Not to Link: The Human Rights Question in North Korea

by John Feffer, John Gershman | Dec 16, 2005

Though it would be difficult to find anyone in the United States who would praise North Korea for its dismal human rights record, this consensus of opinion by no means extends to practical foreign policy. In other words, there is broad agreement on what is wrong in North Korea, from the political labor camps to the lack of basic freedoms of speech and assembly, but little agreement on what to do about it or who should be doing it.

Dinner with Condi and the Fate of Gaza

by John Gershman, Conn Hallinan | Dec 14, 2005

There is a moment in Jeffery Goldberg’s New Yorker profile of Brent Scowcroft, George Bush Senior’s former National Security Adviser, when the current administration’s combination of arrogance and cluelessness crystallize. Over dinner, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice tells Scowcroft that the good news from the Middle East is that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is pulling out of Gaza , the first step toward resolving the issue of a Palestinian state.

So Why DID Support for War Go South?

by John Gershman, Col. Daniel Smith (Ret.) | Dec 9, 2005

“To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy’s intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp …”