Human Rights Archives - Foreign Policy In Focus

Will Calls for Sharing Responsibility in New UN Report Fall on Deaf Ears?

by John Gershman, Ian Williams | Sep 30, 2005

Allegedly a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Well the “High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change” that Kofi Annan asked to study how the UN copes with the threats of the new century was certainly a committee, and their report, A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, certainly has some aspects of a camel. I would guess it to be Bactrian from the two outstanding humps that have been added to get a consensus.

Options for Ukraine

by John Brown, John Gershman | Sep 30, 2005

The tense political situation in Ukraine may find a peaceful solution. But, at this critical juncture, efforts to maintain Ukraine as currently configured could turn out to be dangerously counterproductive. Ukraine should therefore seriously consider the option of working with all parties involved in its current crisis–including the European Union, Russia, and the United States–in taking possible steps toward its nonviolent dismemberment in a manner acceptable to its variegated population. The possibility of such a peaceful, democratic, and internationally acceptable geographical rearrangement of Ukraine should at least be put on the table before it is too late to prevent an unpredictable situation from falling out of control from increased regional, ethnic, economic, cultural, and linguistic conflicts.

Stop the Torture

by Sister Dianna Ortiz, Emily Schwartz Greco | Sep 30, 2005

On Thursday, January 20, I listened to George W. Bush take the oath of office as President. He made many promises. One promise he did not make is to end the torture his administration has not only tolerated but facilitated. It left me wondering what his promises to uphold the law and fight for freedom and liberty really mean.

Democracy Under Assault in Nepal

by John Gershman, Kanak Mani Dixit | Sep 30, 2005

Nepal’s 14-year-old experiment in constitutional monarchy suffered a major assault on February 1, 2005 when King Gyanendra sacked the prime minister, formed a new cabinet composed largely of royalists, and established direct monarchical rule. This was followed by a declaration of a state of emergency as leading political leaders were placed under house arrest, media censorship was imposed, fundamental freedoms such as the freedom of assembly were suspended, and telephones (landlines and cellular) as well as the Internet were shut down.

Nepal–Nursing the Pinion

by John Gershman, Conn Hallinan | Sep 30, 2005

While the U.S., India, and Great Britain have sharply condemned the Feb. 1 coup by King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal, the policies of those three governments vis-à-vis the ongoing civil war in the Himalayan nation must share considerable blame for the present crisis. Declaring a state of emergency, the King placed the leaders of Nepal’s political parties, as well as Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, under house arrest. Gyanendra also suspended constitutional rights to freedom of speech, assembly, and a free press, and authorized preventive detention.

Bolton–No More Mr. Nice Guy

by John Gershman, Ian Williams | Sep 30, 2005

This is a time for a Marxist view of foreign policy. As Chico said, “There ain’t no Sanity Clause,” in Washington.

Credibility Gap? More Like an Abyss

by David MacMichael, Emily Schwartz Greco | Sep 30, 2005

Incredibly, just as President Bush begins his second term with a real need to restore U.S. international standing, he chose John D. Negroponte to head the newly restructured intelligence system. Negroponte, based on the record of his 40-plus years in the State Department, has no credibility at all.

The Geneva Trap

by Sonia Cardenas, John Gershman | Sep 30, 2005

Ongoing scandals of prisoner abuse by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq are fuelled by the Bush administrationÂs criticism of the Geneva Conventions. The administration has perpetuated the myth, which domestic public opinion and the popular media have accepted, that the Conventions do not entirely protect suspected terrorists or other non-state combatants captured abroad. This myth allowed the administration to invent a new category of detainees outside the purview of international lawÂÂunlawful combatantsÂÂessentially legitimating subsequent mistreatment and abuse. This self-serving strategy has even distracted critics of U.S. policy, who have fallen for the trap by becoming embroiled in a defensive debate over who is entitled to Âprisoner of warÂ status, when they should have been asserting aggressively the basic rights owed to all human beings (including suspected terrorists) under international law. Capitalizing on the ambiguity and historical specificity of the Geneva Conventions, the Bush administration has defined the terms of a pivotal debate, while opening the door to human rights abuses and disarming potential opponents.

John Paul II’s Economic Ethics

by Mark Engler, John Gershman | Sep 30, 2005

A steady feature in Pope John Paul II’s obituaries has been mention of his unwaveringly conservative stances on issues such as abortion, birth control, gay rights, and the ordination of women. While these positions were sources of consternation for many American Catholics, they far from represent the whole of John Paul’s ethical beliefs. Particularly in his teachings about the global economy, the Pope advanced a vision of social justice that challenges the current, narrow political debate about "moral values."

Democracy Demands Accountability

by John Gershman, Col. Daniel Smith (Ret.) | Sep 29, 2005

In the past 17 months, President Bush has undertaken a concerted effort to wrap his foreign policy in the folds of freedom and democracy. Many observers believe his constant and consistent emphasis has succeeded in altering the “rules of engagement” between the public and the White House. After all, who would opt for slavery and despotism?