UK and US: Partner in Crime

Yesterday, Amnesty International had excellent timing.

Just on the day that the European Parliament was to open formal investigations of human rights violations by the USA's CIA in the secret Europe detainment camp, they also delivered a full report on one of the EU's members and their violations of human rights: the UK. You can read the full report in English here: United Kingdom, Human Rights: A Broken Promise.

In the report, the strategic alliance against terror is analized on its faults to keep human rights as an elementary principle in this "struggle". It shows how the UK has willingly participated in unlawful detentions, collaboration in processes which has led to torture and avoiding basic diplomatic concessions. This means that not only has support for the "war on terror" been military, but also has turned out to be a partnership in crime.

As Amnesty says, this report should be a wake up call for Europe. It's not sufficient to hold the USA responsible for human rights violations on their soil. They must also hold each and everyone of its members, specially the UK, to the highest human rights standards possible no matter who they ally themselves with & not allow their eyes to remain closed to them.

Tags: Current events, International, In the News, News and Politics, European Union, United Kingdom, USA, Human Rights

US Rejects UN Recommendation to Close Guantanamo

Once again the executive branch of the United States leaves a lot up to interpretation when it comes to torture.

They have rejected a UN Human Right's recommendation to close Guantanamo Bay. This recommendation was based on a report made by five human rights watchers who reviewed the Guantanamo detention centre on issues of torture, fair judicial system, freedom of religion and right to physical and mental health. In other words, there was a deep concern if not suspicion that the US continued to torture detainees at the camp and the knowledge that the US was not giving them a fair judicial process (only 11 detainees have been formally charged). This was heightened by the fact that the US refused to allow the human rights watchers to interview detainees directly.

If that wasn't bad enough, White House spokesperson Scott McClellan responded by saying that they would not pay attention to the recommendation because detainees are "dangerous terrorists". Apparently, being a terrorist makes you the equivalent of a donkey and your human rights no longer count. Apparently, the White House says it is ok to torture these people. Then he said that the report was just a "re-run" of previous reports. So, apparently it is also ok to torture people if the report of the abuses is "old".

The US is violating the basic human rights, they wish to impose on the world as the "American Model" of democracy. Not only that, they are doing a lousy job of attempting to show they care.

Tags: Current events, International, In the News, News and Politics, UN, USA, Human Rights