Allies under
fire for terror war
Watchdog slams
Britain and U.S.
Canada cited over refugees
SANDRO
CONTENTA
EUROPEAN
BUREAU
LONDON—The "war on
terror" has made the world a more dangerous place as governments roll
back human rights and whip up public fears that fuel racism, Amnesty
International says. The human rights watchdog yesterday warned in
its annual report that democratic and autocratic governments alike
are exploiting the war on terror to impose "draconian measures" that
have made people more insecure today than at any other time since
the end of the Cold War. "Governments are not entitled to respond
to terror with terror," Irene Khan, Amnesty's secretary-general, writes
in an introduction to the report, which covers events that occurred
last year. "By denying justice and perpetuating impunity, many governments
have both undermined their international human rights obligations
and contributed to the cycle of insecurity, violence and violations,"
she adds. "Action that makes people feel insecure cannot make
states or societies secure." The report denounces what it says
are widespread government actions taken in the name of greater security
— the detention of suspects without trial, the deportation of asylum
seekers with no regard to their fate, and the over-all weakening of
human rights and standards of international law. What would have
been unacceptable before the Sept. 11, 2001, Al Qaeda attacks on the
United States has now become the norm, Khan says. Among Western countries,
the Amnesty report has harsh words for the U.S. and Britain, while
noting that in Canada, "there were concerns about police accountability
and refugee protection." In Canada, the federal government decided
last year to deny the "fundamental right of appeal" to people who
have had their refugee claims rejected, the report says. In
one case last June, Canada forcibly returned to Iran a man named Mansour
Ahani despite a request from the U.N. Human Rights Committee to wait
until the committee reviewed his case, Amnesty says. Ahani was flown
back to Iran last June, was briefly detained upon his return "and has
not been heard from since," the report says. "Throughout the
year a number of individuals, often people accused of supporting armed
Islamic groups, continued to be at risk of deportation from Canada
to countries where (Amnesty) believed they faced a serious risk of
torture," the report says. Amnesty suggests such actions are part
of a worrying global pattern that finds it expedient to divide communities
along racial and religious lines. "In a climate of increasing
xenophobia and racism, asylum seekers are being sent back to face
imprisonment, torture or death and violent attacks on members of minority
communities are on the increase," Khan writes. "Whipping up public
fears in the interests of short-term political or electoral gains
is a dangerous business." The U.S. government was singled out
for its detention of 600 foreign nationals without charge or access to counsel and family members at the
U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Most were captured during
the military conflict in Afghanistan, but the U.S. refuses to recognize
them as prisoners of war. By "turning a blind eye" to reports
of torture and ill-treatment of detainees by its security officials,
the U.S. "undermined its own moral authority to speak out against
human rights violations in other parts of the world." The report
also criticizes the U.S. government for arresting 1,200 foreign nationals,
most of them Muslim men of Arab or South Asian origin, during investigations
after the Sept. 11. attacks. "Because of the real or alleged actions
of a few individuals, entire communities — identified by race, religion
or national origin — are being viewed with suspicion. The result is
growing unease and uncertainty among large sections of the population,"
the report says. The White House dismissed Amnesty's claims, the Star's
Tim Harper reports from Washington. Spokesperson Ari Fleischer
said the criticism of treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay was
"without merit." "They're receiving medical care," he said. "They're
receiving food. They're receiving far better treatment than they received
in the life that they were living previously." William Schulz,
executive director of Amnesty International USA, said although the
war on Iraq brought greater freedom to Iraqis it undermined human
rights in many other countries. "This is a case of throwing
the baby out with the Baath party," said Schulz. "It's simply not
acceptable to win freedom for one group of people at the expense of
many others." In Britain, Amnesty denounced the government's Anti-Terrorism,
Crime and Security Act, saying it has allowed the government
to intern 11 foreign nations without charge in "inhuman and degrading
conditions." With the world's attention concentrated on post-war Iraq,
drawing attention to "hidden crises" and protecting the rights of
"forgotten victims" is a serious challenge. Khan points to Ivory Coast,
Colombia, Burundi, Chechnya and Nepal as examples of places where
there has been "a heavy toll on human rights and human lives," yet
little international attention. In the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, the Amnesty report accuses the Israeli army of committing
"abuses which constituted war crimes" in the Israeli-occupied West
Bank and Gaza Strip. "These include unlawful killings, obstruction
of medical assistance and targeting of medical personnel, extensive
and wanton destruction of property, torture and cruel and inhuman
treatment," it says. At least 1,000 Palestinians were
killed by the Israeli army, Amnesty says. Palestinian armed groups
killed more than 420 Israelis. "The deliberate targeting of civilians
by Palestinian armed groups constituted crimes against humanity,"
it adds.
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