Report: U.S. erodes rights - War on terrorism blamed for abuses

Report: U.S. erodes rights - War on terrorism blamed for abuses
By Raphael G. Satter
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press
Published May 24, 2007

LONDON -- In its fight against terrorism, the United States has eroded rights worldwide, Amnesty International said Wednesday.

In its annual report, the London-based rights group said politicians around the world -- from Australia to Sudan -- were taking advantage of shortsighted U.S. leadership in a fight against global terrorism that sacrificed liberties.

"One of the biggest blows to human rights has been the attempt of Western democratic states to roll back some fundamental principles of human rights -- like the prohibition of torture," Amnesty's Secretary General Irene Khan said before the report's release. She also criticized the U.S. policy of extraordinary rendition.

While Amnesty International has highlighted rights issues that have erupted since the Sept. 11 attacks, little of the 337-page report dealt with the terrorist threat itself or attacks linked to Al Qaeda.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Amnesty's time would have been better spent on helping the Iraqi government deal with past rights abuses.

"It's pretty clear that Amnesty International thought that we'd make a convenient ideological punching bag," Casey said.

Last year's Amnesty report offered similar criticism of the United States, saying the country's pursuit of security had undermined human rights.

America's unique position on the world stage justified the criticism, Khan said.

"If we focus on the U.S. it's because we believe that the U.S. is a country whose enormous influence and power has to be used constructively," she said. "When countries like the U.S. are seen to undermine or ignore human rights, it sends a very powerful message to others."

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Other targets of Amnesty International Concerns cited in annual report:

Europe: Criticized for its role in allowing the U.S. military to put suspected terrorists on secret flights to third countries for interrogations.

Britain, Australia and Japan: Taken to task for passing strict anti-terror laws.

Russia: Accused of authoritarian drift. Journalists, human-rights defenders and others have been devastated by a government crackdown on civil society, the report said, pointing to the assassination of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya and the abduction of civilians in war-racked Chechnya.

Zimbabwe: Deteriorating human-rights situation noted.

Darfur: Amnesty's Secretary General Irene Khan called this region of Sudan "a bleeding wound on world conscience."

China: Accused of shielding Sudan from UN action regarding Darfur. The report said the Chinese government and companies showed little regard for their "human rights footprint" in Africa.

Israel: Amnesty said the army killed more than 650 Palestinians last year -- half of them unarmed civilians, including some 120 children -- a threefold increase from 2005. The report said the number of Israelis killed by Palestinian armed groups dropped by half last year, to 27, including 20 civilian adults and one child. Israel's military said the report was "rife with inaccuracies."

-- Associated Press