Rights & Wrongs

Follow democracy American style, andearn bouquets. Or deviate from the path and get brickbats. This just aboutdescribes the annual report of the United States state department on humanrights and democracy around the world. Last year, the honour ofbeing named the worst violator of human rights went to Afghanistan. This yearthat ‘trophy'' has gone to — and no prizes for guessing this —Iraq. The 2003 report accuses Iraq of executing its people on the simplest ofcharges, including for participation in economic crimes, opposition politics andany activity considered traitorous to the Saddam Hussein regime. By contrast,the report talks of "dramatic improvements" in human rights and demo-cracy inAfghanistan following the installation of a US-friendly government there. Theverdict is similar for the five Central Asian countries that have become alliesin the US-led war on terror. Post their association with the US, they haverecorded "small signs of progress", the report says, though, Lorne Craner, USassistant secretary of state for democracy and human rights, lamented that thesecountries were slow to change for remaining too long under Soviet influence.Predictably, then, the report has some unflattering things to say about thehuman rights scene in Russia and China. Indeed, Colin Powell, whopresented the report, cleared whatever lingering doubts there were about itsfindings: States that violated the rights of their citizens posed the greatestthreat to world peace, while states that demonstrated high respect for humanrights contributed the most to world peace and stability. This simple assumptionobviously explains why the state department entirely missed out on reporting thehuman rights situation within the US. Had the report probed the US, it wouldhave come to some startling conclusions, including that the US rate ofincarceration is the highest in the world. Ironic, yet true. According to USjustice department statistics, more than two million people currently languishin American prisons, a significant 11.8 per cent of this being Black malesbetween ages 20 and 34. These figures tell a tale that has for long remainedhidden from popular view. A tale that mocks at the notion of America as the landof the free. In the 18 months since 9/11, the government that once proudlybelieved in "governing the least" has come down severely on domestic dissent,not to mention going against the will of the United Nations to attack thesovereign rights of another country. In the light of this, Mr Powell willperhaps think of revising the equation between human rights and worldpeace.