January 14, 2002 keralamonitor.com
IRAQ: Blix Warns Of War; Blair Says Another U.N. Text Is Unnecessary
Human Rights Watch Releases New World Report
New Survey Documents Global Repression U.S. Human Rights Leadership Faulted
(Washington, D.C., January 14, 2003) — Global support for the war on
terrorism is diminishing partly because the United States too often
neglects human rights in its conduct of the war, Human Rights Watch said
today in releasing its World Report 2003.Terrorists violate basic human rights principles because they target
civilians. But the United States undermines those principles when it
overlooks human rights abuses by anti-terror allies such as Pakistan,
China, Saudi Arabia and Afghan warlords, Human Rights Watch said in its
annual survey of human rights around the world.The 558-page Human Rights Watch World Report 2003 covers human rights in
58 countries in 2002. It identifies positive trends such as the formal
end to wars in Angola, Sudan, and Sierra Leone, as well as peace talks
in Sri Lanka. But negative developments included the outbreak of serious
communal violence in Gujarat, India, and the continued killing of
civilians in wars from Colombia to Chechnya, from the Democratic
Republic of Congo to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Meanwhile,
governments continued highly repressive policies in Burma, China, Cuba,
Iran, Iraq, Liberia and Vietnam.“The United States is far from the world’s worst human rights abuser,”
said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “But
Washington has so much power today that when it flouts human rights
standards, it damages the human rights cause worldwide.”Human Rights Watch said the Bush administration seemed to recognize the
connections between repression and terrorism in its National Security
Strategy, and had taken some steps to promote human rights in countries
directly involved in the struggle against terrorism, such as Egypt and
Uzbekistan. The United States has also tried to advance human rights in
places where the war was not implicated, including Burma, Belarus and
Zimbabwe. Yet the U.S. government’s engagement on human rights has been
compromised by its unwillingness to confront a number of crucial
partners, and its refusal to be bound by standards it preaches to
others.“To fight terrorism, you need the support of people in countries where
the terrorists live,” said Roth. “Cozying up to oppressive governments
is hardly a way to build those alliances.”For example, the United States is generating popular resentment in
Pakistan by uncritically backing General Pervez Musharraf, who took
power in a 1999 coup.“He’s still tight with us on the war against terror, and that’s what I
appreciate,” U.S. President George Bush said about Musharraf, who last
year pushed through constitutional amendments to extend his presidential
term by five years and recently strengthened a draconian anti-terror
decree.In China, the Bush administration has downplayed the repression of
Muslims in the northwest Xinjiang province, which the Chinese government
justifies as an anti-terrorist measure. Saudi Arabia, with its highly
repressive government, is an important regional player and the U.S.
government rarely challenges it on human rights.The Bush administration is seeking to reinvigorate ties to the
Indonesian military, despite the lack of accountability for its serious
human rights abuses and the military’s support for militia groups that
foster instability. The United States has also been reluctant to expand
the international peacekeeping forces that could help bring stability to
Afghanistan, relying instead on abusive warlords who are inhibiting the
human rights progress made possible by the fall of the Taliban.In addition, Washington has ignored human rights standards in its own
treatment of terrorist suspects. It has refused to apply the Geneva
Conventions to prisoners of war from Afghanistan, and has misused the
designation of “enemy combatant” to apply to criminal suspects on U.S.
soil. The Bush administration has also abused immigration laws to deny
criminal suspects their rights.In 2002, the U.S. government actively tried to undermine important human
rights initiatives such as the International Criminal Court, a new
international inspection regime to prevent torture, and a United Nations
resolution that the war on terrorism should be fought in a manner
consistent with human rights.The war against terror has provided an excuse for other Western
countries to slacken their support for human rights. European leaders
virtually abandoned efforts to pressure Russia, an anti-terror ally, to
end its abusive conduct of the war in Chechnya.Human Rights Watch does not take a position on the possible war in Iraq,
and believes that its most important contribution to reducing the
civilian suffering that war entails is to monitor and promote the
compliance by all warring parties with international humanitarian law.Roth noted that the more U.S. government officials cite Saddam Hussein’s
human rights record as one reason to topple him, the greater their
obligation to minimize the potentially serious human rights consequences
of any war in Iraq. The United States should take all feasible measures
to protect Iraqi civilians from acts of revenge by Saddam Hussein,
including the possible use of weapons of mass destruction. At minimum,
it should make clear that anyone who directs or commits atrocities will
be prosecuted, not just a handful of senior Iraqi officials.The United States should ensure that its local allies in any Iraq war do
not engage in revenge killings or reprisals against civilians. And the
Bush administration should also put pressure on Iraq’s neighbors, such
as Turkey, Jordan and Iran, to keep their borders open to refugees.Human Rights Watch is an international monitoring group based in New
York, with offices around the world. It does not accept funding from any
government.FIGHTING FIT THAN EVER BEFORE
Dr. S. Narayan*
India is now a key player in the world’s political, strategic and economic arenas and exerts considerable influence on global decision-making in various spheres. The elevation to our present status has not happened in a day. It has taken years of resolve, effort and determination to reach where we have. Of course, this is not to suggest that we have overcome all our problems. We have several hurdles to cross before we attain the level of progress which our founding fathers had dreamt of. But even then there is no doubt that we have achieved a lot. We have done so despite numerous constraints. It is our ability to overcome obstacles and reach our goals that has been the hallmark of our progress. As a nation, we have demonstrated innate resilience on various occasions to surmount critical handicaps. And nothing exemplifies this resilience better than our economic performance in recent years.
Let us, at this juncture, try to recollect what all happened over the last few years, and how our economy performed regardless of those adversities.
Several unfortunate developments have occurred over the last few years. Among these are natural calamities taking a heavy toll on human and material resources. Two most striking instances of such catastrophies are the Orissa cyclone and the Gujarat earthquake. The country faced a war in Kargil and was on the threshold of another in the middle of last year. The weather gods, after being kind to us for several monsoons, decided to deprive us last year, leading to drought-like conditions in the country. Our cup of woes was nearly full to the brim, as we also had to cope with a depressed world economy, which was further shaken after September 11, 2001.
All the above took place within a short span of the last four to five years. Each of the events could have seriously damaged our economic performance. Yet, what do we see at the beginning of 2003?
We are likely to end the current financial year (2002-03) with an overall growth of around 5.5 per cent. This would make us one of the best performers in the world economy. We are holding record levels of foreign exchange reserves and are among the top emerging market economies in this regard. Our granaries are overflowing with food stocks. In the past, lack of rainfall would wreak havoc on our economy by creating supply shortages and raising prices of essential commodities. Nothing of the sort has happened this year despite one of the poorest monsoons in recent times. Adequate food stocks have mitigated supply concerns by keeping the prices in check. Domestic industry has revived, courtesy a buoyant manufacturing sector. Our exports are rising fast signaling greater absorption of our products in overseas markets.
The scenario is actually too good to be true. The readers would obviously be wondering how all these happened despite the adversities. We have no magic wand for undoing the damages caused by natural disasters and other setbacks. But what we do have in place is a set of policies which have been designed carefully after detailed considerations, for taking care of the fundamentals of the economy. These policies, coupled with the intrinsic resilience of our economy, have enabled us to successfully combat unexpected systemic threats.
The capability of our economy to resist setbacks has not developed overnight. This has been an outcome of the gradual metamorphosis undergone by our economic system over the last decade and more. The transformations have equipped our economy to handle unforeseen exigencies and have enhanced its ability to withstand shocks.
An example will be illustrative. Right now, the Persian Gulf is threatened by the ominous possibility of a major conflict. A similar situation had arisen during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990-91. At that time, the effects of the Gulf War had manifested in a critical balance of payments crisis for our economy. Our foreign exchange reserves had reduced to an all-time low. At a point of time, we had resources for buying only a fortnight’s imports. To overcome the crisis, we had to resort to emergency measures like shipping a part of our gold reserves overseas to pledge for securing precious foreign exchange.
Today, the repercussions of the impending conflict in the Middle East are quite different. Our high volume of foreign exchange reserves has raised our comfort level by providing us an adequate cushion. Obviously, we are aware of the likely fallout of a war on global oil prices and the consequent effect on our import bill. Nevertheless, the Government is in control of the situation. There is little possibility of history repeating itself through any balance of payments difficulties.
The high level of foreign exchange reserves is one of the many weapons that have improved our defences. Various other stable and healthy macro-economic fundamentals are the other sources of our strength. We have built up ample resilience for protecting our economy from adverse consequences.
Our capabilities are the source of our confidence. These, in turn, are results of the fundamental changes in economic policies that have taken place over the last ten to twelve years. Moving away from the paradigms that dictated our economic policies in the first four decades after Independence, we have moved to a decontrolled, liberal economic regime. We have allowed each economic agent to perform the role it does the best. Business and commerce in our country are now guided entirely by the market. The Government has refrained from doing business. It has increasingly adopted the role of a facilitator and is focusing upon its core responsibilities of providing good governance by taking care of law and order, administration and provision of basic human needs.
In line with the changed thinking, domestic economic institutions, agencies and regulations have undergone transformations. Many departments and enterprises, which have been rendered redundant in the changed scenario, have either been wound up or radically transformed with new responsibilities. New laws have replaced the old ones. Mindsets have changed, along with the approaches to resolution of economic problems. In other words, the game is now being played under a totally different set of rules.
The new policies have yielded large dividends. Throughout the last decade, India was one of the fastest growing economies in the world. We have bottled the genie of inflation by securing large food stocks. We have built up an enviable reservoir of skilled human resources. The information technology revolution has swept the length and breadth of the country, connecting remote corners. We are making phenomenal progress in connecting places and people through conventional means like roads, highways, railways and ports. We have made our presence felt globally in highly competitive knowledge-based industries like software, biotechnology and food processing. The world has taken note of our progress and has acknowledged us as one of the best locations for doing business by progressively increasing investment in our economy.
We, however, must admit that problems are still there. Economic growth does not become meaningful unless it improves the living conditions of the marginal sections of the society. The sharp decline in poverty levels vindicates our policies. But we still have a long way to go. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels. We must join hands for making our country a nation free of poverty and squalor, a country that is proud and strong by its sovereign achievements and capable of guaranteeing a dignified existence to all its citizens. We are firmly on our way. Let us hope we would achieve more by our collective efforts. (PIB Features)
