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03/20/2003 Archived Entry: "Human Rights = Global Security"

I just read a great speech by Sergio Vieira De Mello (read it first in the Toronto Star)

Some, in fact an increasing number, of states implicitly or explicitly believe that security and a rigorous respect of civil and political liberties are mutually exclusive. But we also have a right to security when faced with the ambitions of states, whether our own or others. We cannot compromise our hard-won human rights to give states a free hand in fighting terrorism... There can be no security without real peace, and peace must be built on the firm foundation of human rights.

I wish that the US Government would and could understand this. But, in their rush to war and their unyielding belief in "might makes right", they have lost a chance to make the world a better place for everyone - including themselves. If only they could see that going to war is only perpetuating the struggle, the violence. Maybe Saddam won't attack them (assuming, of course, that he could in the first place) in the next ten years, but someone else will. With their actions and their lack of respect for world opinion, they are encouraging anger and resentment. On top of it all, they are infringing further and further on human rights in their own backyard. Allegations of torture (and here's more about torture here and here), detention without charges or legal representation, not to mention the heavy security foisted upon everyone without a real exmination of it's efficacy, and countless other incidents reveal that human rights are not a priority for the US administration.

That's on top of the abandonment of any pretense of multilateralism, and international co-operation. They've pulled out of the ICC, the Kyoto Accord, and the anti-ballistic missile treaty. They've called the UN irrelevant and "just a debating society". They've ridiculed anyone who dared to disagree with them. Was it any wonder that they didn't succeed in their efforts at diplomacy?

Anyway, it's nice to see someone talking about the important effects the promotion and adoption of universal human rights has on global security.