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The blame game
By Zoë Williams
williamz@mscd.edu

There’s nothing like the U.S. State Department’s annual report on global human rights to shine light on the dismal state of human rights worldwide. The 2006 report, released last week, detailed the standard abuses of political freedoms worldwide as well as profiling Internet censorship and the suppression of nongovernmental organizations attempting to perform research on human rights.

The report provides a solemn reminder of the complete lack of understanding of human rights in this world.

Countries with extensive violations – such as Russia and Egypt – claimed that the report is politically motivated, hypocritical and lacks context for the different countries. The U.S. has also come under fire for glossing over its role in abuses throughout the alleged War on Terror.

As idiotic as the critical nations sound trying to rationalize or deny abuses, they have a point. The U.S. did not offer any favors for the global human condition by releasing its report for international use. A survey for domestic purposes is fine, but acting without international recognition will only stir up a fight, especially with this nation’s reputation. Compiling a human rights report is better left to the nongovernmental sectors of the international community, lest every nation charged fear “liberation” via cluster bomb.

Human rights should be ubiquitous and non-negotiable premises under which all individuals, organizations and governments operate. Freedom of speech, movement, security, access to counsel, standards of living, education, asylum and many other rights were recognized under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and must be acknowledged by all parties in every circumstance.

For example, torture is a human rights abuse and cannot be legitimized. Extreme circumstances, the greater good or U.S.-issued Freedom Torture™ does not make the act acceptable. Every nation attempting to cleanse its reputation by justifying an abuse is digging the Universal Declaration a deep grave.

I cannot think of a single nation that does not claim to be a bastion of decency and freedom. I also cannot think of a nation that has allowed itself to be fully accountable for human rights abuses. As long as that is the paradigm, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights may as well be recycled.