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Irene Khan, Amnesty International Secretary General, has followed up her post on Comment is Free with a post on one of the world’s most popular blog sites - The Huffington Post.
Our world today is deeply polarized. Comparisons are increasingly being made with the Cold War but in many ways it is more complex and dangerous now, because the opponents are not just governments but also armed groups with little or no stake in international relations.
Like the Cold War times, the political agenda is being driven by fear: fear of ‘rogue states’ with weapons of mass destruction; fear of being blown up by terrorist bombs; fear of being swamped by migrants; fear of ‘the other’ and of losing one’s national identity.
Read more: Report 2007: The State of the World’s Human Rights
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Irene Khan, Amnesty International Secretary General, has posted an entry on the popular Comment is Free blog on the website of the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
There was real optimism in international relations in the early 1990s - the Berlin wall had fallen; democracy and freedom were on the march in many parts of the world; peace in Northern Ireland looked possible; talks at Camp David promised reconciliation in the Middle East.
“But just a decade and a half later, the world is again mired in conflicts and crises, reviving a cold war mentality of a polarised international community, proxy wars and human rights sacrificed in the name of security or political expediency. Agendas driven by fear dominate.
Read more: Ending the politics of fear
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This is an extract from the blog by Amnesty International’s delegation who went on mission to Chad in November 2006:
The attack left 40 dead –shot or burned to death including three babies and one crippled elderly man. Seven women were abducted during the course of that attack and held for several hours during which time they were gang raped by Janjawid fighters.
Now the entire village has fled and perches, displaced, on the outside of Goz Beida with no security, no assistance.
Continue reading ‘Reassuring the survivors in Chad, November 2006′
