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
As I stood in the launch room of the Foreign Press Association in London, watching the videos, photos and individual testimonies of those on the front line of human rights, I felt a genuine swell of emotion and pride wash over me. Which I had certainly not been expecting!
The Editorial and Publishing Programme has been working with researchers, campaigners and policy and legal advisers for at least six months, trying to ensure we represent the organization’s research and the concerns of the individuals we work with and for accurately and powerfully.
Continue reading ‘A swell of emotion and pride’
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