Jimmy Carter: A Cruel and Unusual Record (America's shameful human rights record)
from the NYT:
A Cruel and Unusual Record
By JIMMY CARTER
Published: June 24, 2012
THE United States is abandoning its role as the global champion of human rights.
Revelations that top officials are targeting people to be assassinated abroad, including American citizens, are only the most recent, disturbing proof of how far our nations violation of human rights has extended. This development began after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has been sanctioned and escalated by bipartisan executive and legislative actions, without dissent from the general public. As a result, our country can no longer speak with moral authority on these critical issues.
While the country has made mistakes in the past, the widespread abuse of human rights over the last decade has been a dramatic change from the past. With leadership from the United States, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948 as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. This was a bold and clear commitment that power would no longer serve as a cover to oppress or injure people, and it established equal rights of all people to life, liberty, security of person, equal protection of the law and freedom from torture, arbitrary detention or forced exile.
The declaration has been invoked by human rights activists and the international community to replace most of the worlds dictatorships with democracies and to promote the rule of law in domestic and global affairs. It is disturbing that, instead of strengthening these principles, our governments counterterrorism policies are now clearly violating at least 10 of the declarations 30 articles, including the prohibition against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. .................(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/opinion/americas-shameful-human-rights-record.html?_r=1