Report 2005: A dangerous new agenda (Amnesty International)

[struggle4progress]

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE

AI Index: POL 10/006/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 116
25 May 2005

Embargo Date: 25 May 200510:00GMT

Report 2005: A dangerous new agenda
(London) Governments are betraying their promise of a world order based on human rights and are pursuing a dangerous new agenda, said Amnesty International today as it launched its annual assessment of global human rights.

Speaking at the launch of the Amnesty International Report 2005, the organization's Secretary General Irene Khan said that governments had failed to show principled leadership and must be held to account.

"Governments are betraying their promises on human rights. A new agenda is in the making with the language of freedom and justice being used to pursue policies of fear and insecurity. This includes cynical attempts to redefine and sanitise torture," said Irene Khan.

This new agenda, combined with the indifference and paralysis of the international community, failed countless thousands of people in humanitarian crises and forgotten conflicts throughout 2004. <snip>

http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=80256DD400782B8480256FF800482A48

[applegrove]

1. I'm glad they said it. The WH sure is leading the world into a dark

new age.

[muchacho]

2. kick

Amnesty International Takes Aim at U.S.

Amnesty International branded the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay a human rights failure Wednesday, releasing a 308-page report that offers stinging criticism of the United States and its detention centers around the world.

As a superpower, the United States has shirked its responsibility to set the bar for human rights protections and has instead created a new lexicon for abuse and torture, Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan said for the London-based group's annual report launch.

"The United States ... sets the tone for governmental behavior worldwide," Khan said.

"Attempts to dilute the absolute ban on torture through new policies and quasi-management speak, such as 'environmental manipulation, stress positions and sensory manipulation,' was one of the most damaging assaults on global values."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/05/25/international/i030419D56.DTL