Reliable Human Rights Reports

Posted on March 27, 2003 in Atrocity Human Rights Pointers War

Far too many bloggers are jumping to print reports coming off their television sets about alleged atrocities in Iraq. Both those for the war and those against it reprint the latest allegations uncritically. The thing to remember is that news organizations are kneejerk: they want to be the first to air stories. Some are unabashably acting as propaganda agents for the U.S. government. A much smaller number does the same for Iraq.

Here are two organizations to which I urge people to turn for unbiased, well documented reports about human rights violations in Iraq:

Amnesty International: A report issued yesterday cites human rights violations by both sides including:

• The bombing of Iraqi television (against international law/proved)
  
• Shelling of civilians by both sides (proved in the case of the U.S./unproved by Iraq)
  
• Placement of military objectives in close proximity to civilians (Iraq/proved)
  
• Dressing up of soldiers as civilians so they can get close (Iraq/unproved)

There’s also a ten point appeal made to both sides. The first point is “Don’t attack civilians”.

Human Rights Watch is another trustworthy organization. It has deployed observers to Iraq:

We will scrutinize the conduct of U.S. and allied forces to ensure that they take all feasible precautions to protect civilians. We will closely watch the conduct of Iraqi government troops for signs that they might attack Iraqi civilians. We will monitor Iraqi opposition forces to try to prevent them from resuming the summary executions committed during the 1991 uprising. We will work to ensure that refugees and others in need receive humanitarian assistance and protection. We will press for prosecution of the worst human rights offenders, and of all those who commit serious war crimes. And we will insist that occupying forces in post-war Iraq establish basic security and the rule of law as quickly as possible.

They have criticized both sides for putting POWs on camera and the U.S. for bombing the television station. A story which has not made it to the Western media is that the Egyptian government has been torturing anti-war protestors.

Both organizations are taking donations for their surveillance work. I trust them because they hold to a single standard by which they judge all parties in the conflict. Your evening news is not unbiased or nearly as careful as these nongovernmental agencies. Turning off the television set and relying on trustworthy, painstaking sources is a very good idea at this time.

Support the civilians against all the governments and their armies.