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| International-UN-NGOs |
| Head of Red Cross tires of its BS |
| 2004-05-17 |
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the Washington office of the International Committee of the Red Cross has resigned for "personal reasons," amid turmoil created by a secret ICRC report on Iraqi prisoner abuse by U.S. forces. Christophe Girod, a 17-year veteran of the international body, declined Monday to comment on his reasons for leaving and would not say whether his decision was linked to dismay over the world body’s handling of the Iraqi abuse scandal. "I am leaving for private reasons. I have had 17 years of the ICRC and it’s time to try something else," said Girod, who heads up the ICRC’s work in the United States and Canada. In Geneva, the ICRC said Girod resigned "for personal reasons" about a month ago and the decision had nothing to do with the prison abuse scandal. Earlier this month, a 24-page ICRC report was leaked to the media in which the Red Cross said the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers was "in some cases tantamount to torture." The February report came to light days after the U.S. media published graphic photographs showing U.S. forces humiliating and degrading Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. The report raised questions over the ICRC’s policy of neutrality and public silence over what it hears or sees about prisoners as a price for gaining access to jails in trouble spots around the world. Asked whether he thought the ICRC had handled the prison scandal correctly by not speaking out earlier when it knew of the abuses, Girod declined to comment. "I have nothing to say on the matter," he said. "This is not our policy to go public with internal matters and our relationship with detention powers." The ICRC, which complained repeatedly in private to U.S. authorities over possible prison abuses, only reveals acts of torture or worse when faced with flagrant cruelty and impunity and when the authorities involved refuse to take action. For example, it spoke out against blatant violations in the late 1980s in a bid to win the release of prisoners of war captured during the Iran-Iraq conflict. It also went public with criticism 20 years ago about Israeli mistreatment of detained Palestinians. Girod broke this tradition of silence last October when he publicly criticized the indefinite detention of "war on terror" suspects being held at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay. So the Red Cross only goes public when its the USA, Israel or Iran, and only when the ’victims’ are Arabs. My suprise meter is reading 0.000. |
| Posted by:Phil B |
| #1 For example, it spoke out against blatant violations in the late 1980s in a bid to win the release of prisoners of war captured during the Iran-Iraq conflict. It also went public with criticism 20 years ago about Israeli mistreatment of detained Palestinians. Pretty effective, both sides just went ahead a released all their prisoners from their respective mortal coils. Moral equivalence: execute POW's = force detainees to play "Smell the Glove." |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-05-18 1:10:26 AM |