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| Terror Networks |
| Human rights groups are complicit in murder, says Trimble |
| 2004-01-28 |
| The Nobel Peace laureate and Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble called human rights organisations a "great curse" yesterday and accused them of complicity in terrorist killings. "One of the great curses of this world is the human rights industry," he told the Associated Press news agency at an international conference of terrorism victims in Madrid. "They justify terrorist acts and end up being complicit in the murder of innocent victims." His words drew an angry reaction from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, two of the world’s biggest human rights groups, with about 200,000 members in Britain and more than a million worldwide. Steve Crawshaw, director of the London office of Human Rights Watch, said:"It is extraordinarily regrettable and disappointing that, above all, a man like that says something like this. "His own emphasis, together with other politicians in North ern Ireland, on the fact that violence against civilians on all sides of any conflict cannot be justified, has been so important in recent years." Kate Allen, Amnesty International’s UK Director, said: "The threat of terrorism must never be used as an excuse for abus ing people’s human rights. David Trimble should remember that human rights organisations have condemned killings and other abuses by terrorist groups all over the world, while at the same time criticising governments who use the ’war on terror’ as a pretext to abuse their citizens." A spokeswoman for the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, which awarded Mr Trimble his prize in 1988, declined to say whether it considered itself a member of the "human rights industry". "We don’t comment on what former laureates say. We have no reaction to that," she said. Mr Trimble was joint winner of with the former leader of the SDLP, John Hume, for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland. He made his comment as one of the keynote speakers at the first international congress of terrorism victims, which ended in Madrid on Tuesday night. He backed another politician at the conference, the Colombian vice-president Francisco Santos, who said that human rights groups were hindering progress towards peace in his country. "For human rights organisations to call [the Colombian rebel group] Farc ’armed opposition groups’ undermines the struggle of those who have decided to side with democracy," Mr Santos said. "That is not right. It is unacceptable." After hearing of Mr Trimble’s comments Robin Kirk, a researcher on Colombia for Human Rights Watch, said: "Human rights defenders are under attack in Colombia, so these are dangerous comments to make." Human Rights Watch has criticised Colombia’s anti-terrorist legislation and calls groups such as Farc either "illegal armed groups" or "leftist guerrillas". The Madrid conference ended with a declaration which went some way to supporting Mr Trimble. It said: "We call on NGOs and other civil organisations that stand for the defence of human rights to make a commitment to defend victims of terrorism and to identify terrorist acts for what they are, regardless of their cause or pretext and without striking balances or blurring the distinction between victims and executioners." |
| Posted by:TS |
| #1 Oh yes. Dont you all remember AI's loud and clear comdemnation of Kimmie-boy-the-baby-killer's murder of newborn infant (because they might be of mixed race) and and Saddam and his rape squads? Not to mention their condemnation of Hamas for the murder of innocent civilians. I mean how could you all forget? The Madrid conference ended with a declaration which went some way to supporting Mr Trimble. It said: "We call on NGOs and other civil organisations that stand for the defence of human rights to make a commitment to defend victims of terrorism and to identify terrorist acts for what they are, regardless of their cause or pretext and without striking balances or blurring the distinction between victims and executioners" I bet AI just loves that statement....... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-1-28 11:02:36 PM |