Amnesty International Condemns Human Rights Violators. We Win Again!

The awards going to the United States under the leadership of George W. Bush continue to pile up. This time we are honored by Amnesty International.

Rights Report Condemns U.S, China

LONDON, England (AP) -- Amnesty International said Tuesday that the relentless pursuit of security by powerful nations had undermined human rights, draining energy and attention from crises afflicting the poor and underprivileged.

In releasing its 2006 annual report, the human rights watchdog condemned countries such as the United States, China and Russia for focusing on narrowly defined interests, diluting efforts to solve conflicts elsewhere -- such as Sudan's Darfur region.

They have some particular bones to pick with a few administration policies.

"(The United States) has basically mortgaged its moral authority on the streets of Fallujah and Baghdad -- and lost moral authority to speak on this issue," Khan told AP Television News in regard to Darfur.

Amnesty also called for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, and for full disclosure on prisoners implicated elsewhere in the "war on terror." It also asked for the U.N. Human Rights Council to insist on equal standards "whether in Darfur, Guantanamo, Chechnya or China."

"Guantanamo prison camp is an aberration under international law," Khan told AP. "It places people outside the rule of law. And it sends a message to other regimes around the world -- like Egypt or China -- that they too can ignore human rights. They too can lock people up in the name of national security."

Strong words indeed. Of course, none of this will phase the Cheney administration, and you can rest assured that the right wingnut bloggerati will be coming out in full force now to decry Amnesty International as some sort of liberal Democrat conspiracy. Set your watch now. I give them less than an hour in the pool.