Posted on 05/25/2005 4:59:04 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
THE White House has slammed as "ridiculous and unsupported" claims by Amnesty International in its annual report that the US has undermined respect for human rights across the world by striving to weaken absolute opposition to torture.
"I think the allegations are ridiculous and unsupported by the facts," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "The United States is leading the way when it comes to protecting human rights and promoting human dignity.
"We have liberated 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have worked to advance freedom and democracy in the world so that people are governed under a rule of law and that there are ... protections in place for minority rights, that women's rights are advanced so that women can fully participate in societies where now they cannot," Mr McClellan said.
Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan said at the London launch of the report: "When the most powerful country in the world thumbs its nose at the rule of law and human rights, it grants a licence to others to commit abuse with impunity and audacity."
The rhetoric of freedom and justice was being used to "redefine and sanitise torture", Ms Khan said, citing US military terms used to hide mistreatment of prisoners such as "stress positions" and "sensory manipulation".
Amnesty called the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where hundreds of foreign terror suspects are held indefinitely, the "gulag of our times", referring to the notorious prison camps of the Soviet Union.
Bill O'Reilly is taking this "far-left" report to task right now.
Hmm.. where is the part where they threaten US officials with arrest if they travel abroad..? O'Reilly just quoted it. It was hilarious.
Afghan National Army Launches First Vaccine Program and here FreepThread
just for one of MANY examples in result of the humanitarian United States.
AI started out 30+ years ago as a relatively non-partisan group dedicated to helping "prisoners of conscience" all over the world -- for many years now they have been taken over by left-wing-nuts who live only to bash the great USA. Let them all live in Cuba, China, etc., not to mention many of their other leftist hellholes, and we'll see how long they last.
I'm listening. The lefty says the the Geneva Convention applies to non-uniformed terrorists. That and everything else he had to say sounded completely foolish.
I wonder what tune these "human rights" activists would be singing if their loved ones were in a video having their head sawed off, and then their body found strung upside down on a bridge (Nick Berg). Then again, Nick's Dad blames Bush... go figure.
They're more concerned that Saddam is in his panties.
Scott - you ignorant fudge-packer.
Who's yo momma?
Who cooked the books here in Texas?
Oh, that's right - Carole Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn. (Who knows what the next surname will be.)
Nice payday, my "man."
How's Jeff, the Bulldog, going these days?
As I was reading your comment I planned on mentioning Michael Berg, but you got there before me with the answer. Actually, it's pretty sad about AI. It started out as an organization that actually attempted to call attention to horrible human rights abuses, but it's been co-opted, kind of like the IRC, and is not of any real use.
That guy was just plain strange.
Taking the helm in Amnesty International as the first woman, the first Asian and the first Muslim to guide the worlds largest human rights organization..."
What a surprise...
Amnesty International is a terrorist organization.
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