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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 June 1999 Issue No. 433 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 June 1999 Issue No. 433
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Books Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The right
In her first visit to the region since taking office, UN Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson highlighted an extremely important point to emphasise the universal nature of the struggle to ensure respect for basic human rights, particularly in developing nations. The former Irish president, who is known for her outspoken views, conceded that Western countries should be more balanced in their criticism of the human rights records of developing countries, and should not single out one country for portrayal as the most brutal or disrespectful of human rights.
to blow the whistleMany people in this part of the world, however, will continue to look with suspicion and mistrust at the way in which international bodies and influential Western countries deal with the issue of human rights in developing countries.
The United States, for example, was quick in expressing "concern" over the recently-approved law organising the activities of non-governmental groups here in Egypt; yet it would take the same administration weeks to issue a vaguely worded statement on the gross violations of human rights that take place every day in Palestine and the other Arab territories occupied by Israel.
Of course, the argument that violations of human rights take place everywhere cannot and will never justify such violations in one particular country. Yet if the US has the pretence of defending democracy and freedom worldwide, it must revise the evident selectivity and double standards that mark its policy. One question that will continue to worry, and thereby weaken, all those concerned with human rights in this part of the world is: what prevents the world's major powers from seeing that Israel's racist policies, confiscation and occupation of Arab land, not to mention its summary arrests and routine torture of Palestinians, are the worst human rights violations in this part of the world?
The Arab countries clearly have a long way to go to improve their human rights' record, but the United States and many international organisations must also contemplate the long voyage ahead of them, before they can prove their credibility and show that they are not using human rights as a political tool to serve their own interests.
