28 March - 3 April 2002
Issue No.579
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 28 March - 3 April 2002 Issue No.579 |
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Witch-hunt
The US-led global anti- terror campaign continues, although a host of international organisations have expressed concern about the crimes being committed in the name of retaliation for the 11 September events.
There is reason to worry. The US has finally issued a report on human rights conditions in the world in which it assigned grades on the basis of its evaluation of government performance. Meanwhile, under the pretext of investigating the 11 September attacks, the US administration has announced plans to interrogate over 3,000 US residents, mostly Arabs and Muslims. As part of a wide-scale campaign, US security authorities have raided the offices and homes of 14 Muslim organisations, societies and individuals. Dozens of people have been searched and detained on ethnic and religious bases, in a reminder of the witch-hunts familiar to American history.
Islamic organisations, which have been harassed ceaselessly for the past six months, are protesting that the US authorities have no evidence against them. In fact, the authorities are so confused that they have interrogated Islamic figures who were in favour of the US war against terror, such as Taha Elwani, who participated in issuing a fatwa that allowed Muslim American soldiers to fight in the war on terror. This is sufficient proof that the US campaign against Muslims has reached a critical stage, and has begun to work against its own objectives, becoming openly hostile towards Muslims, contrary to President Bush's initial promises.
Apparently, most of the charitable associations and other organisations targeted by the US authorities -- including the renowned Muslim World Association, based in Mecca -- have recently expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and demanded an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. This seems to justify raids on their offices and the interrogation of their members.
The Bush administration is expanding its military presence in various parts of the world, still under the rubric of eradicating terrorism. It has no scruples about taking measures repressive enough to qualify for use in Third World countries. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced the creation of special military tribunals to try terrorist suspects. These courts, which the US has always criticised because they violate due process and disregard basic civil rights, will conduct trials in closed sessions under heavy security and in secret locations. Once they have issued a verdict, no appeal will be possible.
This brand of justice may have caused some Arab commentators to gloat, praising the virtues of military courts and some Arab countries' trail- blazing experience in this respect. In their haste to congratulate their regimes, they have forgotten that US citizens will not be tried in these tribunals, which have been tailor- made for suspects from other countries, especially Arabs and Muslims. Most European countries whose citizens are being held by the US under suspicion of involvement with Al- Qa'eda have demanded that they be returned home or, barring repatriation, have requested fair trials in regular US courts.
America was proud of its civil freedoms and democracy, but its role as a beacon for the world has seemingly come to an end. The real problem, however, is that, while democratic forces in the West soon repeal extraordinary laws brought on by emergency circumstances, these laws remain in effect for decades in the Third World.
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