December 11, 2001	Tuesday	Ramazan 25, 1422

ADDIS ABABA, Dec 10: UN human rights chief Mary Robinson, a critic of some aspects of the US-led hunt for the perpetrators of the Sept 11 attacks, said on Monday the struggle against terrorism had to respect human rights.

“It has been suggested in some quarters that human rights considerations must take a back seat in the struggle against terrorism. I cannot share in that line of thinking,” she said in a speech in Addis Ababa marking International Human Rights Day.

“Human rights must be observed, especially in times of crisis. We can and must fight terrorism while observing human rights.”

She did not elaborate, but earlier this month Robinson backed calls by rights groups for an international inquiry into the killing of 600 prisoners in Afghanistan and expressed concern about other reported massacres as the Taliban fell from power.

Hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners were killed last month after at the Qala-i-Jangi prison, near Mazar-i-Sharif.

The massacre has led to a call by Amnesty International and others for a probe.

Robinson, the former Irish President, has also criticized an order by U.S. President George W. Bush to set up military tribunals for suspects held in connection with the Sept 11 hijacked airliner attacks.

She said the move could potentially erode a range of detainees’ rights including protection from arbitrary arrest and a right to a fair trial.

Turning to Africa, Robinson said the challenges to building a human rights culture lay in tackling discrimination and endemic poverty that dominated life in the poorest continent.

She condemned racial discrimination which she said contributed significantly to African underdevelopment.

Studies showed that discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, race, religion or social status could lead to social exclusion and lock people in a long-term poverty trap, she said.

Bush: U.S. President George W. Bush proclaimed a national “Human Rights Week” starting Sunday, saying the U.S.-led war on terrorism represented an international defense of individual rights.

The proclamation, vowing a commitment to the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights, comes as the Bush administration battles critics who accuse it of treading on constitutional principles in clamping down on security and hunting suspected terrorists.

“The heinous acts of terrorism committed on Sept. 11 were an attack against civilization itself, and they have caused the world to join together in a coalition that is now waging war on terrorism and defending international human rights,” Bush said.

In addition to proclaiming Human Rights Week, he also declared Monday Human Rights Day. The commemorations are an annual event.

Bush has been criticized for several measures the administration has taken in response to the attacks, including authorizing military tribunals to try non-citizens suspected of terrorism, expanding wiretaps and other federal investigative powers, and detaining hundreds of immigrants.

“I am deeply concerned that some in this country appear not to share my confidence in America’s ability to be both safe and free,” American Bar Association President Robert Hirshon said last week in criticizing the tribunals and other steps.

Some of Bush’s international coalition partners have protested the tribunals and the possibility suspects would face the death penalty.

The United States was united with those who loved democracy, liberty and justice, Bush said in the proclamation. “We are committed to upholding these principles, embodied in our constitution’s Bill of Rights, that have safeguarded us throughout our history,” he said.

Vice President Dick Cheney denounced critics of Bush’s military tribunals. The critics had become “hysterical” and misrepresented the panels as a threat to human rights, he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“What we’re doing here has ample historic precedent, and we are in fact safeguarding the basic fundamental values and liberties with that establishment,” Cheney said.—Reuters