June 9, 2002

The latest report of Amnesty International points to the human rights abuses which are taking place in the post-9/11 world on the pretext of fighting terrorism

Images of the September 11 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania reverberated around a shocked and disbelieving world. At least 3,000 people from more than 60 countries were killed. Amnesty International (AI) joined with countless others in offering condolences to the victims and condemning the attacks.

As people sought to make sense of what had happened, questions began to be asked about who was responsible for the attacks and why. And what should be the response?

US President George W. Bush and his administration soon pointed the finger at Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network as key players in the planning of the attacks, and attention turned to Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden was believed to have his base.

Al called on governments to bring to justice those responsible for the September 11 attacks and to ensure that they were tried in accordance with international human rights standards and were not at risk of being sentenced to death. It also called on states to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and to promote international judicial mechanisms.

On October 7 the US, in collaboration with its coalition allies, began a sustained bombing campaign in Afghanistan as part of President Bush’s declared “war on terrorism”. By the end of the year, an as yet unknown number of Afghan civilians had been killed or injured or had their homes or property destroyed, in circumstances that led Al to call for investigations by competent authorities to determine whether violations of international humanitarian law had been committed.

Al urged governments to ensure that the use of force did not add to the human rights violations visited upon the Afghan population and that any military intervention was conducted with the highest regard for international humanitarian law. Al continued to call on Afghan groups to respect human rights and on other governments to use their influence to this end. It also continued to stress that governments should not send arms into Afghanistan which could be used to commit human rights abuses and called for a moratorium on the use of cluster bombs. Al expressed concern that specific US attacks may have breached international humanitarian law and called for an inquiry into the killings of more than 200 Taliban prisoners and others during incidents in a fort controlled by the United Front (commonly known as the Northern Alliance) in Mazar-i-Sharif. US and United Kingdom (UK) forces were also present during these incidents. No inquiry had taken place by the end of the year.

In November, Al launched a forward-looking campaign to promote an agenda for human rights in Afghanistan. By December, US bombing, combined with renewed assaults by the United Front had driven the Taliban from power and a new interim administration for Afghanistan was brokered by the UN in Bad Godesberg Bonn, Germany. Al called on the international community to ensure that human rights were integrated into all discussions about the future of Afghanistan. The organization emphasized the vital importance of ensuring that those entrusted with leadership are committed to the protection of human rights and that women and ethnic and religious minorities are not discriminated against in the creation of government and institutions.

Al has documented grave human rights abuses by combatants of all the various warring parties involved in the decades-long conflicts which have ravaged Afghanistan. While Al appreciates the need for national reconciliation after years of war and repression, it stressed that any future political agreement must ensure accountability for these abuses. Specific protection should be sought against retaliation and discrimination against ethnic and religious groups, and measures should be taken to combat discrimination against women.

Al called for the demobilization of child soldiers, international protection for refugees, and a vigorous programme of human rights institution-building. Al called for restrictions on arms supplies and for programmes of disarmament and de-mining, adequately resourced and supported by the international community to be included as important components of a political settlement.

Around the world, the September 11 attacks were followed by a wave of racist attacks directed at people because of their appearance. In North America, Europe and elsewhere, Muslims, Arabs and Sikhs were shot, stabbed and beaten. Mosques were sprayed with racist graffiti, attacked and burned down. Human rights defenders around the world called on their governments to ensure that a clear message was sent out that a backlash against people of Middle Eastern or Asian origin or against Muslims or other communities was totally unacceptable and would not be tolerated.

There was also growing concern towards the end of the year that governments were introducing draconian measures curtailing human rights and civil liberties. For example, the US authorities introduced legislation which enables the government to detain indefinitely foreign nationals facing deportation orders and to establish “military commissions”, which lack fundamental guarantees for fair trial, to try foreign nationals. In the UK, the government derogated from Article 5(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights and introduced legislation to detain foreign nationals indefinitely without charge or trial. In Zimbabwe, political opponents of the government and those who published articles critical of the government’s human rights record were accused of supporting “terrorism”. At the end of 2001 the Zimbabwean government was in the process of introducing legislation to create a new crime of “terrorism”, punishable by death; to punish with terms of imprisonment non-violent civil disobedience, criticism of the President and disturbing the peace and to criminalize all journalism by those not licensed by the state. In India, a new ordinance was promulgated which gave the police wide powers of arrest and provided for up to six months’ detention without charge or trial for political suspects. Al warned that these and similar measures taken by a number of governments would deny basic human rights to some of the most vulnerable people.

Governments have a responsibility to take steps to protect their citizens and to prevent future attacks. However, Al and other human rights organizations continued to stress that in addressing security concerns governments must ensure that internationally recognized safeguards to protect human rights are not infringed in any way. Governments must ensure that members of ethnic, religious or other minorities are not victimized. The principle of non-discrimination on grounds such as race, colour, ethnic origin, sex, language, religion and social status, which is repeated in virtually every major international human rights treaty is the very bedrock of international law.

There were also fears that intergovernmental discussions on migration and asylum would focus on restrictive measures relating to countering “terrorism” rather than on refugee protection. Al stressed that all asylum-seekers should be allowed entry in order to have their claims assessed according to a fair and satisfactory procedure and on an individual basis, as stated in international refugee law. No one should be denied this right because the group they belong to is perceived as a possible security threat.

Excerpted with permission from
Amnesty International report 2002
Amnesty International Publications, International Secretariat, Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street, London WC1X 0DW
Website: www.amnesty.org  Available at Amnesty International Pakistan, B-12, 2nd Floor, Shelozon Centre, Gulshan-i-Iqbal 15, University Road, Karachi-75300
Tel: 021-496 0661
Email: amnesty@cyber.net.pk
ISBN 0-86210-313-4
307pp. Price not stated

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