NO US SECRETARY OF STATE HAD EVER RISKED CRITICIZING HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
Karine Ter-Sahakyan
PanARMENIAN.Net
21.03.2009 GMT+04:00
Washington is so eager to get rid of the "painful heritage" of the Bush
Administration that she often makes statements against her own self.
Probably, no one could expect Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to
introduce changes in country’s foreign policy, as the foreign policy
of any country is a more conservative segment of management. Moreover,
no one could expect so slighting, if not to say more, attitude towards
the work done by one’s own department. Everything began with the
notorious annual State Department Report on Human Rights. Everybody
knows that it has always been politically booked and biased, but
no US Secretary of State had ever risked criticizing the Report,
especially doing it not in Washington but on a trip abroad.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ New Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
undercuts the State Department’s own human rights reporting, The
Washington Post writes. According to the author of the article "Some
Friends", Clinton declared in China that "Violations of human rights
in China can’t interfere with economic, security or environmental
matters".
The new Secretary of State delivered a similar shock in Turkey and
Egypt, the two US key allies in the region. "State Department issues
these reports on every country and we hope that it will be taken in the
spirit in which it is offered, that we all have room for improvement,"
Clinton said in an interview to al-Arabiya satellite network.
As for the state of human rights protection in Turkey, the US Secretary
of State said: "Senior government officials strongly criticize the
press and media business figures". "Overall, we think that Turkey has
made tremendous progress in freedom of speech and freedom of religion
and human rights, and we’re proud of that," noted Clinton in Ankara.
In fact, as the State Department has documented, Turkey is retreating
on freedom of speech. In Egypt, the human rights situation also
is getting worse rather than better. "By minimizing those facts,
Ms. Clinton is doing a disservice to her own department and sending
a message to rulers around the world that their abuses won’t be taken
seriously by this U.S. administration," The Washington Post reports.
On the whole, Hillary Clinton is right: the Human Rights Report
has long ceased to be objective, especially since it is written up
in participation with the Human Rights Watch, organization that,
to put it mildly, perceives the reality inadequately, especially in
post-Soviet territory. Not pretending on a distinct opinion in this
matter, we have to admit that in majority of cases organizations of
protecting human rights are engaged in bringing accusations against
the states, which, in their opinion, are Â"non-democraticÂ". Examples
are not few: South Caucasus states, Russia, China. For some reason
these reports almost never include names of EU member states and the
USA. But these are all rhetoric questions that do not refer to the
essence of the issue. And the essence is that Washington is so eager
to get rid of the Â"painful heritageÂ" of the Bush Administration
that she often makes statements against her own self.
By the way, Barack Obama too has decided to contribute his mite in
changing the priorities of his foreign policy. For the first time the
US President has congratulated the Iranians on Nowruz. Of course,
the fact itself deserves respect, only Obama will have to explain
his gesture of good will to those Americans, who were taken hostage
in Tehran in 1979 and survived by a hair’s breadth …
But politics operates with categories, a bit far from morals. It is
difficult to say whether such policy is beneficial for the country
or not. At least, the United States has always been famous for its
pragmatism and pursuance of personal interests, naturally, offering
it to the world in Â"democraticÂ" wrapping.
And lastly, US Secretary of State has invited President of the "Turkish
Republic of North Cyprus" Mehmet Ali Talat to visit Washington. In the
judgment of Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) the invitation
issued to Talat may be wrongly assessed as recognition of Cyprus’
occupation and existence of the "Turkish Republic of North Cyprus". In
the words of American diplomat of Greek origin Gregory Marquis,
Â"isolationÂ" of Turk Cypriots is the result of occupation of the
northern part of the island by Turkey. Hardly can the US Secretary of
State be ignorant of the Cyprian problem. We’ll make bold to assume
that all the curtseys are dropped before Turkey as a preparation for
Barack Obama to utter the word ‘genocide’ in his annual speech of April
24. And here nolens volens we recall the words of Arthur Sasounian:
"Armenians should not require every newly-formed Congress recognize
what has already been recognized twice. Congress has already passed
two resolutions on the Armenian Genocide recognition, one in 1975,
the other in 1984. The Armenian nation should not be constantly asking
American presidents to recognize the Genocide." As for Turkey, it is
not so irritated at just another resolution on the Armenian Genocide,
as at its constant repetition for more than 30 years…