a870: Re: a853: Re: a780: Human Rights Watch and the Equal Application of Standards(fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: kevin pina <kpinbox@hotmail.com>


"Judging from Pina's postings, what actually bothers him is Human Rights
Watch's willingness to criticize the current Haitian leadership for the
country's deplorable human rights conditions."


Human Rights Watch was among those who pounced upon Paul Raymond's
statements at St. Jon Bosco last year where he "threatened" the press with a
quote from Dessaline. Human Rights Watch also was among those organizations
who never once mentioned that Paul Raymond was immediately placed under
judicial restraint by the government restricting his travel and forcing him
to meet with the equivalent of a probation officer for a period of six
weeks. Having made such a big deal of the former while not giving a single
reference to the latter left everyone with the impression that the
Government of Haiti tacitly approved threats against the press while the
facts speak otherwise.

Secondly, while having made much of Raymond's statements, representing one
small contingent and certainly not the majority of the popular
organizations, Human Rights Watch was among those same human rights
organizations who remained conspicuously silent during the terror campaign
leading up to the presidential elections of November 26, 2000. It would have
meant much if they had issued a strong condemnation of the drive-by
shootings and pipe bombs in the two weeks leading up to the elections. As it
was, the only entity with the courage and conviction to condemn those
heinous attacks was the Canadian government. The right to vote without
terror and to live in peace is also a human right that must be applied with
the same standards across the board.



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