'War on terror' is making world more dangerous, says rights group

11.45am - By GIDEON LONG

LONDON - The "war on terror" has made the world more dangerous by curbing human rights, undermining international law and shielding governments from scrutiny, Amnesty International said today.

Releasing its annual report into global human rights abuses in 2002 (see link below), the London-based watchdog also urged the world to do more to sort out Iraq's problems now that the second Gulf War is over.

In one of its most critical swipes yet at the United States, Amnesty said the bid to stamp out terror in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, had largely backfired.

"It has deepened divisions among people of different faiths and origins, sowing the seeds for more conflict," it said in a statement. "The overwhelming impact of all this is genuine fear across all sectors of society."

The report said that following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, there was widespread abuse of the rights of people detained as suspected al Qaeda members or alleged terrorists.

"More than 600 people, captured during the war in Afghanistan, continued to be held at the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, without charge or legal assistance. If they were prisoners of war, they should have been released at the end of the war in Afghanistan. If they were not prisoners of war, they should have been charged with a recognisable criminal offence or released.

"The US government, however, treated alleged al Qaeda members and associates as 'enemy combatants' – a concept applied to detainees regardless of the circumstances in which they were captured or taken into custody (including those who were not taken prisoner during armed conflict).

"Arguing that it was 'at war' with al Qaeda, the USA asserted that it was entitled to detain 'enemy combatants' until the 'war' ended – which means they could be detained indefinitely and without the rights afforded to prisoners of war or criminal suspects."

In response, the US government said it was committed to international human rights policies and obligations.

"We reject any criticism, any allegations, that our human rights efforts have diminished. Amnesty International's particular charges are incorrect," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a daily briefing.

"The war on terrorism has not detracted from our strong and steadfast commitment to human rights and democracy," he added.

Amnesty also said the world was not doing enough to solve post-conflict problems in Afghanistan and Iraq, both bombed and invaded by US-led forces.

Amnesty, which has become the world's biggest and most respected human rights group since it was founded over 40 years ago, highlighted the plight of over 600 detainees in a US military camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who have been held without charge or trial since the end of the war in Afghanistan.

"While claiming to bring justice to victims in Iraq, the United States has actively sought to undermine the International Criminal Court, the mechanism for universal justice," it said.

State Department spokesman Boucher responded by saying the United States had respected due process, international humanitarian law and "continued to maintain a system that respects clear legal authority...."

Amnesty's 311-page report was not concerned solely with the crises triggered by the attacks of September 11.

It said the intense media focus on Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002 meant human rights abuses in Ivory Coast, Colombia, Burundi, Chechnya and Nepal had gone largely unnoticed.

- REUTERS, HERALD STAFF

Amnesty International report: Human Rights 2002

Amnesty International video: Human Rights 2002

Herald Feature: War against terrorism