This week marks the fourth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. The occasion revived the memory of the brutal human rights violations that have been carried out over these four years in the name of fighting international terrorism.
This week marks the fourth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. The occasion revived the memory of the brutal human rights violations that have been carried out over these four years in the name of fighting international terrorism. The US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba springs to mind. So do the CIA flights transferring terrorism suspects over European territory.
The Greek press has devoted much press coverage to these and related subjects which have been presented, analyzed and condemned in extensive reports. And rightly so. Such crimes should not be allowed to pass without comment.
But the fact is that the Guantanamo detention center is surrounded by a much larger prison. Cuba is suffering under a dictatorial regime that many, at least in Greece, have not paid much attention to.
Fidel Castro’s regime has some 27 prisoners of conscience, 25 of whom are journalists. According to the Reporters Without Borders organization, Cuba is currently the world’s second-largest jail for journalists. China, which is hosting next year’s Olympic Games, is in first place.
The tragicomic aspect of the story is that the most recent attack against intellectuals and journalists in Cuba happened under the shadow of the US invasion in Iraq. In March 2003, as everyone was transfixed by the invasion, Castro’s regime launched a major crackdown on against its dissidents. “The black spring of 2003” – as it came to be known – resulted in mass arrests and convictions of intellectuals and journalists aged up to 27. Today, 18 of these prisoners are on hunger strike, demanding their basic civil rights – the right to a fair trial and not to be mistreated by prison guards.
According to Reporters Without Borders, the journalist Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta is being systematically tortured by guards at Cuba’s Kilo maximum security prison. Acosta has been on hunger strike, along with another 17 prisoners, in an attempt to attract international media attention to poor detention conditions.
All these accusations are being leveled by an international organization which has never aimed to tell the USA or other Western countries what they want to hear. Last year, the same organization issued a list of countries, ranked in descending order as regards their freedom of press. This list had the USA in 53rd place, significantly lower than Greece which was ranked 32nd.
Criticism of human rights violations must be comprehensive if it is to be credible. In the words of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” And injustices are not categorized according to the intentions that the perpetrator purports to have, whether this be fighting international terrorism or defending socialism.
KATHIMERINI English Edition, 23/02/2007
