World Needs More Vocal Supporters of Human Rights, Human Rights Watch 2007 Report
Human Rights Watch 2007 Report
January 11, 2007

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its annual report documenting human rights abuses around the world on January 11, 2007.  In the document’s introduction, the organization condemned the United States for not only being hypocritical with respect to human rights, but also for ignoring the plight of oppressed people worldwide.  The report suggested that the European Union should instead take the lead in the promotion and defense of human rights.  In addition, while the HRW lauded the “democracies of Latin America, Africa, and Asia…[that] have begun to stand up for human rights,” the organization urged them to become a stronger voice for the oppressed.  Moreover, the report chastised the human rights abuses worldwide, focusing particularly on China and Russia.  Both of these countries’ international economic and political influence is growing, and the HRW feels their lack of concern for human rights is unacceptable and should be more stridently condemned.  

The HRW stated that the U.S. can no longer be a credible supporter of democracy and human rights because of its own abuses “of detentions without trial and interrogation by torture.”  The HRW instead called for the EU to become “the strongest and most effective defender of human rights.”  However, the report points out that the EU will have to overcome enlargement burdens, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and consensus requirements among its members in order to provide this kind of leadership.  The HRW also turned to democracies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to provide regional leadership and called for “a true Southern defender of human rights.”

The report also focused on both China and Russia’s indifference to human rights, bans on political pluralism, and crackdown on independent media and dissident voices.  However, both countries “are the beneficiaries of low expectations,” and without other countries actively pushing for adherence to international human rights standards, the HRW feels that China and Russia will continue their present behavior.  Moreover, the report points out that the countries’ “new economic strength—China’s booming market, Russia’s energy reserves—only reinforces their ability to resist what meager pressure is directed their way while discouraging other governments from even exerting such pressure.”

To read the HRW’s full report, visit their website at: http://hrw.org/wr2k7