"There is no Guantanamo in Chile".---Chilean government spokesman Francisco Vidal responds to a global human rights report released this week by the U.S. State Department. Vidal also "questioned the moral authority" of the U.S. in criticizing the human rights problems of other countries.
The 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices was particularly harsh on Cuba and Venezuela though it pointed out problems that persist in Chile. The report coincided with Amnesty International in noting that Chile's indigenous peoples "suffered discrimination."
Image- ABC Online
Online Sources- China Daily, The Latin Americanist, State Department
4 comments:
I thought it was a nice gesture for the State Department to introduce the 2008 human rights report by noting, "as we publish these reports, the Department of State remains mindful of both domestic and international scrutiny of the United States' record." Still, I'm not surprised by the response from Chile, and I'm sure similar criticism will come from other countries that were criticized.
Is the charge of hypocrisy a good defense against charges of human rights violations? No. Is the U.S. hypocritical in criticizing human rights violations abroad? Yes. Ultimately, however, I think the reports serve an important function.
So I guess Benjamin Gedan will have no problem with the Human Rights report on the United States published every year by China. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Pepito
Benjamin -
The Venezuelan government did reply with vehement critiques of the State Dept. report. (As to be expected since they were harshly treated in the study).
To be frank, I'm suprised that Vidal publicly came out with such a strong criticism of the report. Perhaps he was displeased with the faults on Chile which were mentioned in the study?
Lastly, I completely concur that reports have their vital purpose even if the allegations made are incorrect and/or up for debate.
Pepito -
"What's good for the goose is good for the gander."
Agreed even if the individual points of each study are debatable.
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