Via Chalk Talk (which is going onto the favorites list right now), this press release from the Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights. Did you know that, in 2002, when our embassies gathered data on the human rights records of countries around the world, they were under instructions not to include in their reports any "[a]ctions by governments taken at the request of the United States or with the expressed support of the United States"? This year, the State Department promises (cross their heart) not to include that instruction to the embassies. Just to be on the safe side, the LCHR recommends that "the reporting guidelines require an assessment of the human rights implications of states of emergency, emergency laws, and other measures taken in the name of counterterrorism, including those encouraged by the United States." In other words, don't just tell them not to exclude the relevant data - put them under an affirmative obligation to break the relevant data out in a separate section.
Excellent suggestion. If they actually do it, what do you suppose we'll find out about the human-rights records of our friends and allies like, say just for example, Uzbekistan? And will the warbloggers then be baying to invade the countries of any evil-doers? I wait with bated breath.
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