Washington makes the case for being tough on countries with abysmal human rights records and Beijing decries America's own dismal record, writes Gamal Nkrumah It is a constant struggle nowadays for the United States to assert its moral authority worldwide. Washington's credibility is fast eroding. The US State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released last Wednesday, opened up a veritable can of worms in the international political arena and goes to the controversial nub of Washington's moral standing at the global level. Washington's willingness to grossly overstate its case, invited both the ire and derision of much of Asia, Africa and the Arab and Islamic worlds. To many around the world, America is a duplicitous bully. America, they argue, in spite of its superpower status has no edge on ideas. Still, self-righteous American officials dream on. "We hope that the reports will encourage governments, organisations, the media and public to address human rights problems," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared. "We also hope that the reports will be a source of information and inspiration to the noble men and women across the globe who are working for peaceful democratic change," she concluded. "The growing demand for democratic governance reflects a recognition that the best guarantor of human rights is a thriving democracy with transparent, accountable institutions of government, equal rights under the rule of law, a robust civil society, political pluralism and independent media," Rice said at the presentation of the report which commenced with her rather pretentious, albeit anecdotal, and much publicised statement. Rice at least has the virtue of being concise. But, she is far from convincing. Other Washington bigwigs are rather more gullible and long-winded. "Our non-governmental partners, NGOs, are also very essential to achieving our human rights goals and objectives. They have on-the ground experience and years of expertise. They are implementers for our overseas programmes, often at great personal risk," explained Paula Dobriansky, undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs. "They [the NGOs] are the watchdogs of our policies and we value and solicit their input and place great emphasis on their empowerment in the human rights reports," she further elaborated. A dead give away, and exactly the sort of sickly sweet words that would harden the attitude of many governments to Western-funded NGOs. "I think the issue of the Internet is something that is going to be highlighted more, much more. The issue of NGOs, because we are starting to see this appear, to pop up all over the globe," Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Barry Lowenkron concurred with Dobriansky. "Human rights and democracy are closely linked and both are essential to long-term stability and security," Lowenkron lectured. "Free and democratic nations that respect the rights of their citizens help to lay the foundation for lasting peace. In contrast, states that severely and systematically violate the human rights of their own people pose threats to neighbouring countries and the international community. And, Iran is a case in point," Lowenkron extrapolated. The reports are especially critical of countries that interfere in the access to the Internet. "In fact, several weeks ago, we announced the establishment of a Global Internet Freedom Task Force here at the State Department to develop recommendations to Secretary Rice on initiatives to maximise access to the Internet and minimise government efforts to block information," revealed Dobriansky. Other countries are critical of Washington's espionage and monitoring of the Internet on the pretext of fighting global terrorism. Cuba and Venezuela came in for special retribution with regards to their human rights record -- observers felt that the two countries were singled out because of their anti-US stance and not because their rights record was any worse than other countries in the region. In Africa, Sudan and Zimbabwe were identified as the main culprits. The section on the Middle East was highly critical of countries like Syria and Iran. Egypt and Saudi Arabia were criticised, but not particularly vigorously. "Democratic elections by themselves do not ensure that human rights will be respected, but they can put a country on the path to reform and lay the groundwork for institutionalising human rights protection," the report concluded. "Democratic elections are, however, millstones on a long journey of democratisation." In this context, the section on Egypt focussed on the presidential and parliamentary elections as a step in the right direction. It noted, however, the Egyptian's government refusal to admit international observers. It was also critical of the harsh treatment of presidential runner-up Ayman Nour who was stripped of his parliamentary immunity and was "sentenced on forgery charges to five years' imprisonment after a six-month trial that failed to meet international standards." "The November and December parliamentary elections witnessed significant gains by candidates affiliated with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood," the report noted. "These elections were marred by excessive use of force by security forces, low turnout and vote-rigging." On the brighter side, the report noted that the "National Council for Human Rights, established by the Egyptian parliament, issued its first annual report, frankly describing government abuses." This American unwillingness to be self-critical is, as it happens, a genuine weakness. The US treatment of suspected "enemy combatants", tortured and imprisoned for years without trial is abominable to say the least. But what is this? Quite frankly this is a case of the kettle calling the pot black. China was among the countries most ferociously attacked in the State Department's annual human rights report. In fact, the United States is far from democratic, if that implies an arms-length relationship between improving the prevailing socio-economic conditions and politics. For China social and economic rights are paramount. And, the impressive economic growth rates of the past two decades have ensured that the economic well-being of the Chinese people is steadily improving. China is also acutely aware of the essential necessity of social justice. In sharp contrast, the Americans see the vast Chinese state bureaucracy that overseas all aspects of life as hugely oppressive. Freedoms may not be pushed further than the state allows. Last Thursday, in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the Chinese issued a strongly worded study highly critical of Washington's own abysmal human rights record. Beijing retorted that the flagrant infringements on human rights in the US makes it a most unlikely judge of other countries' rights records. The Chinese were especially critical of racial discrimination in the US and warned that the US military abused prisoners held at detention centres in Guantanamo Bay and in other parts of the world. China's State Council, cabinet, issued a statement that said the US government should focus instead on improving its own "disastrous human rights record". The US had hurled what was widely believed to be an anti- China motion at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The US motion, however, was flatly rejected by a counter "no-action" motion tabled by China and which was passed last Wednesday at the 60th session of the UN Commission of Human Rights. The Chinese described the US motion as a "sugar-coated bullet". The Chinese are understandably angered by the American double standards. "Facts have shown that far from backsliding, the human rights situation in China has advanced significantly. Reacting from disappointment and jealousy, the US came up with this anti-China resolution," explained China's Ambassador in Geneva Sha Zukang. Whether all this is evidence of the emergence of a China that challenges Pax Americana, or just part of the broader process of globalisation, is questionable. The Chinese counter-report concluded that the US State Department's report "fully exposes its hypocrisy and double standards on human rights".
