UN Commissioner Says War On Terror Is “Laying Waste To Human Rights”

zeid-tortureU.N. Human rights Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein recently spoke out against the war on terror, calling it a threat to human rights worldwide. Last Thursday, he spoke at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C about the many problems that the US is causing with their wars all over the planet.

“This logic is abundant around the world today: I torture because a war justifies it. I spy on my citizens because terrorism, repulsive as it is, requires it,. The space for dissent in many countries is collapsing under the weight of either poorly-thought out, or indeed exploitative, counter-terrorism strategies,” he said.he said.

Speaking sarcastically and from the perspective of western governments, Al-Hussein said “I don’t want new immigrants, or I discriminate against minorities, because our communal identity or my way of life is being threatened as never before. I kill others, because others will kill me – and so it goes, on and on.”

“We need leaders who will observe fully those laws and treaties drafted to end all discrimination, the privation of millions, and atrocity and excess in war, with no excuses entertained. Only then, can we help ourselves out of the present serious, seemingly inexhaustible, supply of crises that threatens to engulf us,” he continued.

Zeid even called attention to the way that governments across the world, including the US, regularly violate the geneva conventions.

“In the years after the Holocaust, specific treaties were negotiated to cement into law obligations to protect human rights. Countries the world over accepted them – and now alas, all too frequently, ignore them in practice,” he said.

You can view his entire speech below:


John Vibes writes for True Activist and is an author, researcher and investigative journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture and the drug war.

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