Letter: AI fights for the 'disappeared'

David Bull
Saturday 11 December 1993 19:02 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

HAS AMNESTY International made human rights violations worse? ('Disappearing tricks', 5 December.) Having posed this provocative question, Caroline Moorehead left it unanswered. Let me do so now. The answer is NO.

The burden of these violations lies at the feet of governments, of armed political groups, and of the international community. It certainly does not lie at the feet of Amnesty International which, far from being composed of 'liberal, well-meaning Westerners', is an international organisation with members in every corner of the globe.

The article creates a false impression about the nature of Amnesty's work. Our work for prisoners of conscience is accompanied by equally active work against 'disappearances', such as our current international initiative 'The Lives Behind the Lies'. This campaign against political killings and disappearances is the largest we have mounted. It shows that behind the apparently overwhelming statistics lie real people with real lives shattered by these atrocities.

No one is more vocal on behalf of the 'disappeared' than Amnesty International. At the launch of this campaign, Amnesty warned that 'disappearances' and political killings will be the major human rights issue of the 1990s. We warned that the international community is failing to stop them, and that governments guilty of mass killings and 'disappearances' are repeatedly shielded by allies more concerned with strategic interests than human rights.

This shift in human rights violations is more to do with the changing world order to which Amnesty International is having to respond. There have been country-by-country changes, sometimes in response to domestic circumstances, sometimes resulting from the break- up of states or massive civil unrest such as witnessed in Bosnia or Somalia.

Amnesty International disagrees with Caroline Moorehead on one final point: the suggestion that nothing can be done to tackle 'disappearances'. A great deal can be done. International pressure on individual countries can lead to the 'disappeared' returning alive. For example, in Morocco in 1991 international pressure (which included a major Amnesty campaign) led to the release of almost 300 'disappeared', some after more than 18 years in secret detention.

Amnesty needs public support for its work, not misplaced criticism.

David Bull

Director

Amnesty International,

London EC1

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in