Human Rights Watch Tones Down Press Release On Bin Laden's Death

This is Human Rights Watch's original press release in response to news that terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden had finally been killed:

US: Osama Bin Laden Killed in Shoot-out – Human Rights Watch (press release) 

May 2nd, 2011 by admin.

(New York) – The announcement from President Barack Obama that Osama Bin Laden was killed in a US-led undercover operation in Pakistan brings to an end the search for one of the most notorious terrorist suspects in history, Human Rights Watch said today. In addition to the September 11, 2001 attacks, bin Laden’s al Qaeda is blamed for the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed 231 people, and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, as well as other attacks. 

“Osama Bin Laden will never again be responsible for mass atrocities such as the September 11 attacks,” said Iain Levine, deputy executive director for program at Human Rights Watch. “His death should also bring an end to a horrific chapter of human rights abuses in the name of counterterrorism.” 

Al Qaeda and affiliated groups have killed thousands of civilians in Pakistan and other Muslim countries since September 11, 2011. Since Obama said this operation happened with Pakistani cooperation, there may be retaliation by al Qaeda in Pakistan against its people and government. Human Rights Watch said the United States should help to support the basic rights of the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, free from the threat of those who perpetrate international crimes. 

The US and other countries that have suffered terrorist attacks should mark this moment as a new chapter, Human Rights Watch said – one in which they no longer resort to torture, ill-treatment, and other violations of basic rights in their understandable quest to prevent further strikes. [emphasis added; original HRW post also found on ReliefWeb]

That kind of sharp (balanced?) reaction from Human Rights Watch raises a few questions:

• Does this mean that there is no longer a need to prevent further terrorist strikes?
• Just how does Human Rights Watch believe terrorist attacks like these should be prevented?
• How does HRW define torture--and is torture ever permissible to help save human lives?
• What exactly is the legal source upon which the HRW definition of torture based?
• What is "ill-treatment" and when is it considered a human rights violation?
• What are the "other violations of basic rights" that Human Rights Watch is referring to?
• If the "quest to prevent further strikes" is "understandable" what standards is HRW suggesting?

Apparently, Human Rights Watch did not want to address such important questions--so it just got rid of their original statement and replaced it with this watered-down version::

Osama Bin Laden's Death 

The announcement that Osama bin Laden was killed in a US-led undercover operation in Pakistan is a reminder of the devastating human toll that terrorism has brought to every continent of the world, Human Rights Watch said today. In addition to the September 11, 2001 attacks, bin Laden’s al Qaeda organization is blamed for the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed 231 people, as well as many other terrorist plots. 

“At a time when citizens around the world have engaged in peaceful demonstrations in the name of freedom and democracy, bin Laden’s death is a reminder of the thousands of innocents who suffer when terrorist groups seek political change through brutal means,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director at Human Rights Watch.

And that's that.

Hat tip: AH

Technorati Tag: Human Rights Watch and HRW and Osama Bin Laden.