Amnesty International has debate

On Wednesday, the Johns Hopkins Amnesty International organization hosted T. Kumar, the Amnesty International Advocacy Director for Asia and the Pacific. Kumar has served as the human rights monitor in Bosnia, Haiti, Guatemala and South Africa and as the United Nations representative for Peace Brigades International. He was also imprisoned for five years and tortured in Sri Lanka for his human rights advocacy and Amnesty International adopted him as a "prisoner of conscience."

Kumar spoke about United States foreign policy with respect to human rights. He talked briefly about the history of human rights in foreign policy. He said that after World War II, "Human rights was used as a tool of US foreign policy [in] China and Russia - sometimes for good reason but the thinking was not to help the people who were suffering but to score a political point."

He said that it was difficult for human rights organizations to challenge this policy. Eventually, there was a major shift after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Human rights played a significant role because certain departments of the government made sure that human rights were injected into foreign policy.

Kumar said, "We [Amnesty International] ought to influence human rights in different countries."

However, Kumar continued to say that "there was a dramatic shift after Sept. 11, everything focused on terrorism and war in Afghanistan...the reality is that the US is going to downplay human rights concerns." He said that many problems arise when the US tries to seek assistance from countries which violate human rights.

Addressing current problems in Afghanistan, Kumar said the human rights situation in Afghanistan has always been of concern to Amnesty International and that they have tried to bring attention to the situation. He believes that the international community should protect Afghan refugees and support Afghan relief projects.

Kumar said, "You find good and bad people everywhere - the biggest victory is to reach out to the good human beings and to make sure that human rights policies are generated not because it's convenient but because of real heart felt feelings. Anything else is marriage of convenience."

When asked about which countries the US should intervene with respect to human rights, Kumar said, "We should never pick and choose. The selective approach of human rights is the single most negative thing that can happen to human rights. Human rights, humanitarian issues, should be above all the other considerations."

The Johns Hopkins Amnesty International President Cheryl Adackapara said, "One of the best points that he made was that you don't need to be a part of a human rights organization to make changes."

Junior Neel Tiku said, "It was enlightening how the lecture portrayed the Afghan situation in a different light. Recently, the government and the media have portrayed the situation as a justified battle but Mr. Kumar made it obvious that it isn't what it seems to be.