Bush Administration Officials Supported Tolerance, Freedom of Religion

"This new enemy seeks to destroy our freedom and impose its views. We value life; the terrorists ruthlessly destroy it. We value education; the terrorists do not believe women should be educated or should have health care, or should leave their homes. We value the right to speak our minds; for the terrorists, free expression can be grounds for execution. We respect people of all faiths and welcome the free practice of religion; our enemy wants to dictate how to think and how to worship even to their fellow Muslims."

Just two months after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush said those words as he addressed the Nation World Congress Center in Atlanta. In the years since, he and many members of his administration uttered similar sentiments urging Americans to demonstrate tolerance and celebrate the diversity that strengthens America.

Where are they now?

Is the Trial of Omar Khadr a War Crime?

By Daphne Eviatar, Senior Associate, Law and Security

Cross-posted at The Huffington Post

On Saturday, the New York Times reported that administration officials are "alarmed" by the military commission case of Omar Khadr, the Canadian citizen seized as a 15-year-old by U.S. forces in Afghanistan who's now spent a third of his life in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. Trying an alleged child soldier based largely on confessions he made after being threatened with gang-rape and murder is not what the Obama administration had hoped to showcase in its first military commission trial.

But the argument in a new paper published today by Loyola Law School professor David Glazier should give the administration even more cause for alarm. Glazier, an expert on international law and the laws of armed conflict, argues that the military commission trial of Omar Khadr is itself a war crime.

A Roma Family of Six Murdered in Slovakia

A “lone wolf, strange type” of a man murdered six neighbors, all from one Romani family, in Slovakia’s capital Bratislava on Monday, August 30th. The unemployed killer, armed with a submachine gun, shot another person, wounded fifteen more, and then killed himself during the ensuing police pursuit.

The New York Times reports that the gunman’s identity and motives are still unclear and remain under investigation. Other neighbors informed the investigators that the killer’s anti-Roma sentiment may have been an important motivating factor. In a video interview, a victim’s brother called the shooter “an idiot,” and another relative remembered the murderer as an intolerant, racist man who often used anti-Roma slurs.

Promises to the Persecuted: Redux

The New York Times published an op-ed today by the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project at Yale Law School on the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program for Iraqis, which was created by Congress in 2007 to provide routes of escape for Iraqis who had worked for the U.S. government, military, or contractors and faced danger as a result of their U.S. affiliation. It recommends that the government make some common-sense improvements to the application process – a cumbersome multi-agency process that can take a year or more to complete, according to Human Rights First’s research. Indeed, only 2,347 SIVs had been issued to Iraqis as of June 30 – out of 15,000 that are available.

Human Rights First first reviewed the Iraqi SIV program in a 2009 report, “Promises to the Persecuted: The Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act.” We’ll issue an update this fall. We continue to urge the U.S. government to make important changes to the SIV and resettlement processes that Iraqis and other refugees so desperately need, including:

The Mess in Sudan – And Those Who Sustain It

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof posted two interesting pieces this weekend – an op-ed column and a blog – about the Obama administration’s policy (or lack of coherent policy) on Sudan. While Human Rights First shares Kristof’s concern about “signs that Bashir is funneling arms to disgruntled factions in the south, to foment civil war there,” our concern also encompasses the outside actors that funnel arms to Bashir, despite a United Nations arms embargo on Darfur, the clear signs that Bashir has used these arms to commit atrocities, and states’ obligation to prevent genocide, as discussed in the International Court of Justice’s opinion in the so-called genocide case.

Push Back on Koran-Burning Day

Fight bigotry and hate!

The religion “of the Devil” … practiced by “animals of Allah” … worshipping a “monkey-god”…Messages of hatred and discrimination are polluting our public discourse as we approach the anniversary of 9/11.

This Muslim-bashing follows on the heels of a debate about the “Ground Zero Mosque.” Comments from fearmongers have been deeply discriminatory—and completely disregard what’s really at stake: our Constitutional values, fundamental rights, and national security.

U.S. Ally Defies Genocide Arrest Warrant

In an affront to international justice, Kenya has defied an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, by allowing Bashir to visit Nairobi.