Human Rights without bias
“The international community must take a firm stand against any hate crime against anyone, anywhere. No one community under threat should be left to stand alone in the face of violent hatred and bigotry.”
Michael Posner, president of the NGO Human Rights First, made some refreshingly blunt statements on human rights in his op-ed on December 25 in the Jerusalem Post. Not only was the message in keeping with the season, but it came from someone whose organisation has rare moral credibility. In 2001 Posner himself denounced the racism of other NGO officials in the hijacked Durban 2001 anti-racism conference.
Human Rights First (founded in 1978 as the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) has managed to stay clear of the massive political and ideological bias that affects the credibility of many other NGOs. They also take antisemitism seriously. The NGO recently reported “a rise in violent anti-Semitism and other hate crimes in many European countries.”
Posner’s oped was published in the context of the OSCE conference on “tolerance and non-discrimination”, held recently in Tel Aviv. In addressing this audience, Posner pointedly noted that “most European governments are failing to address the issue with the urgency it requires”. He also addressed the role of NGOs, claiming “While NGOs can and have compensated somewhat for these failures, in terms of monitoring and reporting incidents, there is ultimately no substitute for official vigilance.”
Posner’s point about the universality of human rights and the need for a firm stand from the international community is important. NGOs can only act effectively against racism when they are themselves impartial and reject double standards and ideological filters. Posner’s Human Rights First does this. They provide a standard of human rights clarity not only to government, but to other NGOs as well.
