In 2012 an Amnesty official explained to me why Amnesty calls for an arms embargo on all Palestinian armed groups but makes no such call regarding the Syrian rebels. The key quotes from Amnesty’s 2012 correspondence with me follows:
“ …it is evident that these Palestinian armed groups have a proven track record, over many years, of consistently committing abuses…Therefore, we called for a comprehensive arms embargo on these groups…
…the abuses reported to have been committed by armed opposition groups in Syria have not yet reached the level where we would call for a total embargo on all arms in the same manner as we are doing with regard to the government.”
That was an outrageously hypocritical stance in 2012, but a twitter exchange I just had with Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty’s UK Campaigns Manager, reveals that their position remains unchanged.
Aside from the hypocrisy, Amnesty persists in making an insane request that states arming the rebels ensure that human rights abuses are not perpetrated with the weapons they supply.
In 2012 I asked Amnesty a question which they never answered
“What is it about the track record of the Saudi state or the US government that makes Amnesty believe that they would ever attempt to arm the Syrian rebels in such a way as to prevent human rights abuses?”
Remember Amnesty considers the “track record” of Palestinian armed groups to be so terrible that it has long considered arming them be unacceptable. At the same time, as of 2014, in this piece that Benedict himself pointed out to me, he appeals to the US government “ensure any arms transferred would not be used to commit human rights abuses” in Syria. He also pointed me to an Amnesty report of March 2015 that made the same request in its “Recommendations” section:
“Make no arms transfers to non-state armed groups in Syria where there is a substantial
risk of the group committing serious violations of human rights and international
humanitarian law;” [My emphasis]
The report adds
“…the onus should be on states considering military transfers to armed groups to first ensure…any military equipment supplied is not misused”
The callousness, hypocrisy and outright stupidity of Amnesty’s position is stunning given the gruesome track record of the “states” involved.
One can only hope many more people reflect on how thoroughly biased in favor of powerful states the big human rights groups have become. Their reports should be viewed with same degree of caution any sensible person would apply to news reports in the corporate media.
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