Author: Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Publication: The Guardian
Date: January 29, 2004
URL: http://politics.guardian.co.uk/northernirelandassembly/story/0,9061,1133679,00.html
The Nobel Peace laureate and Ulster
Unionist leader David Trimble called human rights organisations a "great
curse" yesterday and accused them of complicity in terrorist killings.
"One of the great curses of this
world is the human rights industry," he told the Associated Press news
agency at an international conference of terrorism victims in Madrid.
"They justify terrorist acts and
end up being complicit in the murder of innocent victims."
His words drew an angry reaction
from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, two of the world's biggest
human rights groups, with about 200,000 members in Britain and more than
a million worldwide.
Steve Crawshaw, director of the
London office of Human Rights Watch, said:"It is extraordinarily regrettable
and disappointing that, above all, a man like that says something like
this.
"His own emphasis, together with
other politicians in North ern Ireland, on the fact that violence against
civilians on all sides of any conflict cannot be justified, has been so
important in recent years."
Kate Allen, Amnesty International's
UK Director, said: "The threat of terrorism must never be used as an excuse
for abus ing people's human rights. David Trimble should remember that
human rights organisations have condemned killings and other abuses by
terrorist groups all over the world, while at the same time criticising
governments who use the 'war on terror' as a pretext to abuse their citizens."
A spokeswoman for the Norwegian
Nobel Institute in Oslo, which awarded Mr Trimble his prize in 1988, declined
to say whether it considered itself a member of the "human rights industry".
"We don't comment on what former
laureates say. We have no reaction to that," she said.
Mr Trimble was joint winner of with
the former leader of the SDLP, John Hume, for their efforts to find a peaceful
solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
He made his comment as one of the
keynote speakers at the first international congress of terrorism victims,
which ended in Madrid on Tuesday night.
He backed another politician at
the conference, the Colombian vice-president Francisco Santos, who said
that human rights groups were hindering progress towards peace in his country.
"For human rights organisations
to call [the Colombian rebel group] Farc 'armed opposition groups' undermines
the struggle of those who have decided to side with democracy," Mr Santos
said. "That is not right. It is unacceptable."
After hearing of Mr Trimble's comments
Robin Kirk, a researcher on Colombia for Human Rights Watch, said: "Human
rights defenders are under attack in Colombia, so these are dangerous comments
to make."
Human Rights Watch has criticised
Colombia's anti-terrorist legislation and calls groups such as Farc either
"illegal armed groups" or "leftist guerrillas".
The Madrid conference ended with
a declaration which went some way to supporting Mr Trimble.
It said: "We call on NGOs and other
civil organisations that stand for the defence of human rights to make
a commitment to defend victims of terrorism and to identify terrorist acts
for what they are, regardless of their cause or pretext and without striking
balances or blurring the distinction between victims and executioners."