Terrorism war guise for minority crackdown -report
20 Mar 2007 18:42:33 GMT
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS, March 20 (Reuters) - Pakistan, Turkey and Israel are using the U.S.-led war on terrorism as an excuse to crack down on minority groups, a rights group said on Tuesday.
A study by Minority Rights Group International also found that minority peoples living on the front lines for the war on terrorism were among the world's most-threatened, with Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan ranking in a global top 10.
"Some governments around the world are pinning their hopes on the fact that if they are allies with the United States then it will allow them to do certain things against minority communities within their own borders," Ishbel Matheson, spokeswoman for the London-based advocacy group, said.
"I think that is completely unacceptable and the United States should be alive to it and condemn it, unfortunately I don't think that's what they do," she told a news conference.
The group's report "State of the World's Minorities 2007" singled out Pakistan, Turkey and Israel for "intensified repression of particular ethnic communities in 2006."
It ranked Pakistan No. 8 on a list of countries where minorities are most under threat and said Islamabad oppressed groups including Ahmadis, Hindus, Baluchis, Mohhajirs, Pashtuns and Sindhis.
Turkey came in at number 39 for its treatment of Kurds and Roma, while Israel was ranked 54 for its behavior toward Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and Israeli Palestinians.
"U.S. allies have managed to barter their support for the war on terror in return for having their human-rights record ignored," Mark Lattimer, the director of Minority Rights Group International, said in a statement.
"The debate continues to rage about whether the 'war on terror' has made the world a safer place for the West, but it has certainly made it a much more dangerous place for minorities," he said.
The report said the war of terrorism had also given rise to Islamophobia throughout Europe, with some governments adopting laws that curb the rights of all citizens but particularly target Muslim communities, leaving them feeling increasingly "intimidated and persecuted."...
