Amnesty International, the international group that protects human rights, has made a very public fuss just yesterday about the human rights violations in China.
The timing is obvious, to embarrass the Chinese government just a few days before the showcase Olympic Games.

Now, I think that most people will agree that any abuse of human rights is a bad thing, and ought to be condemned. The better that the whole world can be made, the better for everyone living on the planet.

But, there is another side.
Who are we to judge others? What are the actual qualifications to become the judge?
We know that Western governments generally will condemn other governments when there are human rights abuses going on.

Here is the danger, and I want to stress that I in no way consider the human rights situation in China to be acceptable by my standards.
If one section of the world considers that another is doing things that are bad, then that is only an opinion.
I have no doubt that Adolf Hitler thought that the "non-Aryan" population was a threat to society, and I know that this is a ridiculously extreme example, but the fact remains that history has proven that power can be used immorally, as it was in Hitlers case.

Iraq had abuses of human rights. But it is a fact that the world cannot be a perfect place, because it is run by humans, who have human failings. So, should a country be condemned for failing to protect human rights, of course it should. Should it be invaded by a country of a different culture and the moral standards of the invading country be imposed, I think perhaps not, or we end up with extended conflicts.

So, I question the timing of the announcement. I do not believe that it will create any change in what the Chinese government do or do not do. The process of altering moral standards within a country is a longer one than can be dealt with in a two week period. I suspect that it might be better to allow the Chinese government to have their moment of fame in the holding of the Olympic Games, and not put a shadow on what should be a non-political sporting event.
At the same time, I congratulate Amnesty International for being aware, and wish them all the best in their efforts for positive world change for humanity.
Ans as the saying goes. "Oh, Well, it is done now".

There are no comments to this entry.