US human rights abuses exposed by world leaders at the UN, previously censored, are revealed in new Wikileaks cable
 |
| Hunting migrants on Arizona border |
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
A new Wikileaks cable provides the scope of US human rights abuses in testimony by world leaders before the United Nations in 2007. Much of the information was censored by the US media at the time. World leaders described the human rights abuses of the United States, including secret torture centers, targeted assassinations, "people hunting" on the Mexican border and the use of biological weapons in Vietnam.
China described the racism and xenophobia on the rise in the United States and the US violations of the rights of Native Americans and ethnic groups.
"China said the United States had turned a blind eye to China's progress in human rights, but had failed to examine its own human rights record, citing the September 16 Blackwater security incident in Iraq. He stated that the United States has increased its monitoring and control of the Internet and suppressed anti-war expression and gatherings. He alleged that racism and xenophobia are on the rise in the United States, as are violations of the human rights of Native Americans and ethnic groups. He called on the United States to remember its own 'bad and sad' human rights record," according to the US diplomatic cable.
The cable released yesterday, Friday, is from Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad, Permanent Representative to the UN. The cable is dated Nov. 15, 2007, seven months after Dr. Khalilzad began his UN position.
Dr. Khalilzad was previously an Ambassador in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and served the Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld trio.
Dr. Khalilzad was the US Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007, after serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, 2003 to 2005. Dr. Khalilzad headed the Bush-Cheney transition team for the Department of Defense and has been a Counselor to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, according to the US State Dept.
In a related cable released on Friday, Guatemala demands justice after migrants in southern Arizona were attacked and killed by masked gunmen. More recently, the hacked files of the Arizona police made public the fact that off-duty US Marines, and white supremacist groups, are stalking migrants with assault weapons on the Arizona border.
Here's the US atrocities, in the United States' own words from world leaders at the United Nations:
Diplomatic Cable:
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/11/07USUNNEWYORK1019.html
¶1. (U) Speaking Oct. 31 in the annual debate on promotion and protection of human rights in the UN General Assembly's Third Committee, Ambassador Khalilzad emphasized the value the United States places on human rights, described the important role these rights play in building societies, cited examples of progress in human rights (Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Guatemala, Morocco and Lebanon) and addressed situations of human rights violations (Zimbabwe, Cuba, North Korea, Burma, Belarus, Iran and Syria). He noted U.S. concern for the situation of human rights in Russia and China. (Full text of Ambassador Khalilzad's statement is available at
www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov press releases/20071031 278.html).
¶2. (U) Several delegations responded to the U.S. statement. Iran's representative regretted that the Third Committee is frequently misused to name and blame, which he said divides the group into two blocs, the claimants vs. the defendants. He noted that no country has a perfect record and pointed to Guantanamo, secret detention centers, mistreatment of migrants in the United States, Europe, and Canada, and the inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people, which, he alleged, is supported by Europe and the United States.
¶3. (U) The Cuban delegate boasted of Cuba's successes in the area of human rights and said the same countries that criticize Cuba commit numerous violations of human rights, singling out the United States for what she said was torture of prisoners by U.S. soldiers in Guantanamo and Iraq, sexual abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib, police violence, the death penalty for minors, election fraud, "people-hunting" on the Mexican border, and violations of civil and political rights of American citizens, including wiretapping and banning travel to Cuba.
¶4. (U) North Korea's delegate said the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan were the cause of "more than a million" deaths and an increase in sectarian violence. He called for "non-selectivity" in addressing human rights, stating that issues such as the unlawful acts of Israel in the Occupied Territories and the CIA's alleged overseas secret prisons are ignored, while developing countries are SIPDIS the target of accusations. "The United States is the number one invader and killer of other nations" said the North Korean, and "must clean its untidy house inside and out."
¶5. (U) Syria's delegate said the "American sermon" was an attempt to divide the Third Committee into good vs. bad. He argued that the vote against the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba in this year's General Assembly showed the isolation of the American position when it comes to human rights. He said U.S. human rights violations include the Guantanamo prison, secret extrajudicial executions, targeted killings, use of SIPDIS biological weapons in Vietnam, racial discrimination, and even movies that promote violence around the world.
¶6. (U) China said the United States had turned a blind eye to China's progress in human rights, but had failed to examine its own human rights record, citing the September 16 Blackwater security incident in Iraq. He stated that the United States has increased its monitoring and control of the Internet and suppressed anti-war expression and gatherings. He alleged that racism and xenophobia are on the rise in the United States, as are violations of the human rights of
Native Americans and ethnic groups. He called on the United States to remember its own "bad and sad" human rights record.
Khalilzad
In a related cable just released, the Guatemalan Foreign Minister urges an investigation and prosecution after migrants, including Guatemalans, were attacked by masked gunmen and one Guatemalan was killed in 2007.
The New York Times reported the attack on migrants:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/us/09immig.html
Also recently, the hacked files of the Arizona police revealed that off-duty US Marines, and white supremacist groups, continue to stalk migrants with assault weapons in southern Arizona.
Censored News: Hacked data reveals US Marines as contract assassins on Arizona border, hunting for migrants:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/06/hacked-data-reveals-us-marines-contract.html
Wikileaks US diplomatic cable: US Embassy of Guatemala: Feb 14, 2007
SUBJECT: GUATEMALAN FM ROSENTHAL WRITES THE AMBASSADOR ABOUT FATAL ATTACK ON IMMIGRANTS IN ARIZONA
http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=07GUATEMALA305&q=tohono
¶1. Summary: Guatemalan Foreign Minister Rosenthal wrote the Ambassador urging the prompt investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the February 8 armed attack on a group of undocumented immigrants in a desert area near Tucson, Arizona. One Guatemalan was killed, while another Guatemalan was injured during the early morning attack. End summary.
¶2. Background: On February 8, a group of more than 20 undocumented aliens, including an undetermined number of Guatemalans, was attacked by masked armed gunmen in a desert area about 20 miles northwest of Tucson, Arizona. Three persons, including Guatemalan Rudi Raxaleu, were killed. Another Guatemalan, Sebastiana Quixtan, who was injured during the attack, is reportedly in stable condition and recuperating in a hospital in Tucson. Guatemalan media are portraying this incident as confirmation that there is open season on immigrants. Conservative, pro-business daily "Siglo XXI" ran a banner headline on page one screaming "They fear xenophobia."
¶3. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Marta Altolaguirre told local press of her suspicion that the killers belong to a criminal group that extorts Guatemalans seeking to illegally immigrate to the U.S. and that organized crime is using new methods to profit from alien smuggling.
¶4. Embassy's informal translation of the letter:
BEGIN TEXT Mr. Ambassador: I present my compliments and have the honor to refer to the incident that occurred in the city of Tucson, Arizona in the early morning hours of February 8, which resulted in the death by firearm of Mr. Rudi Otoniel Raxaleu Castro, and injury to Ms. Sebastiana Quixtan Gomez, both Guatemalan citizens. We understand that the incident occurred when two pick-up trucks were traveling to Phoenix through the area of the Tohono O'dham Reservation. The first vehicle was intercepted by masked armed gunmen and forced off the road into the desert. U.S. authorities have located a minor, Olinda Arsenia Mateo Gomez, and Celvin Ernesto Boj, to whom U.S. immigration authorities have offered visas to remain in the U.S. The whereabouts of the other immigrants are unknown. The Guatemalan Government condemns this attack and requests your intervention so that the described facts can be investigated by the proper authorities and that those responsible for the armed aggression can be brought to justice in accordance with the law. I take this opportunity to renew the assurances of my highest consideration. Gert Rosenthal Koenigsberger Minister of Foreign Affairs cc: Ambassador Guillermo Castillo Embassy of Guatemala in the U.S.
END TEXT Derham
.
Read more at Censored News:
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
