[Marxism] HRW official supervised bombings in Serbia and Iraq

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.thecatsdream.com/blog/2005/12/watching-human-rights-watch-open.htm
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Watching Human Rights Watch - Open Letter to Kenneth Roth, Executive 
Director Human Rights Watch
By Gabriele Zamparini (*)

Dear Mr. Kenneth Roth, Executive Director Human Rights Watch

On December 2, 2005 the New York Times published an article with the title 
?Rights Group Lists 26 It Says U.S. Is Holding in Secret Abroad?. The 
article quotes Marc Garlasco, Senior Military Analyst at Human Rights 
Watch, saying:

    "One thing I want to make clear is we are talking about some really 
bad guys," Mr. Garlasco said. "These are criminals who need to be brought 
to justice. One of our main problems with the U.S. is that justice is not 
being served by having these people held incognito.?

    Mr. Garlasco said, "Our concern is that if illegal methods such as 
torture are being used against them," trials may "either be impossible or 
questionable under international standards of jurisprudence." (1)

On December 4, 2005 I wrote to Mr. Garlasco, asking:

    1) did the New York Times quote you correctly?
    2) if not, will you ask for a formal correction to the NYT?
    3) if yes, don?t you think your words are quite bizarre for a HRW?s 
representative? Did we get to the point that even Human Rights Watch 
doesn?t care for the presumption of innocence? Is that really HRW?s concern 
about torture?

In my e-mail I also wrote:

    I had the opportunity to interview HRW?s Reed Brody and Hanny Megally 
just a few years ago. Also because of those interviews I have great esteem 
and respect for the work of your organization. I fear that your words ? as 
reported by the New York Times? article ? will damage HRW?s image and the 
trust many people have for its work. (2)

Since I haven?t received any answer, I have now decided to write you an 
open letter to reiterate my questions and also to ask you if someone who 
?recommended thousands of aimpoints on hundreds of targets during 
operations in Iraq and Serbia [and who] also participated in over 50 
interrogations as a subject matter expert? fits a senior position at Human 
Rights Watch.

Mr. Garlasco?s biography reads:

    Before coming to HRW, Marc spent seven years in the Pentagon as a 
senior intelligence analyst covering Iraq. His last position there was 
chief of high-value targeting during the Iraq War in 2003. Marc was on the 
Operation Desert Fox (Iraq) Battle Damage Assessment team in 1998, led a 
Pentagon Battle Damage Assessment team to Kosovo in 1999, and recommended 
thousands of aimpoints on hundreds of targets during operations in Iraq and 
Serbia. He also participated in over 50 interrogations as a subject matter 
expert. (3)

(clip)

--

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