The Summit of the Americas in Quebec City later, concludes today with a lengthy explanation 250-page summary of the objectives of international trade negotiations. The main objective is the creation in 2005 of a free trade area, the tip of Chile to the tip of Alaska.Adoption of a so-called “democracy clause requiring that all trading partners to ensure respect for democratic principles.
The Summit has been a magnet for demonstrators represent a wide variety of causes. What unites them is their common disdain for trade talks. The police report, more than 400 arrests since Friday.
Kyra Phillips, CNN anchor: when nobody agrees with the tactics of demonstrators in Quebec, there is little doubt that most of them are motivated by a sense of social conscience. And we Nashville, more talk about is William Schulz, director of Amnesty International. It is also the author of the book “in our own interest.”
Mr. Schulz, welcome to our program.
DR WILLIAM SCHULZ, Amnesty International, USA: Thank you, Kyra.
Phillips: You made a very important point in your book and, therefore, are fighting for human rights should be important for us all. I think a lot of people take life in the USA to maintain course many times and not notice the economic advantages and political struggle for human rights. Can you some concrete examples for us?
Schulz: Yes, yes. I think you’re right, Kyra. I think most Americans think of human rights, as for people further away. They are morally repugnant, offences against persons or human rights, torture, unfair trial, but what do they have to do with us?
However, in the year 1999, for example, half a million jobs in the USA in production have been lost in the country to deny its people the right to organize unions and, therefore, of keep wages down. This is an example.
Most recently, China spy incident, one of the reasons that our leaflet has been so long, for 11 days, because the Chinese press, under government control, was only given a page of history, China, nationalism and inflammation in China.
If you look at where our American soldiers and women were used during the last ten years in Haiti and Bosnia and Kosovo, they are all places of the American intervention is necessary, given that violations of rights humans have been ignored for too long before the peak if this intervention was necessary.
Or simply quickly, another example. If you think that on global warming, the impact of all of us, one of the reasons for global warming that environmentalists around the world trying to forest protection, the fight against global warming are often targeted by companies or governments, imprisoned, tortured, beaten their own human rights are violated.
These are just a few examples.
Phillips: Would you say that in the last ten years or so, when U.S. soldiers overseas, the main reason why, or maybe the only reason for the violation of human rights?
Schulz: Well, certainly not the only reason. But, of course, in these cases, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, very important reasons. And in each case of violations of human rights has unfortunately been largely ignored for many years and, therefore, they do perdurant and where military intervention has been collected by the U.S. government at the very least required.
Phillips: OK. So, if I am not a parent, son or daughter is in the military and go overseas, give me other reasons why it is so important that I should we deal with human rights. Public health was an interesting point, I noted that you have in your book.
Schulz: Na Yes, exactly. For example, in Russia, Russian prisons have many more medical negligence, these unfortunate conditions in which prisoners are kept, a strain of tuberculosis has developed in these prisons is resistant against all forms of drugs, at least Drugs, which are currently known. And that is exactly the same strain has traveled through trade, a government passenger throughout the world, and is today the USA.
It is a very dramatic example, as the violation of rights of Russian prisoners may be a fatal impact on us here in the USA. Or the fact that nearly 10 per cent on average of our foreign pension funds in equities and foreign bonds. And we know that the economic situation in countries worldwide, often by instability, as we saw in Indonesia and that instability is often used by violations of human rights.
In Indonesia, in Aceh province, only one or two weeks past, Exxon-Mobil, said it will close because of natural gas fields of political turmoil caused by violations of human rights in Indonesia.
Phillips: Mr. Schulz, you prisons in Russia. They also speak of prisons in the USA and violations of human rights, but it is very difficult for many people, mostly relatives of victims, etc, to feel “compassionate for detainees. Why did very important to talk about in ‘This is how prisoners are treated, the USA?