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David Copley: Missing the boat on human rights

(01/27/03 10:00am)

The fox has now achieved tenure in guarding the global henhouse. Last Monday, the United Nations elected Libya to chair the Commission on Human Rights. Surely, such a prestigious position requires a distinguished record of support for civil liberties and political freedom. Obviously not, if the vote of 33-3 with 17 abstentions is anything to go by. For the record, the only countries voting against Libya were the United States, Canada and Guatemala. The European Union countries mostly abstained. Seemingly, they did not want to risk offending the Libyan government. When the Commission on Human Rights was founded in 1947, the U.S. chaired it for the first six years. In those days, it was still considered politically correct to stand up for the oppressed. We didn't care if we offended the likes of Joseph Stalin or Mao Zedong. But in the 21st century, leadership rotates every year among five different geographic regions. Each region puts up one of its own for the position. This year, the African region selected Libya. The Libyan media claimed the appointment was a worldwide affirmation of Moammar Ghadafi's principled leadership. With the help of Amnesty International's most recent report on Libya, let's take a closer look at Colonel Ghadafi's somewhat-unusual approach to human rights. Libya is a dictatorship. Libyan law specifically prohibits the formation of political parties and criticism of the political system. The press is strictly controlled by the government. According to Amnesty International, Libya's political detainees are held in "cruel, inhuman or degrading conditions and denied adequate medical care, which led to several deaths in custody." Hundreds of political prisoners arrested in previous years remain held without charge or trial. Many of them have been detained for more than a decade. Other political detainees remain in detention despite having been tried and acquitted in the court system. Still others continue to serve prison sentences imposed in previous years after grossly unfair trials. The victims include "scores of professionals, including engineers and university lecturers, who were arrested in June and July 1998 on suspicion of supporting or sympathizing with al-Jama'a al-Islamiya al-Libiya, the Libyan Islamic Group, an underground Islamist movement which was not known to have used or advocated violence, remain held at Abu Salim and 'Ain Zara prisons in Tripoli." Torture and government-sanctioned off-the-record killings are routine in Libya. According to Amnesty International, "Political detainees were routinely tortured while held in incommunicado detention. Reported methods of torture included beatings, hanging by the wrists, being suspended from a pole inserted between the knees and elbows, electric shocks, burning with cigarettes and attacks by aggressive dogs causing serious injuries." Libya still lends support and financing to terrorist organizations throughout the world. Libya is under U.N. sanction for blowing up a civilian airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 with 270 innocent souls aboard. In March 2000, the Court of Assizes in Paris, France, sentenced six Libyan nationals in absentia to life imprisonment for the bombing of a French UTA airliner, which exploded in 1989 over Niger killing 170 people. Among those sentenced were high-ranking Libyan officials from the Libyan secret service and diplomatic corps. Libya did not accept responsibility for the incident but reportedly transferred funds of more than $30 million to France in order to compensate relatives of the victims of the bombing. More recently, racist attacks against sub-Saharan Africans, including nationals of Chad, Niger and Sudan, reportedly led to dozens of deaths and scores of injuries. How can we count on a country with Libya's track record to oppose the use of force to crush political dissent around the world? Talk about lip service! And who would second the motion? China, Syria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Zimbabwe join Libya on the commission. These countries also deny their citizens many basic civil liberties and human rights. If it were not so tragic, it would be a farce. Libya's election should cause the U.S. to re-examine its relationship with the U.N. Do we want to be giving our hard-earned tax dollars to the U.N. so tyrants and thugs can use the Commission on Human Rights to score propaganda points? And it's going to get worse! Syria takes charge of the U.N. Security Council in August 2003. This is the same country that is listed by the State Department as one of seven principal supporters of international terrorism. Syria in charge of the U.N. Security Council should send a shiver down the spine of every freedom-loving American. This August, my opening metaphor about the fox guarding the henhouse will become obsolete. This summer, expect the inmates to assume complete control of the asylum. David Copley is a sophomore Finance and Real Estate major from Bellevue, Wash.

https://www.thedp.com/article/2003/01/david_copley_missing_the_boat_on_human_rights

Dartmouth reinstates swimming

(01/11/03 10:00am)

On Wednesday afternoon, the Dartmouth men's and women's swimming teams loaded the buses, prepared to set off to a meet at Middlebury College. For all they knew, this would be one of the final meets in the history of the program: the Dartmouth administration announced on Nov. 25 that it would terminate the men's and women's swimming programs effective at the end of this season because of budget cuts. But before the buses departed, the teams welcomed two unexpected guests, Dartmouth Athletic Director JoAnn Harper and Dean of the College, James Larimore. Their announcement delayed the departure, but junior swimmer Priscilla Zee said that Middlebury understood. There indeed will be a next season for Big Green swimming. And many more after that, too. "Everybody just jumped up in the air," senior captain Louis Fidel said. "People were screaming, people were laughing, people were hugging each other." After notifying the team, Dartmouth officials released a press release on Wednesday night and the Student Assembly subsequently emailed the entire student community about the decision. "We are delighted to reach an agreement that presents an opportunity for the swimming and diving program at Dartmouth to continue, while recognizing the budget goals that Dartmouth must meet," Larimore said in a release issued by the Dartmouth Office of Public Affairs. "The College does face significant budget challenges and will take the measures it must to be fiscally responsible. The agreement supports Dartmouth in meeting our fiscal responsibilities and also maintaining the swimming and diving program." The news comes after Dartmouth parents and alumni raised two million dollars in pledges, which will be turned over to the College on June 30, 2003 - this will fund the program for the next ten years. According to the release, Larimore will fund the 2003-2004 swim season with "funds reallocated from his area." The funds raised do not represent a permanent endowment, however, and in ten years, Dartmouth will investigate other funding options The administration reinstated the team after considerable distress and petitioning by Dartmouth students and swim team parents. Perhaps most noticeable of the efforts to save the swim team was when sophomore swimmer Jennifer Kunkel's boyfriend, Jon Lenihan, posted the team on ebay.com, hoping to receive a bid for $212,000 that would fund the team for one year. After a week, Dartmouth informed eBay to remove the auction from its site, even though at one point, someone had "bid" the requested $212,000. In addition to student efforts, parents immediately formed committees to attack the problem, and ended up establishing a website to "Support Dartmouth Aquatics." Beginning in mid-December, the website asked visitors to participate in the "Dartmouth Invitational," where people could donate monetarily to the cause and be recognized according to their relationship with Dartmouth swimming. The site also featured media attention, information in order to write a letter to various Dartmouth administrators and letters which had already been sent to the officials. As of yesterday, the site had garnered 14,087 hits since Dec. 1. Junior swimmer Priscilla Zee said that she thinks that the administration never expected that the student body would give much regard to cutting the swim team. After nearly 300 students gathered in front of Wright's house on the evening of Nov. 25 and 700 students staged a sit-in in the Parkhurst Administration Building on Dec. 5 - Dartmouth's only reading day - it was clear that the issue had spread much further than the swim team. While on the bus, Harper reportedly professed that the decision to restore the team was due to the passion of swimmers and students alike. "What they did to reinstate the team really restored my faith in people and really showed me what people can accomplish," Zee said. "It really showed me a lot about what I can do as a person, and what we can do to create change." The Student Assembly provided the integral link between student opinions on campus and College officials. Looking retrospectively, the organization may have initially swayed the administration's opinions in the Dec. 8 meeting, where representatives provided several budget initiatives that would allow the teams to survive, while at the same time limit spending. "Before that, [the administration] was adamant that there would be no compromise," Vice President for Student Life Amit Anand said. "It was directly a result of that meeting that that compromise was necessary. "The protests and rallies make the national media. But it's really a more intellectual and civil discussion that lead to results. 700-to-800 people did not lead to the decision. That works less than a well leaded argument, which we did." In an ESPN radio show, Kunkel remarked to host Trey Wingo about her feelings about not transferring, "You know how they always say, love the college, hate the institution." Now that the College has reinstated the program, however, is it possible to forgive Dartmouth for forcing the rollercoaster of emotions that the administration shoved on 53 student-athletes and college at large? "I have a bitter taste in my mouth because there were parts of this decision that I did not like," senior captain Paul Schned said. "However something did need to be done in the athletic department. And I can appreciate how difficult it must have been done to cut the swimming team." More than anything, the swimmers were initially worried that the administration would be stubborn with sticking to the original decision, even after presenting budget options. "I still feel the same way that the process they came to the original decision was flawed fundamentally," Fidel said. "The fact that they listened to us and were big enough to look at their decision and realize that maybe there was something they haven't considered - I don't have any bad blood." While Zee "will always know how it feels to be betrayed," she mentioned that she has learned the amount people can accomplish when they work together, and marvels at how far the news traveled. When Dartmouth Academic-Athletic Advisor Rob Morrissey was in Canada on a ski lift, he engaged the man sitting next to him in conversation. Upon hearing Morrissey's occupation, Zee reported that the man's response was "How could you guys cut your swim team?" Despite the news on Wednesday, the teams still had to swim a meet. Maybe it served as incentive. Maybe the training trip was showing early dividends. Middlebury is a Division III school, but the Dartmouth men set 14 pool records in the win and the women won 177-118. Maybe more reassuring than the wins, however, was the response when the team arrived home around 11 that night. Zee opened her email box to see over 120 congratulatory emails. Schned over 100. Not everybody who wrote them knew the intricacies of the sport of swimming. But every one supported the college athlete. Every one supported Dartmouth swimming.

https://www.thedp.com/article/2003/01/dartmouth_reinstates_swimming
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