Saturday, December 01, 2012

Human Rights Watch Office in Beirut: an arm of March 14 in Lebanon

There should be an article written on the operation and political orientations of the Human Rights Watch office in Beirut.  I am told that the office is almost an official part of the March 14 coalition.  Someone can study the statements of the office to see the extent to which the office covered up for the Hariri political coalition.  You can find evidence in a variety of ways how the Human Rights Watch office actually covered up the crimes of the Hariri-March 14 government over the years: 1) they absolutely were mute during the massacre of Nahr Al-Barid.  They did not care to cover adequately--certainly not in any way comparable to the political coverage of the office of the developments in Syria--the massacres and mistreatment of the Palestinians. 2) the office consistently treat kindly the Internal Security Forces and the Intelligence Branch which are the military arm of the Hariri in the Lebanese state.  They rarely cover the human rights violations by the Internal Security Forces. 3) The office did not in any way cover the programs arranged and orchestrated and incited by the March 14 coalition in Lebanon since the assassination of Rafiq Hariri.  4) All attempts of repression by the Sanyurah-Hariri government and by the Minister of Culture, Tariq Mitri, were ignored or gingerly dealt with by the Human Rights Watch office in Lebanon.  5) I have received unconfirmed information that Hariri has in fact made donation to Human Rights Watch but I was not able to confirm that. That requires confirmation and if true raises serious questions about the impartiality of the office, whose director--at least on Twitter--serves as a parrot of March 14 propaganda.  6) There has been a Nazi-style pogroms in Tripoli against all `Alawites and `Alawite-owned stores were set ablaze by the Hariri fanatics in the city.  Human Rights Watch ignored those sectarian attacks.  7) There is no question that there is one side in Lebanon--and that is March 14--that is vomiting daily sectarian hatred and agitation and that has also been ignored by the Human Rights Watch office in Beirut.  8) The standards and language that the Human Rights Watch office in Beirut has used in covering Syrian regime atrocities can't compare to the language and standards used in covering the savage Israeli war on Lebanon over the years especially in 2006.  The office has ignored cases of Israeli kidnapping of Lebanese civilians.  9) The office does not concern itself in any way with the human rights violations that are caused by the savage economic policies of the Hariri governments over the years in Lebanon.  10) all attacks on journalists by Hariri and March 14 thugs over the years and the setting on fire of New TV satellite truck was ignored or barely touched on by that office.  11) As for the coverage of the office of Syrian developments, its coverage is indistinguishable of the coverage of Saudi and Hariri media.  In conclusion, I simply call that the Lebanon-office of Human Rights Watch be declared part of the Hariri-led March 14 coalition and that the office should carry an image of the Saudi king on its official papers.