Letter from the President and CEO:Human Rights First
BREAKING NEWS:
Chen Guangcheng's daring defiance of a brutal regime is giving courage to those in China and beyond who struggle for human rights. We commend the American diplomats who helped Mr. Chen get to the American embassy, sheltered him there, and negotiated on his behalf with Chinese authorities. It is a credit to the United States that Mr. Chen looked to American diplomats for help and protection. We now owe him our best efforts to ensure his safety.
When mass atrocities are committed, the world community tends to
focus attention on the perpetrators. But genocide and other crimes
against humanity are complex, organized crimes. They require
infrastructure, planning, and resources. A few years ago, we developed
an innovative strategy to focus on "enablers"—the countries, companies,
and individuals that provide money and weapons that make mass atrocities
possible. Our idea is to disrupt the supply chain for slaughter.
The crisis in Syria has highlighted the importance of this approach. The Assad regime is getting weapons from Rosoboronexport, Russia's state arms dealer. Unfortunately, instead of cracking down on Rosoboronexport, the United States government is doing business with it.
Thanks to our efforts, a bipartisan group of group of 17 senators led by John Cornyn (R-TX), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) is pressing the Department of Defense to cancel its contract with Rosoboronexport. We think the U.S. government should go even further. We're urging the Obama administration to level sanctions on Rosoboronexport and the other companies providing material support to Syria.
The crisis in Syria is complex, and targeting enablers alone will not stop the violence. But going after companies like Rosoboronexport will increase pressure on the Assad regime and signal to the world that the United States is serious about protecting Syrian civilians.
Sincerely,
Elisa Massimino
President and CEO
Human Rights First
Chen Guangcheng's daring defiance of a brutal regime is giving courage to those in China and beyond who struggle for human rights. We commend the American diplomats who helped Mr. Chen get to the American embassy, sheltered him there, and negotiated on his behalf with Chinese authorities. It is a credit to the United States that Mr. Chen looked to American diplomats for help and protection. We now owe him our best efforts to ensure his safety.
 |
|
The crisis in Syria has highlighted the importance of this approach. The Assad regime is getting weapons from Rosoboronexport, Russia's state arms dealer. Unfortunately, instead of cracking down on Rosoboronexport, the United States government is doing business with it.
Thanks to our efforts, a bipartisan group of group of 17 senators led by John Cornyn (R-TX), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) is pressing the Department of Defense to cancel its contract with Rosoboronexport. We think the U.S. government should go even further. We're urging the Obama administration to level sanctions on Rosoboronexport and the other companies providing material support to Syria.
The crisis in Syria is complex, and targeting enablers alone will not stop the violence. But going after companies like Rosoboronexport will increase pressure on the Assad regime and signal to the world that the United States is serious about protecting Syrian civilians.
Sincerely,
Elisa Massimino
President and CEO
Human Rights First
No comments:
Post a Comment