Sandra Kiem, Lowther Hall

We have more to fear from the State than from Terrorists

In 2006, many people are still living in an oppressed state where their human rights are violated regularly. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the signal achievements of the modern world and was created in 1948 by the United Nations to prevent oppression and discrimination. Yet the twentieth century was perhaps the bloodiest in history. Millions of people were victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, torture, and extrajudicial executions. All of which violated many fundamental human rights.
     
The political response to acts of terrorism that have occurred in past years has been greatly criticized. Vengeance carried out by the United States of America for the 11/9 attacks was more than exacted from Afghanistan let alone from Iraq. By the 16th of April 2003, 119 US soldiers and 30 British soldiers and approximately 2320 Iraqi soldiers had died(i). These unjustified deaths were the direct consequence of an unnecessary war caused by the United State's greed to secure the northern oil fields. Governments in today's modern society are placing economic stability and power over the fundamental human rights despite the fact that they may be signatories of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This responsibility of encouraging the core principals that the Declaration highlights has been neglected by the United States and many other governments.

The new anti-terrorism legislation introduced by the Australian government is an egregious assault on civil liberties. The new legislation clearly highlights the increased power that ASIO and the Australian Federal Police now attain. They were given extra tracking powers and they are able to detain terrorism suspects without charge for up to two weeks. Furthermore, the new legislations restrict freedom of expression, allow for intrusions upon privacy and invasive inspections. The unusual and unfair laws that were introduced could have been expected from an authoritarian form of government - not a democratic. Australia's counter-terrorism legislations give ASIO and the Police force permission to violate the basic rights of any individual.
   
The United States has a significant ability to manipulate global media and the coverage of acts of terrorism in past years has created unnecessary global panic. The September 11 Bombings resulted in the deaths of less than 3000 people(ii) and Bali bombings resulted in a death of 202 people(iii). Evidently, the total number of deaths caused by acts of terrorism is significantly smaller than the number of government induced deaths. Terrorism poses little threat towards the average civilian, as terrorists often select targets that symbolise their cause(iv). Even though the death of these innocent civilians is tragic, the media's exaggerated portrayal of these events induced unwarranted fear towards terrorism.
   
Worldwide, more than 500,000 children have been recruited into government armed forces in more than 85 countries(v). These children suffer one of the cruelest violations of human rights. They are often abducted from their families and are forced to witness and take part in acts of unbelievable violence. The Lord's Resistance Army, found in Uganda is infamous for killing, torturing, maiming, raping and abducting large number of civilians. Unfortunately, a number of the soldiers in this army are under the age of 18. Stripped of their childhood and exposed to the brutalities of war, child-Soldiers suffer unspeakable psychological and physical pain. It is easy to question a government's values when it chooses to sacrifice future generations of people for war and violence.

People make decisions to leave their homes, communities and countries daily. Fear for their lives, social and economic situations are often the predominant driving force that compels people to leave. It is saddening to see that for many, the lifestyle which they encounter after leaving everything behind them is worse. Australia is an excellent example of a country which has neglected its roles and responsibilities toward refugees. A case study by Amnesty International(vi) tells of a mother who fled Iran and battled raging seas. She left behind a violent husband and a government which offered no help to women suffering domestic violence to face a government which didn't offer her any sense of security. The fear of not knowing when they will be released into the community, the fear of not knowing if they will be allowed to stay permanently and the depression experienced by the refugees from living in confined detention centres has been known to drive even children to suicide. It is unjustifiable for any government to force people to live in such an environment and it is unfair that Australia imposes mandatory and indefinite immigration detention. For these people, it is the governments that they fear. Not terrorists.

Many leaders around the world are not accountable for their actions. This can be seen in the 74 remaining countries(vii) which still practise the uncivilized act of Capital Punishment. There was accumulating evidence of Australia's displeasure at Singapore's treatment of Van Nguyen(viii) and Indonesia's treatment of the Bali Nine. The fundamental human right to life has been violated by the government in both cases. The argument that Capital Punishment acts as a deterrent is fallacious. Capital Punishment is not an issue that can be measured accurately in terms of statistics. No one can ever know how many potential murderers have refrained from taking human life due to thbir fear of prosecution. Killing a person in order to preserve peace and order in a society is little more than state-sanctioned murder disguised as a community service.
Capital Punishment is not the only example where a state has abused its power to take the life of individuals. The Sudanese government, for example, use Arab `Janjaweed' militias, its air force and organized starvation kill the black Sudanese of Darfur. Currently, over a million people have been driven from their homesix. They now face death from starvation and disease as their government prevents humanitarian aid from reaching them. The Sudanese government has destroyed the people of Darfur's villages and crops, poisoned their water supplies, and they continue to murder, rape and terrorize. Governments in today's society should be feared more than terrorists, because it is they who are so frequently devaluing the value of human life.

Every individual should be able to enjoy each and every one of the Human Rights which have been enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. No one should live in fear of terrorists or their own government, however, realistically; many governments across the globe pose a threat to their citizens. It is they who knowingly violate the right of their people. It is they who create an atmosphere of tension, fear and oppression. Terrorists cannot be held responsible for the deaths and suffering of millions of people across the globe, but governments can be.
     
Endnotes
i Howard’s War: Alison Broinowski, Scribe Publishing (2003) page 91
ii http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_2001_Terrorist_Attack  (2986 were killed)
iii http://en.wiki[edia.org.wiki/2002_Bali_terrorist_bombing
iv The bombers of the World Trade Centre believed that they were attacking the symbolic heart of American economic power.
v http://web.amnesty.org/pages/childsoldierrs-index-eng
vi http://www.amnesty.org.au/resources/case_studies/hamindas_story
vii http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-facts-eng
viii http://www.henrythornton.com/article.asp?article_id=3742
ix http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR540022006?open&of=ENG-SDN