Amnesty International’s latest statement on Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha is another example of selective outrage dressed up as universal human rights advocacy. Reacting to the couple’s ten-year sentences from an anti-terrorism court, the organisation called the verdict “an indictment of Pakistan’s justice system”. That sweeping judgement raises a fundamental question: why does Amnesty’s moral indignation appear so selective?
A justice system still at work
The case is far from closed. Counsel for the couple has announced plans to appeal. In their separate social-media case, it was Pakistan’s own Supreme Court that suspended their sentences in September. A system that offers appeals and judicial review, and whose highest court has already intervened, is hardly the failed institution Amnesty describes. Passing a final verdict on an entire justice system before the appellate process has run its course is advocacy, not analysis.
Where is the same urgency?
The contrast with other cases is hard to ignore. Where is the same urgency over Yasin Malik’s prolonged detention in Tihar Jail? The Kashmiri leader remains behind bars while India’s National Investigation Agency pursues the death penalty against him. He has complained of repeated delays causing him “psychological trauma”, and the court has had to order the jail to ensure he receives medical treatment.
Where is the same sustained, front-page intensity over the killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and the devastating toll of Israeli military operations on civilians in Lebanon and Syria? Where is the consistent demand for accountability whenever innocent lives are lost and fundamental rights are violated elsewhere?
Universal means universal
Human rights are universal. They cannot become a political instrument wielded against some states while violations by others receive comparatively less attention. When advocacy appears selective, its impartiality becomes difficult to defend.
Perhaps Amnesty International should spend less time handing down moral verdicts and more time explaining its own uneven sense of outrage. Human rights advocacy is meant to be about defending people, not deciding whose suffering deserves a headline.
SAT Commentaries, a collection of insightful social media threads on current events and social issues, featuring diverse perspectives from various authors.
SAT Commentary
SAT Commentaries, a collection of insightful social media threads on current events and social issues, featuring diverse perspectives from various authors.
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Amnesty International’s latest statement on Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha is another example of selective outrage dressed up as universal human rights advocacy. Reacting
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Whose Suffering Deserves A Headline? Amnesty’s Double Standard
Amnesty International’s latest statement on Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha is another example of selective outrage dressed up as universal human rights advocacy. Reacting to the couple’s ten-year sentences from an anti-terrorism court, the organisation called the verdict “an indictment of Pakistan’s justice system”. That sweeping judgement raises a fundamental question: why does Amnesty’s moral indignation appear so selective?
A justice system still at work
The case is far from closed. Counsel for the couple has announced plans to appeal. In their separate social-media case, it was Pakistan’s own Supreme Court that suspended their sentences in September. A system that offers appeals and judicial review, and whose highest court has already intervened, is hardly the failed institution Amnesty describes. Passing a final verdict on an entire justice system before the appellate process has run its course is advocacy, not analysis.
Where is the same urgency?
The contrast with other cases is hard to ignore. Where is the same urgency over Yasin Malik’s prolonged detention in Tihar Jail? The Kashmiri leader remains behind bars while India’s National Investigation Agency pursues the death penalty against him. He has complained of repeated delays causing him “psychological trauma”, and the court has had to order the jail to ensure he receives medical treatment.
Where is the same sustained, front-page intensity over the killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and the devastating toll of Israeli military operations on civilians in Lebanon and Syria? Where is the consistent demand for accountability whenever innocent lives are lost and fundamental rights are violated elsewhere?
Universal means universal
Human rights are universal. They cannot become a political instrument wielded against some states while violations by others receive comparatively less attention. When advocacy appears selective, its impartiality becomes difficult to defend.
Perhaps Amnesty International should spend less time handing down moral verdicts and more time explaining its own uneven sense of outrage. Human rights advocacy is meant to be about defending people, not deciding whose suffering deserves a headline.
SAT Commentary
SAT Commentaries, a collection of insightful social media threads on current events and social issues, featuring diverse perspectives from various authors.
SAT Commentary
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