http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2009/06/25/farewell-to-human-rights-%e2%80%93-adieux-aux-droits-de-l%e2%80%99homme/ Lankaweb.com Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:05:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2009/06/25/farewell-to-human-rights-%e2%80%93-adieux-aux-droits-de-l%e2%80%99homme/comment-page-1/#comment-208 cassandra Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:36:41 +0000 http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/?p=1707#comment-208 There should be no “permanent contradiction between human rights and foreign policy of a state” as M.Kouchner is quoted as saying if states conducted their foreign affairs with some morality (which they so loudly proclaim) and consistency. The fact, alas, is they don’t and never have. Indeed, it is instructive to note that while the French were great advocates of liberty, equality and fraternity, at home, they clearly did not see fit to apply these same political virtues in their colonies. They ruled their colonies just as harshly as the others. Even Britain, with her great liberal traditions and record of defending human rights had no ‘difficulty’ in running the largest colonial enterprise in history despite that involving large scale subjugation of whole nations and the deprivation of their human rights. These nations should know better than to play the ‘human rights’ card selectively. As the old saying goes, ‘people living in glass houses should not throw stones’. There should be no “permanent contradiction between human rights and foreign policy of a state” as M.Kouchner is quoted as saying if states conducted their foreign affairs with some morality (which they so loudly proclaim) and consistency. The fact, alas, is they don’t and never have. Indeed, it is instructive to note that while the French were great advocates of liberty, equality and fraternity, at home, they clearly did not see fit to apply these same political virtues in their colonies. They ruled their colonies just as harshly as the others. Even Britain, with her great liberal traditions and record of defending human rights had no ‘difficulty’ in running the largest colonial enterprise in history despite that involving large scale subjugation of whole nations and the deprivation of their human rights. These nations should know better than to play the ‘human rights’ card selectively. As the old saying goes, ‘people living in glass houses should not throw stones’.

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