POLITICS-ASIA: Region Condemns Attacks but Warns U.S. vs Retaliation

By Marwaan Macan-Markar Reprint | | Print |

Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Sep 12 2001 (IPS) - Regional human rights advocates reacted with revulsion at Tuesday’s multiple acts of terror in the United States, describing it as a “crime against humanity,” but called on Washington to use legal and judicial measure to go after the perpetrators than violent means.

The “acts of terrorism were crimes against humanity – the murder of thousands of innocent civilians,” read a statement released Wednesday afternoon by human rights experts from 12 Asian countries gathered here to garner more support for the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Those behind this crime have violated both national and international laws, said Gotham Arya, president of the Forum Asia Foundation, a Bangkok-based regional human rights body. “It cannot be justified, destroying so many innocent lives.”

“We call it a crime against humanity because it is so, not one that affects only the U.S., but all of us, people. It is an assault of such magnitude,” added Ahmed Ziauddin, advisor at the Asian Network for the ICC.

However, the statement issued by the rights advocates cautioned the U.S. government against “indiscriminate unilateral military reaction – which has been a response to past terrorist acts – and which could result in more innocent deaths and a cycle of recrimination, revenge and terrorism.”

It argued, furthermore, that the crime underscored the need for the U.S. to recognise the merits of international legal measures to bring those responsible to justice through cooperation within the international community “in outlawing, investigating (and) prosecuting those who commit these most serious crimes against humanity”.

For such a mechanism will provide strong legal measures to “deal with this crime”, observed Basil Fernando, executive director of the Asia Human Rights Commission, a Hong Kong-based rights watchdog.

Gotham, too, threw his weight behind this view, saying: “If the eye for an eye logic is applied it will be a case of the U.S. versus terrorism, but if the system of justice is used, it will be a case of the international system versus terrorism.”

Reactions from other corners of Asia also reflected this sense of revulsion at the thousands feared dead, following three hijacked passenger planes ramming into U.S. symbols of commerce and power, the World Trade Centre towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.

For the head of the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the attack was “brutal” and a “great shock.” In a message to U.S. President George Bush, she said that the attacks emphasised the need for “international cooperation to face acts of terrorism, in which Indonesia is prepared to cooperate.”

From Kashmir, India’s predominantly Muslim state, there was a similar reaction of shock. According to media reports, both civilians and leaders of Kashmir’s separatist groups condemned the devastating attacks.

The Indian prime minister was also unequivocal in his condemnation. In a letter to President Bush, Atal Behari Vajpayee described Tuesday’s attack as “heinous crime.”

“We condemn this heinous crime in the strongest terms. This dark hour is a stark and terrible reminder of the power and the reach of terrorists to destroy innocent lives and challenge the civilised order in this world,” Vajpayee wrote.

Reactions from China, however, were mixed, with people in the capital Beijing being quoted in media reports expressing sympathy, and others saying the U.S. had brought it on itself for its “arrogance.”

That was so in Iran, too, with the government of President Mohammed Khatami condemning the attack and urging a global response to quell terrorism as opposed to the views of the Teheran Times, which displayed little sympathy.

Although it expressed concern over the loss of lives, Wednesday’ edition of this English-language paper made bold to declare that the U.S. was “paying the price for its blind support of the Zionist regime”.

The reactions throughout Asia were also evident in other respects. In New Zealand, the government called for more stringent security checks at airports, including careful scrutiny of both domestic passengers and foreign travelers.

Likewise in Hong Kong, where authorities had armed police units deployed at the territory’s international airport.

Furthermore in the Philippines, President Gloria Aroyo assigned the army to safeguard U.S. facilities in the archipelago. And in a letter to President Bush, Aroyo promised to protect the lives of U.S. citizens “within our jurisdiction.”

And economists in the region are preparing for bad news, ranging from the prospect of oil prices rising to tumbling stock markets. In Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, Southeast Asia’s trade ministers gathered at an annual meeting expressed their concerns to reporters: the repercussions in Asia might be “devastating.”

Meanwhile, Japan’s response to the economic fallout included the Bank of Japan guaranteeing a steady supply of cash in the money market to face possible downturns in its financial sector.