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<font size="1"><a href="https://orinocotribune.com/human-rights-watch-watches-out-for-us-bolivian-friends-condemns-amnesty-for-political-prisoners/">https://orinocotribune.com/human-rights-watch-watches-out-for-us-bolivian-friends-condemns-amnesty-for-political-prisoners/</a>
</font><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Human Rights Watch Watches Out for US’ Bolivian Friends, Condemns Amnesty for Political Prisoners</h1>By Alan Macleod – Mar 12, 2021</div><div class="gmail-content"><div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div>
<p><strong>Since its establishment, HRW has consistently been criticized
for being an agent of U.S. foreign policy, employing former U.S.
government officials in key positions and displaying bias against
governments unfriendly to the United States.</strong></p>
<p>New York – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned a general amnesty
for over a thousand Bolivians persecuted under the one-year dictatorship
of Jeanine Añez. Yesterday, the Washington-based human rights
organization <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/11/bolivia-amnesty-decree-opens-door-impunity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decried</a> the
plan to drop all charges against people resisting the government as
“opening the door to impunity.” Its Americas director, Jose Miguel
Vivanco, said that the new law “undermines victims’ access to justice
and violates the fundamental principle of equality before the law.” HRW
alleges that a handful of anti-coup demonstrators carried out serious
crimes, such as arson or kidnapping, while opposing the regime, thus
making general amnesty seriously problematic.</p>
<p>New President Luis Arce won an overwhelming electoral victory in October after a <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/bolivia-showdown-mass-protests-erupt-against-us-backed-anez/270416/">citizens’ revolt</a> paralyzed
the country and forced Añez to hold an election. Human Rights Watch
notes with concern that this new decree “suggests that anyone prosecuted
by the Áñez government for actions during social protests had their
rights violated,” something that many consider to be obvious and
uncontroversial.</p>
<p>“Human Rights Watch is criticizing the Bolivian government for
lifting the charges against leftists who were persecuted by the former
coup regime (seriously). This is why Bolivians are suspicious of these
U.S. NGOs,” <a href="https://twitter.com/OVargas52/status/1370099690813931520" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reacted</a> Bolivian journalist Ollie Vargas.</p>
<p><strong>An odd position for a human rights org</strong></p>
<p>A layperson might expect one of the best known human rights
organizations in the world to celebrate the acquittal of over a thousand
innocent people charged with “crimes” such as <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/bolivia-coup-gov-targets-alternative-media-crackdown-increasingly-violent/262944/">reporting</a> on massacres in a way that displeased the government, <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/bolivia-right-wing-government-crackdown-journalists-doctors/264036/">hospital workers</a> treating the regime’s victims, or <a href="https://www.la-razon.com/sociedad/2020/04/30/periodistas-critican-detencion-de-guerrero-digital-jara-y-ven-violacion-de-derechos/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling</a> Añez a “dictator” in WhatsApp conversations. Yet HRW <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/human-rights-watch-right-wing-massacre-bolivia/262887/">strongly supported</a> the coup as it was taking place, <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/human-rights-watch-right-wing-massacre-bolivia/262887/">insisting</a> that
President Evo Morales was actually “resigning” of his own accord, and
merely “traveling to Mexico” rather than fleeing at the barrel of a gun.</p>
<p><a href="https://orinocotribune.com/how-human-rights-watch-whitewashed-a-right-wing-massacre-in-bolivia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED CONTENT: How Human Rights Watch Whitewashed a Right-Wing Massacre in Bolivia</a></p>
<p>HRW’s executive director, Ken Roth, made a series of public
statements on social media expressing his delight, even as security
forces took over La Paz, massacring civilians and overthrowing a
democratically-elected president. Roth also described the coup
approvingly as an “<a href="https://twitter.com/KenRoth/status/1196133917247655939" target="_blank" rel="noopener">uprising</a>” and a “<a href="https://twitter.com/KenRoth/status/1194415776205352961" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitional moment</a>” for Bolivia, while presenting Morales as an out-of-touch “<a href="https://twitter.com/KenRoth/status/1196133917247655939" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strongman</a>.”
For Roth, Morales was “the casualty of a counter-revolution aimed at
defending democracy…against electoral fraud and his own illegal
candidacy,” falsely <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/human-rights-watch-right-wing-massacre-bolivia/262887/">alleging</a>that Morales had ordered the army to shoot protesters.</p>
<p>As Roth was making his pronouncements, Añez was <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/bolivia-right-wing-government-crackdown-journalists-doctors/264036/">signing</a> a new law that gave security forces complete immunity for killing dissenters. HRW <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/11/19/bolivia-interim-government-adopts-abusive-measures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">described</a> this
as a “problematic decree,” as if Añez had merely used insensitive
language. The organization also attempted to hide who were the
perpetrators of the ensuing massacres, telling readers that “nine people
died and 122 were wounded” during a Cochabamba demonstration, but
refusing to fill them in on who was dying and who was shooting.</p>
<p>Even in yesterday’s 2,800-word report, published 16 months after the
incident, the word “coup” is completely absent. Instead, HRW states
(emphasis added) that Morales “was forced to <i>resign</i>on November 10, 2019, after the commanders of the armed forces and the police <i>asked</i> him to step down.” Morales, however, made it <a href="https://newint.org/features/2019/11/18/coup-against-evo-morales-was-premeditated" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clear</a> at the time that he was leaving only to avoid a bloodbath.</p>
<p>HRW also continues to describe Añez as the “interim president” — her
own, propagandistic word for her role — rather than “dictator,” and
maintains that Morales’s election was “controversial” because of
“allegations of electoral fraud.” This is despite the fact that the
allegations were immediately <a href="https://cepr.net/images/stories/reports/bolivia-elections-2019-11.pdf?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=0af16f32dda77ef9cf896f067a6cb960a75a9124-1615563975-0-AXqkOSb4jNjvfGdWigxa7c6Ha6nsL0VZ-zBgiN4XMs4cEs0T7DzeWOqxW_LojLrWrxPIuN3xaY9DSl95d0n7GvY-XjaioUIvc3jIdA42JsxUVuI3XsAwvD4yHWi31P3IeT5RXT7mkNkpULImMP4n1X3qiOhKSJuWMpo-0uSBDzWJJrrhI_oNaAVKysKKGvYblyVX_JSpl8PbVV46aRZAL20CjbYl2iDGOLN3bUd3ttxdLUaVgB7JvuykXH-DD-bUPFlto7FIq0NyRLfA1-3I50TDDzFor9gLJLlQ8BINo10OI69L4X_z5EyjSqPoS3kXqL66vOXzXzxTETXTe6Ckf63tdvb7tzaR0xuWnfxaXK1hHRfLSY8X1-UqJXV583QFFpbABeIUjX4L6V48nJo-t8P57BNaZUcok1PcIPhgXEWbBT62TqSh_RLUdb2a7U2_9pqozDq6nTeFwb0Gkcat-sk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">debunked</a> by independent statisticians. Last month, HRW <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/08/us-impeachment-not-enough" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demanded</a> that
Donald Trump be prosecuted because he promoted false theories of a
“stolen election” in the U.S. Yet, in Bolivia, HRW itself is doing
exactly the same thing — and based on just as shaky evidence.</p>
<div>
<p><strong>A brief and brutal fascist interlude</strong></p>
<div>
<p>Elected in 2005, Morales was the first leader in the country’s
history to come from its indigenous majority. During his 14 years in
office, his administration <a href="https://cepr.net/press-release/new-report-reviews-changes-in-bolivia-s-economy-under-evo-morales-s-presidency/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=d47d1e24835e9285f8a8dedca25b25cc142ae144-1615564514-0-AbG7hHyIO5dG-08mXFkA8NSYfwrsTGTWylOOEMHxef3pPVNtrOI0wvSPBzgWQ3KKmUDrmU20gks6Yiry0F4vR6TzU38CIuSMBPyr3My9fMpOBK-ldbHSlGvHvCUz-VfjaVgEeclgeUExHXZ6cp1f4QbGqD9UViaT_5VxxwJfruulrVmwkIDBtwDR_bU8zxu3NBmf7Vha4HWaTcRPxED7ruU2ZBBZgEwXU23s38TAUfnysg6YGTTqiBbp2_1FIzBisc5Wjy8dH2CWtObJWnusShFqKbx5BMR3PuiIYU149odED38ZmWJPxqLM9MNDirXZ3OY8_FqIuOUj9mC7PhPZSILJDp_zqigpRoLQxrPbVNJ7-wHjVW25gdo_R792YyLo0TjOVP1kam4FGyGTB925vmYm6cimtuK-gjkvVzx3AzBb68yGvP-pVg3pZGU5WM1LTIeE1OXmwvwXsOlgOJsBUUnYD463FToqPljzMH5epT2hGeLQbNHH6416MNsEdZvGhw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reduced</a> poverty
by 42% and extreme poverty by 60%, halving unemployment and increasing
real GDP per capita by 50%. Taking the country down a more socialist
path, he fostered links to like-minded neighboring countries such as
Ecuador, Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela, and was sharply critical of U.S.
actions abroad. In October 2019, he won an unprecedented and
controversial fourth term by over 10 points. However, sectors of the
U.S.-backed Bolivian right-wing cried foul, alleging fraud, with the
military and the police using the ensuing chaos to justify overthrowing
him.</p>
<p><a href="https://orinocotribune.com/jeanine-anez-arrested-for-sedition-conspiracy-and-terrorism-in-bolivia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED CONTENT: Jeanine Áñez Arrested for Sedition, Conspiracy and Terrorism in Bolivia</a></p>
<p>The military handpicked Morales’s successor, Añez, a little known
senator from a far-right party that received 4% of the vote. A hardline
Christian conservative, Añez sparked controversy by declaring the
country’s indigenous majority as “satanic” and arguing that they should
not be allowed to live in cities. She immediately started crushing
dissent, targeting <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/human-rights-massacre-bolivia-plea-help/262930/">followers</a> of Morales, <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/bolivia-coup-gov-targets-alternative-media-crackdown-increasingly-violent/262944/">media outlets</a>, and <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/bolivia-right-wing-govt-unveils-anti-terror-death-squads-foreigners/263249/">human rights observers</a>.</p>
<p>Añez also began <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/bolivia-interim-government-privatizing-economy/263529/">privatizing</a> the
economy and reoriented the country’s foreign policy away from an
independent path and towards the United States. Despite calling herself
an “interim president,” she <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/us-backed-coup-govt-bolivia-suspends-elections-third-time/269764/">repeatedly canceled</a> elections,
leading many to believe she was attempting to stay in power
indefinitely with help from the military, which ruled the country
directly for much of the 20th century. However, a nationwide <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/bolivia-showdown-mass-protests-erupt-against-us-backed-anez/270416/">general strike</a> in August shut the country down, forcing her to agree to an October election.</p>
<p>Morales was banned from running. But Luis Arce, his former economy
minister, was elected in a 27-point landslide, gaining almost twice the
votes of his nearest challenger.</p>
<p><strong>Highly Reactionary Worldview</strong></p>
<p>Unfortunately, this sort of behavior from Human Rights Watch is far
from unusual. Headquartered in NYC, with a branch on D.C.’s Pennsylvania
Avenue, the organization was originally established in 1978 as Helsinki
Watch, an American group dedicated to exposing the crimes of Eastern
Bloc countries and monitoring their compliance with the Helsinki
Accords.</p>
<p>Its founder, Aryeh Neier, is a libertarian fundamentalist who equates
the very idea of economic or labor rights with oppression, writing that
they are “profoundly undemocratic.” “Authoritarian power is probably a
prerequisite for giving meaning to economic and social rights,” he <a href="https://thedailybanter.com/2012/06/the-quiet-extermination-of-labor-rights-from-human-rights/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>.
Thus, under this interpretation of rights, the Morales administration’s
actions in reducing poverty, hunger and labor insecurity are not
achievements, but black marks against it.</p>
<p>Since its establishment, HRW has consistently been criticized for
being an agent of U.S. foreign policy, employing former U.S. government
officials in key positions and <a href="https://nacla.org/article/hypocrisy-human-rights-watch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">displaying bias</a> against leftist governments unfriendly to the United States. Vivanco himself penned a <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/4051" target="_blank" rel="noopener">much-derided</a>report
on human rights in Venezuela, which, in an open letter, over 100 Latin
American experts claimed “did not meet even the most minimal standards
of scholarship, impartiality, accuracy, or credibility.” And while
constantly <a href="https://twitter.com/JMVivancoHRW/status/892109810027593728" target="_blank" rel="noopener">describing</a> Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro as a “dictator,” in May, Vivanco <a href="https://brujuladigital.net/politica/vivanco-de-hrw-penalizar-la-opinion-es-de-gobiernos-dictatoriales-no-de-una-democracia-como-la-de-bolivia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> Bolivia under Añez’s rule a democracy.</p>
<p>HRW worked hard to legitimize the <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/bolivia-latest-successful-us-backed-coup-latin-america/262773/">U.S</a>.-, <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-03-08-revealed-the-uk-supported-the-coup-in-bolivia-to-gain-access-to-its-white-gold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">British</a>-, and <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/flights-logs-suggest-bolivia-coup-was-planned-in-brazil/268464/">Brazilian-</a>backed
coup. With this new report, it appears as if it is still trying to turn
the clock back, showing that it all too often places Western imperial
interests over liberty for oppressed peoples.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p><em>Featured image: Masked police detain a supporter of Evo Morales
after they launched tear gas at a massive funeral procession that was
marching into La Paz, Bolivia, Nov. 21, 2019. Photo | AP</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/human-rights-watch-watches-out-for-us-bolivian-friends-condemns-amnesty-for-political-prisoners/276097/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">(Mint Press News</a>)</p>
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Alan MacLeod </span>
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<p>Alan MacLeod is a member of the Glasgow University Media Group. He
is author of "Bad News From Venezuela: 20 Years of Fake News and
Misreporting." His latest book, Propaganda in the Information Age: Still
Manufacturing Consent, was published by Routledge in May 2019.</p>
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