Carta abierta al Director Ejecutivo de Human Rights Watch

Premio Nobel de la paz y 100 catedráticos piden a HRW que cierre su puerta giratoria al gobierno EE.UU.

Estimado Kenneth Roth:

Human Rights Watch (HRW) se autoproclama como “una de las principales organizaciones independientes del mundo dedicadas a la defensa y protección de los derechos humanos”. Sin embargo, los estrechos vínculos de HRW con el gobierno de los Estados Unidos ponen en tela de juicio su independencia.
Por ejemplo, Tom Malinowski, director de cabildeo de HRW en Washington, previamente se desempeñó como asistente especial del presidente Bill Clinton y como redactor de discursos de la secretaria de Estado Madeline Albright. En 2013, Malinowski renunció a su cargo con HRW luego de haber sido postulado como subsecretario de Estado para la democracia, los derechos humanos y trabajo bajo la autoridad de John Kerry. En su biografía en HRW.org, Susan Manilow, vicepresidenta de la Junta Directiva, se describe a sí misma como “una vieja amiga de Bill Clinton”, “muy involucrada” en su partido político, y que “se ha desempeñado como anfitriona en decenas de eventos” para el Comité Nacional Demócrata. En la actualidad, el comité asesor de HRW Americas está compuesto por Myles Frechette, ex embajador de los EE.UU. en Colombia, y Michael Shifter, antiguo director en Latinoamérica de la Dotación nacional para la democracia (NED), financiada por el gobierno de los EE.UU. Miguel Díaz, analista de la Agencia Central de Inteligencia en los años noventa, participó en el comité asesor de HRW Americas de 2003 a 2011. Hoy en día Díaz trabaja en el Departamento de Estado como “interlocutor entre la comunidad de información secreta y los expertos no gubernamentales”.
En calidad de director de cabildeo de HRW, Malinowski sostuvo en 2009 que “en determinadas circunstancias” había “usos legítimos” para las extradiciones secretas de la CIA (la práctica ilícita que consiste en secuestrar y extraditar a presuntos terroristas en todas partes del planeta). Malinowski fue citado parafraseando el argumento del gobierno de EE.UU. de que el diseño de una alternativa al envío de sospechosos a “mazmorras extranjeras para ser torturados” iba a “tomar un tiempo.” HRW no le concedió la misma consideración a Venezuela. En una carta de 2012 al presidente Chávez, HRW criticó la postulación del país para el Consejo de Derechos Humanos de la O.N.U., alegando que Venezuela había caído “muy por debajo de los estándares aceptables” y ponía en tela de juicio su “capacidad para desempeñarse como una voz creíble respecto a los derechos humanos”. En ningún momento la afiliación de los EE.UU. al mismo Consejo mereció la censura de parte de HRW, a pesar del programa secreto de Washington para asesinatos a escala mundial, la prolongación de las extradiciones, y la detención ilegal de personas en la Bahía de Guantánamo. Asimismo, en febrero de 2013, HRW correctamente calificó de “ilícito” el uso de misiles por parte de Siria en su guerra civil. Sin embargo, HRW guardó silencio en lo tocante a la evidente violación del derecho internacional que constituía la amenaza estadounidense de atacar a Siria con misiles en agosto.
Los pocos ejemplos anteriores, restringidos sólo a la historia reciente, podrían perdonarse como incongruencias o negligencias que podrían ocurrir naturalmente en cualquier organización de gran envergadura y responsabilidad. Sin embargo, las relaciones estrechas que HRW mantiene con el gobierno de los EE.UU. impregnan a estos ejemplos con la apariencia de un conflicto de intereses.
Por lo tanto, le instamos a tomar medidas concretas e inmediatas con el objeto de afirmar enérgicamente la independencia de HRW. Cerrar lo que tiene trazas de ser una puerta giratoria sería una primera medida razonable: prohíba a aquellas personas que hayan elaborado o ejecutado políticas exteriores de Estados Unidos desempeñarse como empleados, asesores o miembros de la junta directiva de HRW. Como mínimo, exija largos períodos de “enfriamiento” antes y después de que cualquier miembro se mueva entre HRW y esa rama del gobierno.
Su mayor contribuyente, el inversionista George Soros, sugirió en 2010 que “para ser más eficaz, creo que la organización tiene que ser percibida más como una organización internacional que como una organización de los Estados Unidos”. Estamos de acuerdo. Le instamos a poner en práctica la propuesta antes mencionada para garantizar una reputación de auténtica independencia.

Sinceramente,

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Mairead Maguire, Premio Nobel de la Paz

Joel Andreas, Professor of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University Antony Anghie, Professor of Law, S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah

John M. Archer, Professor of English, New York University

Asma Barlas, Professor of Politics, Director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, Ithaca College

Rosalyn Baxandall, Professor Emeritus of American Studies, State University of New York-Old Westbury

Marc Becker, Professor of Latin American History, Truman State University

Jason A. Beckett, Professor of Law, American University in Cairo

Angélica Bernal, Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Keane Bhatt, activist, writer

William Blum, author, Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II

Audrey Bomse, Co-chair, National Lawyers Guild Palestine Subcommittee

Patrick Bond, Professor of Development Studies, Director of the Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban

Michael Brenner, Professor Emeritus of International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh

Jean Bricmont, Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Louvain; author, Humanitarian Imperialism

Renate Bridenthal, Professor Emerita of History, Brooklyn College, CUNY

Fernando Buen Abad Domínguez, Ph.D., author

Paul Buhle, Professor Emeritus of American Civilization, Brown University

David Camfield, Professor of Labour Studies, University of Manitoba

Leonard L. Cavise, Professor of Law, DePaul College of Law

Robert Chernomas, Professor of Economics, University of Manitoba

Aviva Chomsky, Professor of History, Salem State University

George Ciccariello-Maher, Professor of Political Science, Drexel University

Jeff Cohen, Associate Professor of Journalism, Ithaca College

Marjorie Cohn, Professor of Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Lisa Duggan, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University

Carolyn Eisenberg, Professor of History, Hofstra University

Matthew Evangelista, Professor of History and Political Science, Cornell University

Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law, Princeton University

Sujatha Fernandes, Professor of Sociology, Queens College, CUNY Graduate Center

Mara Fridell, Professor of Sociology, University of Manitoba

Frances Geteles, Professor Emeritus, Department of Special Programs, CUNY City College

Lesley Gill, Professor of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University

Piero Gleijeses, Professor of American Foreign Policy and Latin American Studies, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Jeff Goodwin, Professor of Sociology, New York University

Katherine Gordy, Professor of Political Science, San Francisco State University

Manu Goswami, Professor of History, New York University

Greg Grandin, Professor of History, New York University

Simon Granovsky-Larsen, Professor of Latin American Studies, Centennial College, Toronto

James N. Green, Professor of Latin American History, Brown University

A. Tom Grunfeld, Professor of History, SUNY Empire State College

Julie Guard, Professor of Labor Studies, University of Manitoba

Peter Hallward, Professor of Philosophy, Kingston University; author, Damming the Flood

John L. Hammond, Professor of Sociology, Hunter College, CUNY Graduate Center

Beth Harris, Professor of Politics, Ithaca College

Martin Hart-Landsberg, Professor Economics, Lewis and Clark College

Chris Hedges, journalist; author, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning

Doug Henwood, journalist; author, Wall Street

Edward Herman, Professor Emeritus of Finance, University of Pennsylvania; co-author, The Political Economy of Human Rights

Susan Heuman, Ph.D., independent scholar of history

Forrest Hylton, Lecturer in History & Literature, Harvard University

Matthew Frye Jacobson, Professor of American Studies and History, Yale University

Jennifer Jolly, Co-coordinator of Latin American Studies, Ithaca College

Rebecca E. Karl, Professor of History, New York University

J. Kehaulani Kauanui, Professor of Anthropology and American Studies, Wesleyan University

Ari Kelman, Professor of History, University of California, Davis

Arang Keshavarzian, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University

Laleh Khalili, Professor of Middle East Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Daniel Kovalik, Professor of International Human Rights, University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Rob Kroes, Professor Emeritus of American Studies, University of Amsterdam

Peter Kuznick, Professor of History, American University

Deborah T. Levenson, Professor of History, Boston College

David Ludden, Professor of History, New York University

Catherine Lutz, Professor of Anthropology and International Studies, Brown University

Arthur MacEwan, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Massachusetts-Boston

Viviana MacManus, Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Chase Madar, civil rights attorney; author, The Passion of [Chelsea] Manning

Alfred W. McCoy, Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Teresa Meade, Professor of History, Union College

Thomas Murphy, Professor of History and Government, University of Maryland, University College Europe

Allan Nairn, independent investigative journalist

Usha Natarajan, Professor of International Law, American University in Cairo

Diane M. Nelson, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Duke University

Joseph Nevins, Professor of Geography, Vassar College

Mary Nolan, Professor of History, New York University

Anthony O’Brien, Professor Emeritus of English, Queens College, CUNY

Paul O'Connell, Reader in Law, School of Law, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Christian Parenti, Professor of Sustainable Development, School for International Training Graduate Institute

David Peterson, independent writer and researcher

Adrienne Pine, Professor of Anthropology, American University

Claire Potter, Professor of History, The New School

Margaret Power, Professor of History, Illinois Institute of Technology

Pablo Pozzi, Professor of History, Universidad de Buenos Aires

Gyan Prakash, Professor of History, Princeton University

Vijay Prashad, Edward Said Chair of American Studies, American University of Beirut

Peter Ranis, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, CUNY Graduate Center

Michael Ratner , human rights attorney; author, The Prosecution of Donald Rumsfeld

Sanjay Reddy, Professor of Economics, New School for Social Research

Adolph Reed, Jr., Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

Nazih Richani, Director of Latin American Studies, Kean University

Moss Roberts, Professor of Chinese, New York University

Corey Robin, Professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College, CUNY Graduate Center

William I. Robinson, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara

Patricia Rodriguez, Professor of Politics, Ithaca College

Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University

Elizabeth Sanders, Professor of Government, Cornell University

Dean Saranillio, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University

T.M. Scruggs, Professor Emeritus of Music, University of Iowa

Ian J. Seda-Irizarry, Professor of Political Economy, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Denise A. Segura, Professor of Sociology; Chair, Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Mark Selden, Senior Research Associate, East Asia Program, Cornell University

Falguni A. Sheth, Professor of Philosophy and Political Theory, Hampshire College

Naoko Shibusawa, Professor of History, Brown University

Dina M. Siddiqi, Professor of Anthropology, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Francisco Sierra Caballero, Director of the Center for Communication, Politics and Social Change, University of Seville

Brad Simpson, Professor of History, University of Connecticut

Nikhil Pal Singh, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History, New York University

Leslie Sklair, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, London School of Economics

Norman Solomon, author, War Made Easy

Judy Somberg, Chair, National Lawyers Guild Task Force on the Americas

Jeb Sprague, author, Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti

Oliver Stone, filmmaker; co-author, The Untold History of the United States

Steve Striffler, Professor of Anthropology, Chair of Latin American Studies, University of New Orleans

Sinclair Thomson, Professor of History, New York University

Miguel Tinker Salas, Professor of History and Latin American Studies, Pomona College

James S. Uleman, Professor of Psychology, New York University

Alejandro Velasco, Professor of History, New York University

Robert Vitalis, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

Hans Christof von Sponeck, former United Nations Assistant Secretary General (1998-2000)

Hilbourne Watson, Professor Emeritus of International Relations, Bucknell University

Barbara Weinstein, Professor of History, New York University

Mark Weisbrot, Ph.D., Co-director, Center for Economic and Policy Research

Kirsten Weld, Professor of History, Harvard University

Gregory Wilpert, Ph.D, author, Changing Venezuela by Taking Power

John Womack, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Latin American History and Economics, Harvard University

Michael Yates, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown

Kevin Young, Ph.D., Latin American History, State University of New York-Stony Brook

Marilyn B. Young, Professor of History, New York University

Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali Zamindar, Professor of History; Co-Director, South Asian Studies, Brown University

Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and Coordinator of Middle Eastern Studies, University of San Francisco