[2524] in peace2
Questions for Wed's Speaker on Human Rights?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (piali@MIT.EDU)
Mon May 5 12:14:48 2003
From: piali@MIT.EDU
Message-ID: <1052150945.3eb68ca169155@webmail.mit.edu>
Date: Mon, 5 May 2003 12:09:05 -0400
To: peace-announce@mit.edu
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
As some of you may know, the MIT Western Hemisphere Project has organized a
lecture this Saturday by John Shattuck, former US Ambassador and Assistant
Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor under the Clinton
Administration. Mr. Shattuck has a wealth of experience dealing with human
rights and civil liberty issues, both from within and outside the State
Department. We are hoping he will provide us with some insight into the
complexities of human rights issues and how they are and should be dealt with
within the government.
As an audience, it is important that we adequately challenge Mr. Shattuck, and
that the questions and concerns of MIT community members are voiced. I am
requesting, on behalf of the MITWHP, that you submit to me by email any
questions you would like to pose to the speaker. I will be compiling a list
and then asking some of these questions during Q&A on Wednesday, stating that
they are coming from the MIT student community. The questions can relate to
the government’s handling of human rights-type issues, specific to the Clinton
administration (Shattuck was in office during conflicts in Rwanda, Bosnia,
Haiti etc.), the current administration, or just generally. Also, if any of
you attended the February lecture by Jennifer Harburry, any questions relating
to the government’s course of action in dealing with the Guatemala crisis would
be great. We have a unique opportunity to gain some answers from a person who
has, for decades been intimately tied to the issue of human rights and civil
liberties so please send whatever questions you have. Thanks a lot! (Below is
a brief description of Shattuck’s soon to be published book)
Sincerely,
Piali Mukhopadhyay ‘05
*WEDNESDAY MAY 7 @7 PM IN 10-250*
Freedom on Fire: Human Rights Wars and America's Response
John Shattuck
As the chief human rights official inside the Clinton Administration, John
Shattuck faced a nightmare. Disasters were exploding simultaneously - genocide
in Rwanda and Bosnia, murder and atrocities in Haiti, repression in China,
brutal ethnic wars and failed states in other parts of the world. But America
was mired in conflicting priorities and was reluctant to act. What were
Shattuck and his allies to do?
This is the story of their struggle inside the U.S. government over how to
respond. Shattuck tells what was tried and what was learned as he and other
human rights hawks worked to change the Clinton Administration's human rights
policy from disengagement to saving lives and bringing war criminals to
justice. He records his frustrations and disappointments, as well as the
successes achieved in moving human rights to the center of U.S. foreign
policy.
Shattuck was at the heart of the action. He was the first official to
interview the survivors of Srebrenica. He confronted Milosevic in Belgrade.
He was a key player in bringing the leaders of genocide in Bosnia and Rwanda to
justice. He pushed from the inside for an American response to the crisis of
the Haitian boat people. He pressed for the release of political prisoners in
China. His book is both an insider's account and a detailed prescription for
preventing such wars in the future.
Shattuck argues that human rights wars are the breeding grounds for terrorism.
He criticizes the Bush Administration's war on terrorism, which he says
undermines human rights at home and around the world. Freedom on Fire
describes the shifting challenges of global leadership in a world of explosive
hatreds and deepening inequalities.
John Shattuck served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human
Rights and Labor from 1993 to 1998, and U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic
from 1998 to 2000. Currently, he is Chief Executive Officer of the John F.
Kennedy Library Foundation in Boston.
