Recently Secretary of State Clinton gave a speech to the "Community of Democracies" in which she excoriated "intolerant governments" for attacking activist and Advocacy groups.
The utter hypocrisy of attacking countries like Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Venezuela, China and Russia for the "steel vise" of repression that is "slowly crushing civil society and the human spirit," right after one attends a summit meeting such as the G20 in Canada in which social activist and advocacy groups were openly harassed, censored, arrested, and beaten is appalling.
More below the fold:
Intolerant governments across the globe are "slowly crushing" activist and advocacy groups that play an essential role in the development of democracy, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday.
"But we must be wary of the steel vise in which governments around the world are slowly crushing civil society and the human spirit," she said. Social activists, Clinton said, are being harassed, censored, cut off from funding, arrested, prosecuted or killed. Source
Next we have exhibit B:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2010
DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR
FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 2010
In the morning, the President will travel to Muskoka, Canada for the G8 Summit. The departure from the South Lawn is open press. There will be travel pool coverage of the arrival at Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto and at the Deerhurst Resort Landing Zone in Muskoka, Canada.
In the afternoon, the President will attend the G8 Leaders working lunch at Deerhurst Resort. This lunch is closed press. The President and G8 Leaders will then take a G8 Family Photo. There will be a limited pool spray at the top. Later, the President will participate in a G8 working session with African Outreach Leaders and a G8 working session with African Outreach Leaders and Extended Outreach Leaders. There will be a limited pool spray at the top of these sessions. Following these working sessions, the President, G8 Leaders, Africa Outreach Leaders and Extended Outreach Leaders will take a G8 Family Photo. There will be a limited pool spray at the top.
In the evening, the President and G8 Leaders will meet with My Summit 2010 Youth. There will be a limited photo spray at the top. The President and G8 Leaders will then participate in a G8 Working Dinner. This dinner is closed press.
And finally:
G8/G20 leaves Canada with a big hangover
Canadians - and possibly many others - were aghast at the billion dollar price tag for the matter of hours in which leaders of the wealthiest nations, along with about 10,000 of their 'advisers' dropped in to Toronoto for G20 and nearby popular cottage country, Muskoka, for G8.
Much of last weekend was... a surprise to Canadians who, possibly still in shock at the largesse of their deficit-ridden, grinning, back-slapping host of a Prime Minister, also saw their democratic nation transformed into a mini police state for the duration of the summits. Source:
As the New Zeeland News
reported:
Police state sounds awfully dramatic, but the suspension of ordinary rights of citizens to protest in designated areas, arrest for not showing ID or submitting to a search upon police request, mass arrests and detention for hours of more than 900 people, are not what is expected in a democracy.
For the last couple of days the airwaves, blogs, letters to editors and the efforts of editors themselves have pondered, lambasted, and defended the pre-emptive actions of police to herd - or in police jargon, kettle - law-abiding protesters in a tried and true method of breaking up their numbers so as to better control them.
Certainly there are plenty of repressive regimes in the world whose treatment of dissidents is hardly genteel. But Clinton’s speech to the Community of Democracies recommending that the organization "set up an independent means of monitoring repressive measures against social advocacy groups, and that the U.N. Human Rights Council do more to protect civil society," was grotesque in light of the Canadian government’s crack down on dissidents at the G20 summit.
Her announcement that "the U.S. would contribute $2 million to support the work of embattled nongovernmental groups," is absurd in light of the 5.5 million dollars Canada spent on a 3.5 km fence
to keep protesters away from the delegates. In total, Canada spent one billion dollars on the G20, much of it on police equipment and police overtime.
Baton wielding police in African nations are evidently abhorrent to Secretary Clinton. Ditto, persecution of dissidents in "evil" countries like Venezuela, Iran, and Russia. One wonders then, how she justifies "good Democracies" like Canada who spend millions of dollars on fences and police to round up and "kettle" activists and advocates to keep their voices and opinions from being heard. Anything to keep ordinary citizens away from G8 working sessions, closed dinners, and "pool spray" photo opportunities.
I think at the next "photo spray" Secretary Clinton’s advisors would do well to take her aside and tell her quietly her hypocrisy is showing.
Interested readers might be interested to check out the author's political blog: http://www.certaindoubt.net