Rules are made to protect us
Originally posted here
I’ve spent the last half hour staring at a blank page and thinking about what I should write. There are so many things playing on my mind at the moment – world cup politics, Charles Haughey, Big Brother, an historic parades agreement in Northern Ireland but still the page remained blank because what I really want to talk about is this: why have we decided that rules are made to be broken? The theme, of course, runs through all of those issues – world cup referees are being extra-vigilant for unsporting behaviour, Charlie was a rule breaking rogue who many secretly loved in typical ‘fair play you boy’ Irish style, the Big Brother house is full of more back stabbing, bitching, rule breaking vindictiveness than the Dáil bar and does anyone really believe that all the rules historically made in Northern Ireland will ever be adhered to? The culture of rule breaking is one thing when it comes to individuals or (relatively) small-time rule breaking of this nature. The thing that worries me is how rule breaking is becoming a pervasive pattern in international relations.
I’m talking, of course, about the ‘War on Terror’ (yes – again…) and more specifically about renditions. In its report released just last week the Council of Europe named a number of European states who have all been involved in some way with renditions or with the detention of suspected terrorists in secret camps. All of these countries have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights. All of these countries have pledged publicly to abide by simple rules that are designed to protect human dignity. These rules are realistic – you can suspend some in times of emergency if you need to; they are international rules designed to help a country navigate their way through times of intense difficulty and strain when passions may overcome reason. They reflect our basic concepts of moral right and wrong; the basic concept of the veil of ignorance; the basic concepts of humanity.
Some of these governments willingly assisted in renditions (this is as a matter of fact in relation to Bosnia & Herzegovina), some governments may have willingly turned a blind eye or invoked a doctrine of (misplaced?) trust (such as Ireland), some governments appear to have created and run secret detention camps on their territories (Poland being the most amazing and surprising example given its history) but no country – not a single one – could say that they could not have had a suspicion that they were breaking the rules or assisting in the breaking of rules. Rules which, as I said, are fundamental to all of us – we are all human, dignified and vulnerable. We make a contract with our governments and those governments with us and with other states through national and international covenants where they agree to act in a particular way. These governments, including our own, are systematically violating those contracts and breaking those rules
We can’t do anything about other governments – although the EU will need to put pressure on Poland with its increasingly appalling human rights record – but we can do something about our own. Those world cup referees are pretty light fingered with their yellow cards, and I think it’s time our government got its final warning as well. Play by the rules guys, or there’ll be more than just yellow cards this time next year.
I’m talking, of course, about the ‘War on Terror’ (yes – again…) and more specifically about renditions. In its report released just last week the Council of Europe named a number of European states who have all been involved in some way with renditions or with the detention of suspected terrorists in secret camps. All of these countries have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights. All of these countries have pledged publicly to abide by simple rules that are designed to protect human dignity. These rules are realistic – you can suspend some in times of emergency if you need to; they are international rules designed to help a country navigate their way through times of intense difficulty and strain when passions may overcome reason. They reflect our basic concepts of moral right and wrong; the basic concept of the veil of ignorance; the basic concepts of humanity.
Some of these governments willingly assisted in renditions (this is as a matter of fact in relation to Bosnia & Herzegovina), some governments may have willingly turned a blind eye or invoked a doctrine of (misplaced?) trust (such as Ireland), some governments appear to have created and run secret detention camps on their territories (Poland being the most amazing and surprising example given its history) but no country – not a single one – could say that they could not have had a suspicion that they were breaking the rules or assisting in the breaking of rules. Rules which, as I said, are fundamental to all of us – we are all human, dignified and vulnerable. We make a contract with our governments and those governments with us and with other states through national and international covenants where they agree to act in a particular way. These governments, including our own, are systematically violating those contracts and breaking those rules
We can’t do anything about other governments – although the EU will need to put pressure on Poland with its increasingly appalling human rights record – but we can do something about our own. Those world cup referees are pretty light fingered with their yellow cards, and I think it’s time our government got its final warning as well. Play by the rules guys, or there’ll be more than just yellow cards this time next year.
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