Helpful Warning to the US

It is hard to believe that the U.N. Human Rights Committee report, in which the NSA’s practices are criticized, will have great impact on Obama. A warning is nevertheless helpful.

The U.S. is rightfully proud to have been a refuge for democracy and human rights for centuries. Nowadays we gladly label both of these as “Western values”; but it is often forgotten that a few centuries ago, even those values were still frowned upon in wide parts of western Europe. Today things have changed; the Europeans owe that largely to the Americans.

In light of this, it is absolutely remarkable that the Americans are being so fiercely reprimanded by the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Experts are of the opinion that the mass tapping and storing of telecommunications data through U.S. intelligence contradicts the right to privacy.

Just like, of course, the targeted killing of alleged terrorists with the help of remote-controlled drones or the existence of the prison camp Guantanamo sneer at basic human and civil rights.

What political consequences will the U.N. body’s criticism have? Probably none. When it concerns national security, the Obama government also applies double standards. Nevertheless, the warning is helpful: It serves as a reminder that human and civil rights must be fought for over and over again, as they have been for over 200 years, one day at a time, even in the U.S.