Executive Director of Amnesty International USA Larry Cox spoke at the Pyle Center Tuesday on the ""war on human rights"" currently taking place in the United States.
The lecture was part of a series honoring Mildred Fish-Harnack, an alumna of UW-Madison who was the only American executed by Hitler.
""The idea [of human rights] is under attack as never before,"" Cox said. ""It's not coming from the government or groups whose unrestrained use of terror show they don't understand the idea of human rights, it's coming from a country that ... fights for the idea of human rights: the United States of America.""
Cox said the United States is guilty of many crimes that are clear violations of human rights, which include holding people indefinitely without a sentence or trial, kidnapping and using torture. He said he believes such behavior by the United States has increased since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and is not just the result of electing the wrong president or the wrong political party.
""We responded not by fighting fear, but by exploiting it,"" Cox said. ""It turned out that the new way of fighting was an old way ... this ended up being a war on human rights.""
Cox said although many other countries commonly abuse human rights, for the United States to commit these crimes is much more dangerous.
""It's not that we are worse than other countries, but we've always strived to be better,"" Cox said. ""The United States' actions have been openly cited as a rationale for cruelty.""
Cox said he believes the nation cannot fight human-rights violations in other countries when it is committing these violations, as well. He said the United States must first resolve its internal battle before addressing any other issues, and Amnesty International is trying to help.
Cox emphasized that respecting human rights does not mean giving up or being ""soft"" in international relations, but that it is the only way to ensure genuine security.
""The most powerful statement is that we are no safer now than we were five years ago,"" UW-Madison sophomore Maren Larsen said. ""He gave us hope and things we could do like writing a letter to our legislator.""
""Don't ever think it doesn't matter if you put pressure on the government,"" Cox said. ""It does matter ... It's up to us to make it happen.""
