[email protected]
July 6, 2001
To my colleagues at Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch:
Disillusionment is a painful part of life.
I have always held Amnesty International in high regard. I have supported its work financially and have considered it a credible source of information about human rights violations around the world.
My knowledge of Human Rights Watch is sketchier. I had thought that it was a non-political watchdog group whose mission was to bring serious violations of human rights to the public attention.
The inclusion of Live Free or Die on the list of films selected for traveling film festivals of both organizations disappoints and disillusions me. Having investigated, at length, the distortions to the public record contained in this documentary film, I am saddened that any human rights organization would endorse it. I can only believe that the antagonistic political environment that surrounds the abortion issue affected the critical judgment of those who selected this film for the human rights festivals. I also wonder what misrepresentations of fact might exist in other human rights efforts endorsed by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. This experience has shattered their credibility in my sight.
No evidence but innuendo exists in the film to support the notion that Dr. Wayne Goldner’s rights as an abortion provider and an abortion rights activist were violated in any way by the pro-life activists who were his political adversaries in Bedford, New Hampshire. These pro-life activists were shown, on camera, engaged in peaceful, non-violent protests and marches. They exercised their constitutional rights to protest against what they believe are unjust laws. They no more violated Dr. Goldner’s rights than Martin Luther King, Jr., violated the rights of those business owners who were the target of his protests and marches during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Those business owners, like Dr. Goldner, were engaged in legal activities that were the focus of activism by citizens who believed that the existing laws were unjust and needed to be amended.
I issue an open invitation to anyone from Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch to present evidence that the pro-life picketers and protesters who are Dr. Goldner's adversaries engage in any form of violence, harassment or terrorism. Until such time as this evidence is presented, I pledge to shout from the virtual rooftops that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have compromised their credibility as human rights watchdogs.
Disillusionment is a painful part of life.
In peace and justice,
Rae D’Orazio Stabosz
Media Watcher
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