March 24, 2014 (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - While
human right crusades are dominated by headlines involving the
“homophobic” Russian government and tales of homosexuals being strung up
across Iran, there is a larger, more sinister violator of human rights
operating right within an intentional, self-imposed media blackhole
created by the West. That violator is Saudi Arabia, who not only has
outlawed homosexuality, but reserves execution as punishment if caught.
The
Guardian’s Brian Whitaker, when not coddling and covering up for
terrorists in Syria, is apologizing for Saudi Arabia’s policies with
articles like, “Saudi Arabia’s juggling act on homosexuality,”
where he claims a regime that since 2003, has beheaded 3 homosexuals,
regularly raids “gay parties,” and flogs and imprisons those suspected
of being homosexuals, is merely “wanting a civilised image” while “appeasing traditionalists.”
In
stark contrast, the Guardian has published volumes of articles
regarding “gay rights” in Russia, where strong condemnation is leveled
against the Russian government in the opening paragraphs, and ambiguity
follows in regards to the veracity of the actual degree to which Russia
may or may not be “anti-gay.” In one Guardian report titled, “Ban Ki-moon condemns persecution of gay people in Russia,” that actual “persecution” is never enumerated. Ban Ki-moon is quoted as saying:
“The United Nations stands strongly behind our own ‘free and equal’ campaign, and I look forward to working with the IOC, governments and other partners around the world to build societies of equality and tolerance. Hatred of any kind must have no place in the 21st century.”
“Hatred
of any kind must have no place in the 21st century,” except,
apparently, where Western interests take precedence over human rights,
such as in geopolitically and militarily essential, oil rich Saudi
Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s Homophobia Revealed in Dramatic, But Hushed Controversy
Saudi
Arabia’s draconian laws versus homosexuals briefly surfaced, if only
for a movement, amid the West’s self-imposed censorship regarding the
regime when Saudi diplomat Ali Ahmad Asseri revealed he was gay and attempted to seek asylum in the United States. Asseri rightfully feared for his life should he return to Saudi Arabia.
His asylum was reportedly denied, according to the Jerusalem Post in its article, “United States denies asylum to gay Saudi diplomat,” which stated:
The United States government denied political asylum to Ali Ahmad Asseri, the former first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, last week to avoid disrupting US-Saudi relations, according to a Saudi-American blogger and journalist based in Brazil.
Asseri argued that if he returned to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia he would face execution because the country’s radically fundamental form of Islam mandates the death penalty for same-sex relations.
Confirming
the current status of Asseri is difficult, as the story has made few
headlines and no Western news agency appears interested in covering it
closely. Had Asseri been Russian or Iranian, it is unlikely the Western
media would be covering anything else. This hypocrisy reveals a
particularly abhorrent aspect of Western “values,” that are not only
distasteful, but in fact a danger for pursuing true human equality. And
the unfortunate story of Asseri is not an isolated case, but just the
latest in a pattern of exploiting human rights selectively rather than
defending them impartially.
The West’s Dangerous Exploitation of Human Rights
