Prova di di inglese

On the September 11 three hijacked jetliners hit the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth hijacked plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Trading on Wall Street was stopped. The Federal Aviation Administration halted all flight operations at the nation's airports for the first time in U.S. history. U.S. military was placed on high alert. President Bush addressed the nation and vowed to "find those responsible and bring them to justice." Hundreds of New York City firemen and policemen sent to rescue WTC workers were lost when the WTC Twin Towers collapse. Million of people around the world could not believe what was happening, they felt a need to see it, to validate reality. Nobody could understanding in shock over what was happening to New York city, and later the world.

We profoundly condemn September 11th cruel attacks in the United States and express our condolences to the victims and their loved ones. This was an assault not merely on one nation or one people, but on principles of respect for civilian life cherished by all people. We urge all governments to unite to investigate this crime, to prevent its recurrence, and to bring to justice those who are responsible.
On that night, President Bush said that the United States "will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbored them." Yet distinctions must be made: between the guilty and the innocent; between the perpetrators and the civilians who may surround them; between those who commit atrocities and those who may simply share their religious beliefs, ethnicity or national origin. People committed to justice and law and human rights must never descend to the level of the perpetrators of such acts. That is the most important distinction of all.
There are people and governments in the world who believe that in the struggle against terrorism, ends always justify means. But that is also the logic of terrorism. Whatever the response to this outrage, it must not validate that logic. Rather, it must uphold the principles that came under attack yesterday, respecting innocent life and international law. That is the way to deny the perpetrators of this crime their ultimate victory.Never has it been more important to reaffirm our commitment to the basic principles of human rights. The September 11 attacks in the United States shocked the world. Thousands of people lost their lives in just a few tragic minutes. What makes their deaths particularly abhorrent is precisely that the victims were innocent civilians, certainly not legitimate targets.
As the United States make war against an indistinct foe, we must remember how precious are the lives of those who take no part in violence and combat. Like the office workers in the World Trade Center, the ordinary women and men of Afghanistan or of Irak do not deserve to die.We have to make every effort to monitor compliance with international humanitarian law, by all parties to the armed conflicts that always seem inevitable. We have to insist that refugees from the fighting be properly protected. Where police are engaged in bringing suspects to justice, we will uphold international standards of law enforcement. And in countries where the fear of terrorist attack runs highest, we must be vigilant for harassment and discrimination against Muslims, people of Arab or Asian descent, and others who may be unfairly targeted in this fraught political climate. From Bali in Indonesia, to Najaf in Iraq, to Mumbai in India, hundreds of civilians have been killed in acts of politically motivated violence. The bombing of the United Nations office in Baghdad, killing more than twenty people, marked a new low in the history of attacks against humanitarian workers. In Israel and the Occupied Territories, scores of civilians have been killed in repeated suicide bombings by Palestinian armed groups. These terrible crimes cry out for justice. They have flouted the fundamental values of international human rights and humanitarian law, and those responsible should be held accountable and brought to justice before a court of law. But for all the political rhetoric and the enormous human and financial resources invested in the international campaign against terrorism, many counter-terrorist strategies are undermining the rule of law and the fundamental values they seek to defend.

Around the world, states have responded to the indiscriminate violence of terrorism with new laws and measures that themselves fail to discriminate between the guilty and the innocent. Numerous countries have passed regressive anti-terrorism laws that expand governmental powers of detention and surveillance in ways that threaten basic rights. There has been a continuing spate of arbitrary arrests and detentions of suspects without due process. Unknown numbers of detainees have been transferred between countries by means beyond regular extradition procedures and without judicial oversight, including to countries with known records of torture and unfair trials. In some places, those branded as terrorists have faced assassination and extra-judicial execution. In the United States, for instance, those suspected of involvement in terrorism have been charged or bought before a court in only a handful of cases. Hundreds more remain in incommunicado detention without charge at Guantanamo Bay, in military custody inside the United States, or at other U.S. bases or undisclosed locations around the world. In many European Union member states, new laws and policies have undermined fundamental human rights protections, including the right to seek asylum and prohibitions against arbitrary detention and torture. Sweden, for instance, returned two asylum seekers to Egypt on security grounds with inadequate guarantees and monitoring of their treatment. Israeli forces continue to use force unnecessarily and indiscriminately, and reports of torture and ill-treatment in detention are on the rise. Israeli destruction of civilian homes, fields and water resources has left more than ten thousand civilians homeless. The building of the separation barrier will make punishing movement restrictions cut still deeper. In India, a new Prevention of Terrorism Act has been used against political opponents, religious minorities, Dalits, tribals and even children.

These abuses advance neither the cause of justice nor the goal of defeating terrorism. The bitter experience of the past year shows that repression and human rights abuse fuels the cycle of grievance from which terrorism grows. It closes off peaceful and political channels for political dissent and moves it towards extremism and violence. Yet, true security will only be achieved in an environment in which human rights are protected.
Justice for the victims of September 11, 2001, and attacks elsewhere requires a reaffirmation of human rights values, not their rejection. These are confusing and polarized times, but one principle remains constant: human rights belong equally to every person on the planet. That is a powerful idea, but it urgently needs defending now.