Like Mr. Dumont, Bambi also noticed the sad change in Amnesty International. Here is a very quick translation of his interesting article published in the Journal de Montréal yesterday:
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/02/27/amnistie-internationale-a-perdu-sa-boussole
“As a CEGEP student [CEGEP refers to professional or pre-university college system unique to Québec], I had participated in a few Amnesty International activities. The organization played an important role in exposing the plight of prisoners of conscience and challenging authoritarian regimes to secure their release.
I liked this organization, as I liked the offensive it led to defend the rights of Raif Badawi. Badawi is a glaring example of an individual who has committed no crime and finds himself incarcerated strictly because of his writings [absolutely!!]. Because his political convictions tarnish the image of the Saudi regime.
How surprised I was to read this week that Amnesty International no longer considered Russian opponent Alexei Navalny to be a prisoner of conscience! Yet Navalny is probably the number one prisoner of conscience right now.
After having denounced Putin
As he returns home after receiving treatment in Germany for a “mysterious” poisoning, his plane is hijacked and he is taken to an airport where he is stopped. The Russian authorities have nothing concrete against him except that his words could stir up Russian revolt.
Indeed, he broadcasted the images of what appears to be the royal palace of Vladimir Putin on the shore of the Black Sea. Putin denies it, but no one can clarify who really belongs in the ultra luxurious domain. All this in a country where assassinations and poisonings of opposition leaders have almost become commonplace.
According to the latest information, not only will he be jailed without valid justification, but he will be transferred to a labour camp. Material for Amnesty International.
So why, after certain steps to obtain his release, does Amnesty International no longer consider him a prisoner of conscience? Because he would have made nationalist and anti-immigration remarks twenty years ago. Positions he no longer holds today anyway. He is jailed for his opinions, but Amnesty International no longer considers him a prisoner of conscience because it dislikes his opinions … from twenty years ago. Odd, right? [absolutely, the issue is not this or that topic. The issue is freedom of expression or free speech, period!].
The breadth of the causes that are heard
What must be understood is that Amnesty International has lost its compass and has become a ninth movement of the so-called “woke” left [she does not know about you, but like Mr. Mario Dumont, Bambi misses the more beautiful left of her youth. It has genuinely been about protecting people’s rights and about truly standing up for justice]. On the organization’s website, there is less and less talk of prisoners of conscience and more and more of all the leftist themes in vogue.
The environment, racism everywhere, police violence, logging, all wrapped up under the guise of human rights. One more organization to repeat the refrains of this left which is radicalized. One less organization to defend the most fundamental causes for anyone who believes in democracy and freedom.
Let us recall the fight of Amnesty International against Bill 21 on secularism in Québec. Amnesty is more worried about an elected government that frames secularism for its employees in authority than it is about an opposition leader imprisoned in a labour camp under an authoritarian regime. Welcome to 2021!”
Yes!