Predicting that the current Middle East unrest would continue through 2012,
Amnesty International is slamming Western governments for their tepid
responses to peaceful protests, for their "double standard," and for being
more concerned with preserving their political and economic interests than
with the historic changes sweeping the region.
The charges are being made in a new Amnesty report, "Year of Rebellion:
State of Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa."
The Report says, "Many powerful governments performed political
somersaults or continued to ignore human rights violations in the region."
They "sought to protect their own political and economic interests" through
the varying and inconsistent reactions of foreign powers saying they were
looking out for their own instead of truly looking after protesters dying in
pursuit of legitimate freedoms and rights."
It says there was an initial reluctance to support the protest movements by
western governments, citing the initial silence of the French government on
Tunisia and the US administration on Egypt. The US supported Mubarak
