Fwd Independent
IT Is Watching You (Editorial)
The Independent <http://www.qanet.gm/Independent/independent.html> (Banjul)
June 19, 2000
Banjul - In George Orwell's classical novel Nineteen Eighty-four, published in
1949, Big Brother is everywhere, watching everybody all the time. Large posters
of Big Brother, a heartless dictator, are projected on telescreens all around
town, seeing and hearing basically everything.
The world today is very much like Orwell's world in Nineteen Eighty-four. The
only difference is that in today's world, there is no despotic Big Brother
watching everybody. But there is an all-pervading Information Technology (IT)
that makes it impossible for any government, dictatorship or otherwise, to act
with impunity and then avoid detection. The emergence of the Internet and other
forms of communication has truly turned this big wide world into a tiny global
village in which governments, whether they like it or not, are and will continue
to be held responsible for their actions. Indeed, any group, not just
governments, that take the law into their hands and violate the rights of people
will be held responsible, thanks to the great advancement of information
technology.
A few years ago, human rights abuses around Africa did not go entirely
unnoticed, but the speed with which they are chronicled and disseminated
world-wide today was simply impossible.
A recent Amnesty International report documents human rights abuses in many
African countries, including The Gambia. Across the continent, government and
rebel group atrocities have been meticulously documented for history and some
day, some very fine day, those men and women who feel that they can act with
total impunity on their fellow men and women, will be brought to book. It is
well to keep this firmly in mind.
It is foolhardy to imagine that the occasional harassment of journalists and
opposition politicians, the murder of uncompromising critics of powerful
interests, the torture of prisoners, or the wanton raping of helpless women and
children will be swept under the carpet and consigned to the dustbin of history.
On the contrary, the perpetrators of all such acts of injustice will one day
answer for their actions. Remember the perpetrators of the Nazi holocaust?
Remember the mass killers of Bosnia-Herzegovina? Remember the perpetrators of
the Rwandan genocide? Remember despots Pinochet, Pol Pot, Suharto? All these
people have been, or are being hounded like desperate 'bush-meat' by the
uncompromising and relentless dogs of justice. Those who persist in persecuting
their fellow human beings simply because they are in a position to do so must
know that a similar fate awaits them.
One truly wonders why people in a position to give peace to their fellow beings
give them war instead. One wonders why governments, with all the resources to
create harmony at their disposal, choose instead to create discord for their
peoples. Certainly it is much easier to create peace than to create disorder in
the earth. A little self-appreciation and a little appreciation of the other
person's right to life, liberty and happiness, is all that is needed for a
peaceful co-existence.
Copyright (c) 2000 The Independent. Distributed via Africa News Online
(www.africanews.org). For information about the content or for permission to
redistribute, publish or use for broadcast, contact the publisher.
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