Brad Adams Quotations

There is compelling evidence suggesting that U.S. personnel have committed acts against detainees amounting to torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment.

New laws cannot hide the fact that the constitution has been peremptorily put aside. There is no way out of this crisis but a return to constitutional and representative rule.

Because of the lack of transparency, we don't know whether the commander is a scapegoat, or if he is only one of many who should be arrested. The investigation must be conducted openly for people to have confidence that powerful figures will not be protected.

China is trying to portray itself as an emerging and responsible global power. But continuing to offer unconditional support to one of the world's most odious regimes makes it impossible to take such claims seriously. Now is the time for China to set a new course for itself in its foreign policy.

China is trying to portray itself as an emerging and responsible global power,

Freedom of expression is extremely limited. Freedom of assembly is extremely limited. What's missing from the government's position is an end-date for all of this. It was always implicitly the argument that Singapore could grow into a developed society where people could be trusted.

Hun Sen has found himself under pressure and he is doing the minimum possible to keep the donors happy.

Hun Sen appears to be following the Burmese model by imprisoning peaceful critics of his increasingly authoritarian government.

It is essential for the public to know that aid is being handled in a non-arbitrary, non-discriminatory manner.

We want the U.N. Security Council, whether it is under the international threat to peace (measure) or just on the basis of its human-rights mandate, to take up the issue of Burma much more seriously, much more consistently.

We were shocked to find so many credible accounts of torture and severe ill-treatment by police officers.

This report should serve as a wake-up call to the government and donors. This young country can avoid emulating its former colonial master, but only if concerted action is taken now.

Yet they still remain afraid of their own citizens and the healthy diversity of news and views which defines a modern society .

The government has cracked down so much that today most of the major activists are already in jail. That means good people who once stayed inside and system and pushed the rules and who could have been tapped to modernize China, have been forced to step outside the system.

Discrimination is forcing many people to live as outcasts, and the Chinese government tolerates it instead of combating it,

These are welcome moves in the right direction, but not sufficient and do not evidence a change of heart.

Democracies like the Philippines should be ashamed if they try to block discussion of Burma (Myanmar) at the Security Council. Burma has embarrassed ASEAN over and over again.

This is a pretty typical pattern for March.

This is sure to make the AIDS crisis worse.

This brazen attack, carried out in broad daylight, ingrained impunity more than any other single act in recent Cambodian history. But that appears to have been one of its purposes.

They (the critics) shouldn't be standing on a trap door for the next three years that can be opened on the whim of Hun Sen.

It is time for China to confront the blood collection scandal,

That local officials continue to deny this incident even took place is typical of efforts to cover up human rights abuses in the region. It is thus vital that the authorities clarify the legal status of the detainees and allow immediate access to them.

I've been with some pretty decent teams here, ... but the difference is we have leadership across the board at all positions, something we lacked in the past.

It's time for the Chinese government to give a full account of what has happened to these five men, including any charges against them. Independent doctors and lawyers should be allowed to meet with them to ascertain their condition.

The message is clear: If you criticize the government, you will be thrown in jail.

The Cambodian government doesn't seem to understand the sad irony of threatening critics of the prime minister on International Human Rights Day, but the rest of the world does. Cambodia seems to be traveling down the path to becoming an elected dictatorship. It is time for Cambodia's friends in the international community to reengage politically and make it clear to the government that it has to meet its human rights commitments.

Independent monitors should be given immediate access to any detainees to make sure they are not being mistreated.

Impunity from prosecution for human rights violations is the most important problem in the region, and the most widespread.

Indonesia's trials for crimes in East Timor speak for themselves: The process was a sham.

If the purpose of the coup was to end the Maoist insurgency, then it has been a failure. The insurgency shows no signs of abating, and the government's security forces seem as far from a military victory as ever.

Clearly the way the judiciary is being used as an instrument against critics now is a real problem. It shows the problems for the trials and the problem for the United Nations to be mixed up with these people.

Beijing should authorize a full and impartial investigation into the involvement of local authorities in the blood scandal and hold those responsible accountable.