While Israel claims the right to assassinate democratically elected leaders – presumably Iraqis have the right to murder US leaders who order illegal invasions? – and the Tel Aviv prosector’s office claims Israeli human rights groups are working against Israeli interests, Western corporate power is being used elsewhere to prop up human rights abusers:
The Kenyan government has hired the Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency to handle its nationwide anti-corruption campaign. Saatchi’s creative director, Samira Mathews, said one of the problems in Kenya was that people did not know how to identify corruption. “People have no idea that identity documents and birth certificates are freely available. They don’t know their rights,” she said. However, the launch of the campaign comes at a time when the Kenyan government is embroiled in a series of corruption scandals. The Transport Minister, Chris Murungaru, the Energy Minister, Kiraitu Murungi, and the Finance Minister, David Mwiraria, have all resigned after a dossier of investigations into more than US$1bn of fraudulent government deals was leaked to the press.
Defending and profiting from rapacious state power is the mainstay of both unethical corporates and Western governments. We are fed the language of human rights, democracy and freedom, while the desire is maintaining the statuo quo and defending “our” terrorism against “their” barbarism.