By Bill Nicholov
Human rights abuses must be condemned no matter the perpetrator. But that is not the American way. The American way is to condemn abuses unless they’re committed by the United States or a U.S.-backed proxy.Continuing the “American way” theme, I’ve found a new way of exposing U.S. foreign policy hypocrisy: a reality TV competition! Let’s play The Masked Human Rights Abuser:For those unfamiliar with the premise: we’ll conceal the identity of the abuser; outline the abuse; conduct a vote on whether it should be condemned; then we expose the abuser, aka “the big reveal”! A second vote, testing hypocrisy, is then held.Ready? Round One!The contestant, along with members of the brutal regime in Macedonia, forcibly holds female opposition MPs in chambers and threatens to arrest their family members unless they agree to follow instructions on upcoming votes in order to benefit the contestant’s country and their “strategic partners”.Your vote? Guilty? You are correct! And the perpetrator is…U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia, Jess Baily!American foreign policy dictates that you immediately change your vote and either ignore the abuse, deny it, spin it to justify it, and, of course, blame [insert current U.S. enemy here].But will you defend human rights or only if the oppressor and oppressed suit you? If you answered the latter, your ideal career path is: U.S. politician or political pundit.But why would Baily do this? To force through the Macedonia name change to the highly offensive “North Macedonia” (designed to eradicate Macedonian identity, culture and history), thus appeasing Greece’s demand to change Macedonia’s name and removing its veto of Macedonia’s U.S.-imposed NATO membership bid. The benefit for the U.S.? Increased NATO membership and U.S. imperialism! The benefit for Greece? American assistance in fulfilling its number one policy directive – denying the existence and persecution of its large Macedonian minority and eradicating the existence of Macedonians as an ethnic group!Ready for Round Two? Let’s go!Macedonians are protesting against U.S. foreign interference and the upcoming forced name change. The contestant orders riot police to attack, brutally beat, and arrest civilians. Intimidation, threats, attacks, and arrests continue daily. Macedonians are sentenced to 15 years in prison, subject to abhorrent conditions, and are targets of more beatings in jail.The contestant who ordered the attacks is guilty? Of course!It is actually contestants, plural, and they are both U.S. political parties, the U.S. State Department, U.S. Embassy in Macedonia, and the U.S.-installed regime in Macedonia!Again, do you change your vote or do you stand up for human rights? U.S. foreign policy dictates that you defy logic and invent ridiculous charges to ensure that human rights defenders are locked up – because they stand in the way of racist U.S. foreign policy. For bonus points, use the exact charges that the U.S. condemns as fabricated in [insert current U.S. enemy country here].We could go on with rounds and rounds of The Masked Human Rights Abuser – I even had a lightning round ready in case of a tie – but I think we all agree: human rights abuses must be condemned no matter the perpetrator. Now, act on it. Condemn U.S. abuses and interventionism. Defend Macedonians’ right to exist.
Bill Nicholov is the President of Macedonian Human Rights Movement International
