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It used to be the former Soviet Union that was rightly condemned for using drugs to control people's behaviour. Now it has emerged that the US government injected hundreds of foreigners it was in the process of deporting with dangerous psychotropic drugs against their will. Involuntary chemical restraint of detainees, without medical justification, is a clear breach of international human rights. But of greater concern than the legality or otherwise to the US is that this is another example of just how far the country's reputation has plummeted since George W. Bush followed his dad's footsteps into the Oval Office. This drug abuse follows a litany of shame that stretches from Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib, from illegal detentions to renditions, from torture to lies. It's as if the Bush administration is treating human rights as a detainee, handcuffing it, drugging it and putting its awkward presence on the next flight out of town. Out of sight, out of mind.
Yes, these people were in America illegally but they posed no threat to society. If they refused to go peacefully (which they didn't) there were other ways and means to restrain them. What the White House fails to grasp is that human rights are not a hindrance on the so-called war on terror. Of all the weapons to be deployed against terrorism, human rights are the most potent, the most far-reaching. Conversely, the denial of human rights has the potential to give great comfort to terrorists who will try to draw a parallel with their own actions. It may be that in January, as a new president is sworn in, American policy will change. But the rot of the Bush presidency is deep set. A new president may be a start but it may take more than one man - or woman - to clean up the mess left behind.
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