Osama Bin Laden, the “most-wanted” person by USA, was killed by American forces in his residence of Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Early this year and also in Pakistan, another not so well known fact took place: the Governor of Punjab (Pakistan), Salman Taseer, was assassinated by his bodyguard who objected to his attempts to repeal the blasphemy law, an arbitrary and controversial law that persecutes those who in any way insult the prophet Muhammad. The law is most often used as a tool to persecute religious and other minorities.
There are several obvious differences between these two deaths but there is one common factor we can observe from these killings: they were celebrated by many different groups from different corners of the globe, and many treated the perpetrators of these killings as heroes – in the USA, the killing of Osama was seen as a victory for the war on terror and in Pakistan, the death of Salman Tasseer was viewed as a victory for Muslim extremists.
The right to life and the right to fair trial are human rights which should be respected and upheld. Regardless of the fact that OBL allegedly killed many persons, the man should still have his right to a fair trial preserved, something that was denied him. Despite the circumstances, human rights must remain inviolable.
By celebrating a murder of these two persons, society has emphasized its total disregard for the human rights precepts that apparently govern our society.
By Julia Rodero Castro
