ABSTRACT
"Assessing the New Normal," a publication by Human Rights, provides an excellent compilation of post-9/11 policies and practices that US citizens accept as a necessary component of a terrorism offensive. Putting administrative restrictions on non-governmental organizations, on political opponents, and on journalists is a slightly more overt tactic that governments have used to impede the work of human rights and democracy advocates. Hina Jilani, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders spoke to a similar point when she said that "both counterterrorism measures and respect for human rights have the same objective". The war against terror has propelled a burgeoning trend of states using rhetoric to stigmatize human rights organizations, with certain governments going so far as to equate human rights movements with terrorists. Human rights organizations have taken a variety of vocal approaches to combat the concept that some human rights violations must be accepted to ensure security.
