Where Was Sting's Human Rights Commitment When He Sang for a Brutal Dictator?

March 30, 2011

Where Was Sting's Human Rights Commitment When He Sang for a Brutal Dictator?

Sting is among the major music groups contributing to a new benefit CD for the Japanese Red Cross Society. Songs for Japan, which is now available on iTunes, features a track by Sting called "Fragile." While Sting clearly has demonstrated his compassion for those in need and his support for human rights and environmental protection in the past, many fans are left wondering where those ideals went when Sting accepted a huge amount of money to perform for an infamous dictator in Central Asia.

Over the years, Sting has donated many songs and performances to the struggle for human rights. He performed at Live Aid in the 1980's and Live 8 and Live Earth more recently, as well as countless concerts benefiting Amnesty International over the years. He has participated in concerts, telethons and CD projects related to freedom in Tibet and recovery from the earthquake in Haiti. He also released a song in honor of the mothers of political opponents of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile who are fighting to uncover the truth about their children and loved ones who were "disappeared" for their beliefs. He even participated in a world music tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

But Sting's deep history of support for human rights wasn't on display when he chose to perform for Uzbekistan's brutal dictator Islam Karimov, who violates a broad range of the tenets of the UDHR. Sting was paid upwards of $1 million dollars for his performance for a ruler who has been widely criticized for his ongoing abuse of human rights. Amnesty International states that the government of Uzbekistan has "committed major violations of the rights to freedom of religion, expression, association, and assembly" and that "torture is widespread in both pre-trial and post-conviction facilities." Human Rights Watch has also profiled many of the human rights advocates and independent journalists who have been jailed for their efforts.

The U.S. Department of State agrees and reports that the abuses of this "authoritarian state... included citizens' inability to change their government; tightly controlled electoral processes with limited opportunities for choice; instances of torture and mistreatment of detainees by security forces; incommunicado and prolonged detention; arbitrary arrest and detention; denial of due process and fair trial; poor prison conditions; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association; governmental control of civil society activity; restrictions on religious freedom, including harassment and imprisonment of religious minority group members; restrictions on freedom of movement for some citizens; violence against women; and government-compelled forced labor in cotton harvesting. Human rights activists and journalists who criticized the government were subject to physical attack, harassment, arbitrary arrest, politically motivated prosecution, and forced psychiatric treatment."

Not to mention that the government of Uzbekistan is also infamous for removing hundreds of thousands of children from schools across the country during the harvest season and forcing them to pick cotton. The state policy of forced child labor is enforced through punishment and even physical abuses for noncompliance. The cotton, produced on the backs of the nation's children, is a major export earner for Uzbekistan as the state also controls the major cotton exporters.

While all of these abuses continue, the ability to hold the government accountable for its abuses is increasingly constrained. Human rights organizations continue to be harassed and shut down by the government, those who report on the abuse are jailed and the government consistently refuses to allow international observers to assess the situation.

It is clear that in Uzbekistan, the government's financial and political power are based on the systematic abuse of human rights and exploitation of forced child labor. Hardly a government that someone with any kind of commitment to human rights, like Sting, would want to support. Sting defended himself by making the argument that by not performing in Uzbekistan, he may have been contributing to making Uzbekistan even more "closed, paranoid and insular," but the issue is that the concert was specifically for the ruling family of the country that is perpetrating these egregious abuses. Sting accepted the profits of a dictator for his performance and performed for the dictator's family. It was not a concert to entertain the masses.Sting also claimed that the concert was sponsored by UNICEF in an attempt to explain his actions, but UNICEF immediately clarified that it was not involved in the event.

Sting could take inspiration from other artists who contributed to the Songs for Japan album like Beyonce who donated money she received for performing for Libya's Gaddafi family. You can ask Sting to do the right thing by sending him an e-mail here. Your letters have been successful in similar cases in the past. Just this month, Change.org readers got 50 Cent to donate money he received for performing for Gaddafi.

Photo credit: Scott Ableman