Frogblog reports the great news that Ingrid Betancourt has been freed. Indeed The Hive is pleased with this news. We have been a little disconcerted that the New Zealand media and Government have not been more active on this one given Betancourt's strong New Zealand links (she lived here for a while and her kids were schooled here for several years also). As with the case of the jailing of Saudi Arabia's most famous blogger at the start of the year New Zealand hasn't really been that good at really putting up a strong fight on individual cases that matter. Yet we seek the moral high ground on human rights in general. We hope that New Zealand's campaign for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council has not caused New Zealand to go soft on human rights so that we can secure the votes of the human rights transgressors. In contrast we do appreciate the focus that Green politicians have paid to this case (we have no issues with the Green Party's human rights and environmental agendas - economic policy is a different matter).
Nicholas Sarkozy has picked this case up since day one of his Presidency and it seems pressure from him and France has been very helpful in securing Betancourt's release.
