At first glance, Gerald Mitchell and the people of the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i Sharif do not seem to have much in common. Mitchell was a black man convicted of murder, and Mazar-i Sharif is a city in a very dangerous situation in Afghanistan.

However, both are victims of a country that seems to have lost interest in respecting human life.

The so-called “war on terror” appears to have significantly affected the people of the United States. There has been an incredible outpouring of support and compassion for families and friends of the Sept. 11 attack victims. It shows the kind of compassion of which Americans should be proud.

But many Americans took that sadness and turned to vengeance and a sense of apathy at the further loss of life.

There were two good examples in the past week.

First is the case of Mitchell, convicted at the age of 17 for the brutal murder of a 20-year-old man in 1985.

Mitchell was executed Monday night in Texas, in violation of international humanitarian law. According to Amnesty International, “International law, respected by almost every government in the world, unequivocally prohibits the execution of defendants who were under 18 at the time of the crime.”

Mitchell joined the eight other juvenile offenders executed in the United States in the last three years. The United States is accompanied by three countries that have executed defendants in the last three years who were under 18 at the time of the crime.

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Iran are the only other countries that human rights organizations believe have sentenced and carried out the executions of juvenile offenders in that time. Congo and Iran have since banned the death penalty for juvenile offenders. According to U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, the United States is the only remaining country “that continues to claim legal authority to execute juvenile offenders.”

Mitchell died quietly by lethal injection at 6:25 p.m. It happened quietly because few people voiced their disapproval of the execution.

I must say I am proud of the United States and the strides we make to uphold the ideal of universal human rights.

However, it is disturbing to read reports explaining that we are the only nation where it is legal to execute someone for a crime committed before the age of 18. It is difficult to criticize human rights abuses in other parts of the world when such an injustice took place in Huntsville, Texas this week with so little attention paid.

Mitchell, 33, was a convicted killer. And Gerald Mitchell died an unjust death as judged by the standards of nearly every government in the world but ours.

Second are the people of Mazar-i Sharif, the largest city in northern Afghanistan.

These people are in very serious danger right now, and the human rights organizations are livid. Human Rights Watch released a statement Tuesday specifically expressing concern for the people of Mazar-i Sharif.

The United States military is currently bombing Taliban forces in and around Mazar-I Sharif. The problem is that the city has changed hands in the past five years and the people have been subject to egregious human rights violations.

Both sides have committed horrible crimes – the Northern Alliance, now supported by the United States, and Taliban forces.

There are two particularly gruesome examples. According to Human Rights Watch, in August 1998 when Taliban forces took over Mazar-i Sharif in they killed “about 2,000 mostly ethnic Hazara civilians.”

Human Rights Watch goes on to say, “In May 1997, United Front forces killed an estimated 3,000 Taliban prisoners in Mazar-i Sharif, taking some to the desert to be shot and throwing others down wells and blowing them up with grenades.”

The concern is that a U.S.-led violent end to Taliban rule in Mazar-i Sharif will result in Northern Alliance (United Front) forces exacting revenge on civilians. Post-Taliban human rights violations loom ominously, backed by such a well-researched body of evidence. The United States (our tax dollars) is supporting Northern Alliance forces.

The people of Mazar-i Sharif will again suffer.

Unfortunately, few people seem to be concerned. Just like Mitchell, many people of Mazar-i Sharif may die – quietly and unjustly.

It is indeed disappointing to love a country that is a proponent of human rights and yet allows such injustices as the execution of Mitchell and the great risk to the people of Mazar-i Sharif to go on virtually unnoticed.

A convicted killer named Mitchell and the people of Mazar-i Sharif unfortunately seem to share in our apathy.

It is not too late for Mazar-i Sharif, Afghanistan. Urge a more sensible response to Taliban aggression. We owe it to our future and the lives of fellow human beings. We must respect the most fundamental right of all – the human right.

Omar Tesdell is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Slater. He is online editor of the Daily.