To the editor:

In his March 18 column, Leonard Pitts opined that some critics of violations of human rights, government corruption and other heinous immoralities do so to create a historical record of their opposition to those crimes. But that’s purely selfish and there’s another motivation to consider: We must speak up to do everything in our power to stop those crimes and misdemeanors.

Without experiencing torture, some people understand that it should not happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, under any circumstances. Some, who have no fear that they themselves may be citizens under suspicion, understand that under no circumstances should any citizen’s rights be violated.

At this point in time, our democratic government (which is us) is perpetrating unjustifiable, absolutely immoral crimes against humanity in a variety of forms. And democracy means that we are the government. Democracy means that either actively through our vote or inactively through our apathy and silence, we create the government of the United States and approve its actions.

Make no mistake about it: You are complicit in such crimes if you fail to stand against them. You perpetrate them through your silence and you’re like those such as Pat Roberts, who actively protect the criminals, or those such as George Bush, Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld, who order and direct those activities.

Whether your name is John Q. Public, Jim Ryun or Dennis Moore, if you don’t use every means within your power to condemn and stop those activities, then you carry full responsibility for them.

Mike Cuenca,

Lawrence