Sir: Faced with a man-made disaster like Kosovo, I believe I am not alone in feeling angry and impotent. Apart from my lack of political, financial and military power, I am frustrated by a government whose opinion and action I do not necessarily agree with all the time even if I might have voted for it.
And yet, I pay taxes, I vote, I care. There must be something I can do, not just to give relief to misery, but to prevent sufferings.
We boycotted South African products for their apartheid policies, French products for their nuclear experiments in the Pacific. Perhaps this is the time for consumers, with the help of the Internet, to exercise their power on a global scale for human rights.
Is it not possible for well-established, non-aligned international organisations such as Amnesty International to educate, enlighten and enable consumers who can use their collective power to do something about basic human rights? A register giving oppressive regimes and their commercial interests would allow individuals to boycott products or services and a system can be devised to document their targets and efforts.
JOE BLOGG
Alton, Hampshire
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