Mintoff's prize for human rights

The headline Mintoff Wins Gaddafi Prize For Human Rights (August 19) nearly gave me an apoplectic fit!

I would award Mintoff prizes for many achievements - mostly negative.

But for human rights? Give me a break. Or better still: stop the world because I want to get off! Having made it to my twilight years, I thought I had heard it all.

How wrong I was, am! However, on learning who the donors of the award are, then I would be prepared to accept that we are worlds apart as to the proper interpretation of the term human rights.

I would, however, inform the award members that in Mintoff's time, a letter like this one would have, perhaps, earned me half a dozen transfers, a suspension from my job, maybe a session in court, and possibly a good beating. So much for human rights. I would invite the many thousands who experienced Mintoff's brand of human rights in the 1970s and 1980s, and even the 1950s for that matter, to have their say. We may not have that much time to do so.

My goodness. I feel so much better now! I have waited years for this!