UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The threat of a bad example -
Undermining international standards as "war on terror" detentions continuehttp://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR511142003?open&of=ENG-USAThis sickeningly ample document on the Amnesty International website is dated 19 August 2003. It stops one's breath to consider what it will look like when AI updates it fully, to the present. Comprehensive and detailed history is here, of the arrogant criminal malfeasances of the *Resident
misAdministration of
*our* country -- documentation of this criminal cabal's utter disdain for human rights, even at the most essential levels of compliance with either international law or with what is still understood, in most of our world, to be the most minimal standards of observance of human decency.
As for the neocon would-be masters' shameless hypocrisies, which (as we are daily more bitterly aware) have only become more bare-facedly shameless and more transparently pathological since 2003 -- please consider the several official pronouncements on record, as picked up from the AI document's section headings, and excerpted below.
Read in sequence with the other dated statements of concern, dread, warning, and of witness also excerpted here, people may be moved, I hope, to spend some time actually reading
"The threat of a bad example" -- finding yet more damning evidence of what cannot be undone, and renewed inspiration and will to work together to make these atrocities stop.
And note that the single voice of official American reason on record here came from a United States District Court: the very branch of our government which may be, itself, about to become unlawfully, deceptively, shamelessly, and unconstitutionally "Gitmo-ized".
By using your finder, it is truly astonishing how much detailed history can be found within this single document -- beginning with "Bagram".
A damaging unilateralism
States which demonstrate a high degree of respect for human rights are likeliest to contribute to international security and well-being.
United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, 31 March 2003(1)
A broad and open-ended "war"
The struggle against global terrorism is different from any other war in our history.
United States National Security Strategy, September 2002(34)
The question of torture and ill-treatment
Notorious human rights abusers, including, among others, Burma, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Zimbabwe, have long sought to shield their abuses from the eyes of the world by staging elaborate deceptions and denying access to international human rights monitors.
President George W. Bush, 26 June 2003.(57)
Bagram interrogation without adequate protection
It’s important for all nations, throughout the world, to treat any prisoners well. And that is something the United States always expects, and the United States always does.
White House Press Secretary, Ari Fleischer, 7 May 2002.(79)
Guantánamo a regime cruel in its totality
We have made it clear to the Americans that many aspects of what has gone on at Guantánamo are not acceptable. We shall continue to do so.
United Kingdom government minister, Chris Mullin(96)
Children among the detainees
Despite their age, these are very, very dangerous people. They may be juveniles, but they’re not on a little-league team.., they’re on a major league team, and it’s a terrorist team.
General Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 25 April 2003.
The need for judicial review
What kind of justice is that? To keep a young innocent person for 13 months, to pick someone up off the street and jail him without proof, without a proper investigation. Is that the law they have?
Sayed Abassin, former Guantánamo detainee(146)
Out of the reach of the US courts
The prospect of the Guantánamo captives being detained indefinitely without access to counsel, without formal notice of charges, and without trial is deeply troubling.
US District Court, May 2003
Secret detentions and secret transfers
The more secret government is, the more likely you’re going to have abuses, there’s no question about it.
James Ziglar, former Commissioner of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service(173)
Captured far from the battlefield
"Please tell the person from Amnesty that I was with Fauzee two hours prior to his arrestment. He was captured on 19 May 2002, from Green Town, Karachi. His arrestment was witnessed"
Letter to the brother of Guantánamo detainee Ibrahim Fauzee, undated
Trials by military commissions draw closer
To my mind, they are reminiscent of some of the kind of problems we had in some of the rogue governments in some countries, like in Nigeria years ago where they had kangaroo courts and sentenced people to imprisonment for long periods of time.
Param Cumaraswamy, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers(198)
The threat of the death penalty
There have been recent reports that execution facilities are being built inside the Guantánamo Bay detention centre. The death penalty, be it on Cuban soil or in the United States, or anywhere else in the world, is an affront to humanity.
Peter Scheider, President, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, 23 June 2003(214)
"Enemy combatants" detained on US soil
The courts must at some point choose between deference to the president’s war powers and protecting the liberty of Americans. Here’s hoping the Supreme Court makes a better choice.
Editorial, Washington Post, 20 July 2003(221)
Thank you, UL, for this thread and for the link to the NYT article. I read it entire, printed it out, and hope that others will do the same.
Truly there is a wealth of information on the Amnesty International website, which I hadn't visited in a long time. I would encourage anyone here to make good use of its well-organized format and search capabilities, in our gathering-in of background and perspective on the atrocities that continue to be committed "in our name", as American citizens.
*Not* in my name!
peace
ana
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