"America" and "Torture" In the Same Sentence
How shocking is that?
Sadly, using those two words in the same sentence has become nightmarishly frequent since 9/11, and even more frequent in the rest of the world than in this country. The United Nations has released a report on the treatment of prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, and the findings suggest that the conjoining of those two words is appropriate. Other nations, including those who are our traditional allies, agree. Here is an assessment from the Jordan Times.
The UN has finally joined the chorus of protests long raised by the international civil society against the US-run prison in Guantanamo.
According to a report by five independent experts commissioned by the UN, the detention centre for terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay should be shut down immediately and all detainees should be either tried before an independent tribunal or released.
The report documents a long list of gross human rights violations committed in Guantanamo, from arbitrary detentions to torture.
The 54-page document rightly affirms that force-feeding the detainees on hunger strike and regular resort to excessive violence are also tantamount to torture.
...That Guantanamo was meant to provide US authorities with a screen to carry out the dirty business away from public scrutiny has been clear since shortly after Sept. 11, when the Department of Defence authorised the adoption of “special interrogation techniques” there.
...It is immensely sad and disarming that the US should end up imitating the worst aspects of the very systems it says it wants to “democratise.” [Emphasis added]
That eminent American philosopher Walt Kelley had it right: "We have met the enemy, and it is us."
May whatever stands behind the universe forgive those who have brought this country to such a pass.
I cannot.
Sadly, using those two words in the same sentence has become nightmarishly frequent since 9/11, and even more frequent in the rest of the world than in this country. The United Nations has released a report on the treatment of prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, and the findings suggest that the conjoining of those two words is appropriate. Other nations, including those who are our traditional allies, agree. Here is an assessment from the Jordan Times.
The UN has finally joined the chorus of protests long raised by the international civil society against the US-run prison in Guantanamo.
According to a report by five independent experts commissioned by the UN, the detention centre for terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay should be shut down immediately and all detainees should be either tried before an independent tribunal or released.
The report documents a long list of gross human rights violations committed in Guantanamo, from arbitrary detentions to torture.
The 54-page document rightly affirms that force-feeding the detainees on hunger strike and regular resort to excessive violence are also tantamount to torture.
...That Guantanamo was meant to provide US authorities with a screen to carry out the dirty business away from public scrutiny has been clear since shortly after Sept. 11, when the Department of Defence authorised the adoption of “special interrogation techniques” there.
...It is immensely sad and disarming that the US should end up imitating the worst aspects of the very systems it says it wants to “democratise.” [Emphasis added]
That eminent American philosopher Walt Kelley had it right: "We have met the enemy, and it is us."
May whatever stands behind the universe forgive those who have brought this country to such a pass.
I cannot.
posted by Diane at 10:02 AM
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