The world is watching

As Amnesty International asks, in whose best interest is it to take a 15-year old boy -- who allegedly threw a grenade in Afghanistan -- into custody and hold him in secret, incommunicado and indefinite detention, and subject him to torture?

Last night the mainstream media broadcast video of Omar Khadr, "enemy combatant," crying and describing to his interrogators ill treatment he had received. To make sure we didn't begin feeling badly about a 15-year old child being treated this way, ABC News quickly put up a photo of the soldier killed by a grenade allegedly thrown by Khadr. There are no eye witnesses to this allegation. ABC did not mention that fact. (And by the way, did it appear that Khadr had legal representation with him during the interrogation? No?)

What has the United States become, when we willingly allow our leaders to sanction torture against children?

From Amnesty International:

No existing international tribunal has ever prosecuted a child for war crimes, reflecting the wide recognition that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict is a serious abuse in itself. This does not mean that a child above the age of criminal responsibility cannot be held accountable for crimes committed in the context of armed conflict, as in any other context. Appropriate recognition must be given to the age of the child at the time of the alleged crime and the rehabilitative priority, however. In February 2007, the month that the Pentagon announced charges against Omar Khadr under the Military Commissions Act (MCA), 58 countries endorsed the Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (and another eight countries have endorsed them since). They agreed that “Children who are accused of crimes under international law allegedly committed while they were associated with armed forces or armed groups should be considered primarily as victims of offences against international law; not only as perpetrators. They must be treated in accordance with international law in a framework of restorative justice and social rehabilitation, consistent with international law which offers children special protection through numerous agreements and principles.” The MCA provides no such framework.

Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was taken into custody by the US military in Afghanistan in 2002, and has been held at Guantanamo Bay since he was 16. He is now 21. Contact your Senators and Representatives today and tell them you -- and the rest of the world -- are watching. Again from Amnesty International:

“The US has violated international standards by refusing to recognize Omar Khadr’s status as a minor and treating him accordingly.”

hat tip to Cousin Pete for the title of this post ....

Rumsfeld on the run to avoid arrest in France

From AlterNet:

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld fled France today fearing arrest over charges of "ordering and authorizing" torture of detainees at both the American-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the U.S. military's detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, unconfirmed reports coming from Paris suggest.

U.S. embassy officials whisked Rumsfeld away yesterday from a breakfast meeting in Paris organized by the Foreign Policy magazine after human rights groups filed a criminal complaint against the man who spearheaded President George W. Bush's "war on terror" for six years.

Under international law, authorities in France are obliged to open an investigation when a complaint is made while the alleged torturer is on French soil.

Read more here.

Close Gitmo Now!

A letter signed by 145 House Democrats calls on President Bush to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility immediately. The letter also seeks the restoration of habeas corpus rights to these detainees. Can we please all try to remember back to Civics 101 when we learned about this oh-so-basic right of ours in America? It is one of the most fundamental rights of our democracy, for which men and women are dying every day!

Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) is leading this effort. His letter to President Bush states:

"The closure of the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay would represent a positive first step toward restoring our international reputation as the leader of democracy and individual rights."

There are so many scandals and illegalities occurring at the moment, it's hard to keep things prioritized. I remember Stephen Colbert one time explaining the Bush Administration's method of handling bad publicity by using Russian nesting dolls. As soon as one problem gets too nasty, open the doll to reveal (and distract with) another problem. Illegal wiretapping? Open the doll to reveal Katrina! Getting a little too hot again? Open a doll to reveal ... Valerie Plame!

You get the idea. But don't let everything distract you from this fact: Innocent people are being held at Guantanamo Bay, with no charges against them. The writ of habeas corpus is included in the Constitution of the United States of America, Article 1, Section 9:

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

Our soldiers are fighting in Iraq to defend the ideals of democracy and individual freedom included in the Constitution. Holding these men (some for many years) without charging them does nothing for the safety of the United States and does everything for our enemies who proclaim us hypocrites.

More on the letter, and a list of the 145 Democrats and 1 Republican who signed it, is at The Raw Story. If your Congressperson is on the list, please thank them. If not, please let them know you want every person being held in US custody to receive the basic rights guaranteed in our Constitution.

Guantanamo Bay Prison: Part Two: The Prisoners Speak

From the depths of human depravity comes this shining light: A collection of poems written by the detainees at Guantanamo Bay Naval Prison, entitled Poems from Guantanamo: the Detainees Speak. The collection will be published later this year by the University of Iowa Press.

Because of the stark conditions at the facility, many of the poems were written on pieces of Styrofoam cup and smuggled out. According to The Independent, "The thoughts of the inmates are considered so potentially dangerous by the US military that they are not even trusted with pen and paper. The only exception is an occasional 10-minute period when they are allowed to write to their families via the International Red Cross. Even then the words they write are heavily censored."

Humiliated In The Shackles
By Sami al Hajj

When I heard pigeons cooing in the trees,
Hot tears covered my face.
When the lark chirped, my thoughts composed
A message for my son.
Mohammad, I am afflicted.

Sami al Haj, a Sudanese national, was a journalist covering the war in Afghanistan for al-Jazeera television, when, in 2001, he was arrested, stripped of his passport and press card, and handed over to US forces. He was tortured at both Bagram air base and Kandahar before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay. The US military says he was a financial courier for Chechen rebels and that he assisted al-Qa'ida, but has offered no evidence to support the claims.

Guantanamo Bay Prison: Part One

The Washington Post is running an excellent series on Vice President Dick Cheney's abuse of power. The latest article in the series details his efforts to bypass the Geneva Convention and allow torture at Guantanamo Bay. According to the article,

"Cheney and his allies, according to more than two dozen current and former officials, pioneered a novel distinction between forbidden "torture" and permitted use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading" methods of questioning."

Cheney has fought fiercely to stay above the law. He claims that the Office of the Vice President is not a part of the Executive Branch. Apparently Cheney has forgotten that he works for us, the government does not work for him.

Good for the goose? Why not send Libby to Gitmo?

Yesterday, a judge ruled that Lewis "Scooter" Libby (where do they come up with these guys?) must begin serving his prison sentence while his appeals are being heard. Libby, as you will recall, participated in the "outing" of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame — thus endangering our national security. Libby was convicted and sentenced to thirty months in jail for perjury and obstruction of justice.

This is serious stuff, folks. Libby has in fact been convicted of a crime that endangered our national security. Even former President George H. W. Bush called those who reveal the names of covert operatives "the most insidious of traitors." So let's treat Libby just like the other dangers to national security — specifically the prisoners at Guantanamo who have not even yet been charged with a crime, much less convicted.

If Gitmo isn't good enough for Libby, then it's not good enough for anyone.

Sen. Feinstein has introduced legislation (S.1249) that will require President Bush to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I encourage you to tell your Senator: Support sending Scooter Libby to Guantanamo, or shut it down by co-sponsoring S.1249. In fact, let's all tell the Senate to send Libby to Gitmo — or shut down the American gulag for good.