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June 7, 2007 at 02:21:39
Bush Running Kidnapping Ring; 39 More "Disappeared" Suspects Found by Sherwood Ross Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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Let’s face it: we’ve got a president in the White House who is running an international kidnapping ring. Six human rights groups(HRG) today (June 6) named for the first time 39 more kidnap (they call them ‘disappeared’) victims of the Bush administration. Not only have Mr. Bush’s apparatchiks dumped the terrorist suspects in secret prisons but they abducted some of their wives and children, too. The sons of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, aged seven and nine, were kidnapped and tossed into an adult detention center for months “while U.S. agents questioned the children about their father’s whereabouts,” HRG said in a news release. And when Tanzanian national Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was seized in Gujarat, Pakistan, in July, 2004, his wife was kidnapped with him. Shades of Joe Stalin, notorious for abducting Soviet defectors in their foreign sancutaries! “The duty of governments to protect people from acts of terrorism is not in question. But seizing men, women and even children, and placing people in secret locations deprived of the most basic safeguards for any detainees most definitely is,” said Claudio Cordone, a spokesperson for Amnesty International, one of the HRG involved in today’s revelations. Adds Meg Satterthwaite, of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at the NYU School of Law: “Since the end of Latin America’s dirty wars, the world has rejected the use of ‘disappearances’ as a fundamental violation of international law. Despite this universal condemnation, our research shows that the United States has tried to vanish both the people on this list and the rule of law… Enforced disappearances are illegal, regardless of who carries them out.” CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano dismissed the HRG report. He told Reuters the CIA acts in “strict accord with American law” and that its counter-terror initiatives are “subject to careful review and oversight.” 
Operating secret prisons turns the kidnapped victims into ghost prisoners kept “off the books.” It prevents scrutiny by the public and the courts, “and leaves detainees vulnerable to abuses that include torture and other ill-treatment,” the HRG said. It also blocks the Red Cross from exercising its right of visitation. In the past, the CIA has denied the International Red Cross visitation to its prison in Kabul, Afghanistan. That’s hardly in accord with American law, as international treaties the U.S. has signed obligate Red Cross visits to prisoners. And, of course, none of the 39 disappeared have been brought to public trial, as required by U.S. law.
The organizations bringing the charges against the Bush administration are Amnesty International, Cageprisoners, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University School of Law(CHRGJ), Human Rights Watch, and Reprieve.
Last September, President Bush conceded his administration held prisoners in secret. It is unlikely he compared this practice to the foreign kidnappings that characterized Stalin’s Soviet regime, just as he undoubtedly failed to see the self-satire of his speech the other day calling upon Russia to act more like a democracy. But Vincent Warren, of the Center for Constitutional Rights, has a broader vision: “Our client Majid Khan was subjected to torture and abuse while in secret CIA detention for three years. His family didn’t know if he was alive, let alone where he was. ‘Ghost’ detention is incompatible with basic respect for human rights and the rule of law.”
If you think it’s ugly stuff for the White House to jail children, keep in mind the U.S. detains 800 Pakistani boys between 13 and 15, some of whom the Red Cross charges have been tortured. By the estimate of Human Rights First(HRF), as of April, 2005, at least 108 innocent (well, they were never tried, were they?) foreign detainees “perished” in U.S. custody.
Kidnapping by the CIA, which the Bush-Cheney regime is converting into a Soviet-style KGB, got its start under President Bill Clinton, who signed off on the first “extraordinary rendition” in 1996. The invasion of the body snatchers, though, made the jump into light speed under Mr. Bush. Right now, Italy has warrants out for the arrest of 22 CIA agents who four years ago abducted Milan resident cleric Hassan Osama Nasr, and flew him to Egypt to be tortured. HRG says the disappeared victims it identified were snatched in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan.
Although Mr. Bush fibs “we don’t torture,” there have been verified reports to the contrary, particularly relating to the kidnap victims. Title 18 of the U.S. Code makes it a crime for an American to commit torture outside the U.S. The offense is punishable by fines and prison terms of up to 20 years, and if deaths result, the killers may be jailed for life or executed.
At least 20 high Bush administration officials authorized, and hundreds of U.S. military or other government employees participated in, crimes of torture against prisoners taken in the Middle East or scooped off the streets of Europe. This list begins with President Bush, for his arbitrary suspension February 8, 2002, of the Geneva Conventions that protect prisoners and includes top White House officials, Pentagon flag officers, CIA agents, and interrogators.
One very curious sentence leaps out of the new HRG report. It’s this: “Interviews with prisoners who have been released from secret CIA prisons indicate that low-level detainees have frequently been arrested far from any battlefield, and held in isolation for years without legal recourse or contact with their families or outside agencies.”
Put that together with the fact almost none of the captives at Guantanamo or in any of the other prisons have been brought to trial and it raises several questions: What if thousands of innocent men have been arrested to give the appearance of a vast “terrorist” conspiracy against America where none exists? What if, apart from Al-Qaida, the terrorists are just nationalists defending their turf when invaded? Otherwise, why hold these men in secret prisons? Is it to keep the public from hearing what they may say in court?#
(Sherwood Ross is a free-lance reporter. Reach him at sherwoodr1@yahoo.com)
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
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When Does America Arrest This Lunatic?
Hell he's done more than that. He's hijacked America, planned and executed 911 killing 3,000 Americans, lied about going to war, killing thousands of innocent Iraqis, and is ripping off Iraqi Oil, while giving free one year gas cards to people in the US. He has everyone fearing him, and is trying to start another war with Iran. What gets me he has broken more rules of morality and ethics than any other sitting President and nobody does a thing about it! If he raped his wife everyone would think its love. He is the Terrorist. What I want to know is when does America arrest this lunatic? by Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments) on Thursday, Jun 7, 2007 at 9:15:31 AM  (0+)
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Kidnapping
In America's collective mind, might makes right! by Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1760 comments [112 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jun 7, 2007 at 10:23:40 AM (0+)
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Congress has to take action
Mr. Bush and his Gestapo have done more harm to this country than any action taken by a terrorist could accomplish in twenty years. To Bush and his minions the Constitution and the Rule of Law are meaningless. Hitler, Stalin and Mao were overt in their actions; the whole world knew what they were doing, but the Bushites hide behind lies, secrecy and take actions under the guise of national security that are criminal at best. Last November a new congress was elected supposedly to start to right some of the wrongs that the White House instituted but the first promulgation coming from on high was “Impeachment is off the table”. Unless Congress is forced to sign on to the impeachment process nothing will change and these murdering, masters of fraud and deception will continue in their criminal activities to the determent of this nation and the world as a whole. Our only hope is to have every one of us get on the backs of our elected representatives and demand that the do the right thing for a change. We have to make it clear to them that their chances of ever being re-elected is very slim if they refuse to take the steps necessary to rid this country of Bush and his Storm Troopers. by walley (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 108 comments) on Thursday, Jun 7, 2007 at 10:49:32 AM (0+)
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only 39??
i would think, this number too low, in light of worldwide rendition flights already tracked by various sources, unless... these 39 are accruing CIA frequent flier points. google it " rendition flights"... by k kelly (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 182 comments) on Thursday, Jun 7, 2007 at 1:05:35 PM (0+)
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Reply: Number of Extraordinary Renditions
You're right. 39 IS too low, but the human rights groups are just reporting those that come to their attention. Possibly, there are hundreds or thousands more. There's quite a log built up of CIA-hired planes criss-crossing Europe with their illicit cargoes. by Sherwood Ross (222 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 155 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jun 7, 2007 at 11:00:33 PM (0+)
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"bush running kidnapping ring; 39 more "disappeared" .....
While Bush is doing 'disservice' to America, its democracy and its international image, he has done a great service to the Third World. Bush has confirmed all the suspicions and fears about America, which used to float around as 'conspiracy' theories or 'malicious' anti-US propaganda, specially in the Middle East. It seems the Soviets had not been to much off the mark in warning the Third World about what America really was, not that the Soviets were any better. Or may be for one half of the past millenium it has always been the "White Man's Burden" which meant that the White Man had been forced by Whoever it Was In the Heavens to carry the BURDEN of the Non-Whites like the CROSS Jesus is claimed to have carried on his way to Golgotha. In reality it was the Non-whites, from China to the Philippines, to Indonesia, to both Americas, to India, to Africa (North & South), Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands who were forced to carry the Burden of the White Man on their shoulders till they bled to death and TOTAL SUBMISSION. The time has NOW arrived when the Non-Whites will throw off this 500 hundred year old burden, once and for all & (4 letter word) the UN and its Security Council. (4 letter word) the IMF and the World Bank. (4 letter word) NATO, ISAF and Coalition of the Willing (Whites). So it shall be. So help them God! by syed mahdi (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 156 comments [17 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jun 7, 2007 at 1:55:53 PM (0+)
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Reply: How to respond to aggression
Dear Salamahali, You're pretty angry and it's no surprise. The colored races of the earth have been carrying the white man's burden for too long. As the American civil rights leader Whitney Young once told a white audience, "We (Negroes) built the South." Though it was a generality, it was largely true. So now it's a question of tactics: how do you respond? Probably a highly effective approach would be the boycott. Just spread the word not to buy any products made by an aggressor nation. What would happen if a billion Moslems refused to drink soda pop made in America? Or buy an American-made car or movie? The techniques and tactics of Mahatma Ghandi need to be studied closely and his ideas spread the world over. Have a great day. Peace, love, non-violent resistance to oppression. Sherwood Ross by Sherwood Ross (222 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 155 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jun 7, 2007 at 4:01:08 PM (0+)
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Reply: A Great Idea
That's a great idea, Sherwood. Let's get started. Where and how do we begin. Sheridan Peterson by eagleeye (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 32 comments) on Thursday, Jun 7, 2007 at 5:28:45 PM (0+)
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Sherwood...
Fine work! The only problem is no one will do anything about it. The Dems have blown us off for oil profits and are backing Bush in trying to force the Iraqi Parliament into signing away their oil rights. There are no more Heroes in congress, they've sold their souls and their asses to Bush for dynastic wealth just like Blair. Bush proved almost anyone can be bought, including the opposition party traitors. This is a replay of Marcus Aurelius betrayed/murdered by his son Commodus, who then cornered all the gold in Rome and bought off the military and the Senate, and then treatened the citizenary. by Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo (144 articles, 1 quicklinks, 95 diaries, 1317 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jun 7, 2007 at 8:10:08 PM (0+)
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