January 11, 2008, will mark the sixth anniversary of the first arrival of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
While some of Gitmo's residents probably are terrorists who want to kill Americans, we have reason to believe that many others are actually innocent of any ties to terrorism and were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or were arrested due to an unfortunate language misinterpretation, or were arbitrarily sold to U.S. troops by bounty hunters.
And, as of this writing, only 10 Gitmo detainees have ever been charged with any crime.
In fact, a study by Seton Hall University found that 55 percent of Gitmo detainees are not determined to have committed any hostile acts against the United States or its coalition allies.
According to the same study, only eight percent were characterized as al-Qaeda fighters. 40 percent of the remaining detainees have no definitive connection with al-Qaeda at all, and 18 percent have no definitive affiliation with either al-Qaeda or the Taliban!
Imagine being an innocent person locked up in a 6.5' x 8' cage and mistreated for six years straight -- 2,191 days -- without charge, and with no real means to challenge your detention or prove your innocence -- just an unfair military tribunal system that has been condemned by Amnesty International and other human rights groups as a travesty of justice. But, you see, the Bushies say that the Gitmo detainees are "the worst of the worst" and therefore don't deserve basic human rights.
In other words, they're presumed guilty until proven innocent -- but they have no opportunity to prove their innocence. Catch-22.
Imagine the helplessness, hopelessness, and despair that the innocent detainees must feel. And think of their families. These innocent detainees are not just numbers; they are fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, uncles, nephews, cousins, and friends. And some of them were just kids when they were arrested.
Congress blessed this horrific system when it passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which turned a really bad policy into really bad law.
Congress should be ashamed. And Congress should waste no more time in correcting that mistake.
We need to close Guantanamo -- a national embarrassment -- and give each detainee a fair trial, in accordance in international law. Sort them out in a credible court of law, release the ones found innocent, and punish the true bad guys.
Why is a fair trial so unacceptable to the Bush administration -- and to Congress?
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http://www.maryshawonline.com
Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a focus on politics, human rights, and social justice. She is a former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty International, and her views appear regularly in a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. Note that the ideas expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Amnesty International or any other organization with which she may be associated.
Undeclared wars are the bread and butter of political parties. As an independent voter I have a better plan. I have registered as an independent candidate for President. If elected, I will go to Guantanamo, load the "prisoners of war" onto airplanes, explain to them that they are less a threat to the united States as enemy combatants than as foreign nationals being tortured by mentally ill Americans, and take them back where they came from. Then I will go to Iraq, order Americans to stand down from all offensive military actions, and coordinate the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq with the Iraqi government.
The President can do all of this as Commander in Chief because the last time Congress declared war was in 1941, and that was resolved in 1945 when Japan surrendered unconditionally.
Republicans want a continued war, 100 years or more, according to one candidate, and Democrats want the same, except a war in which Congress has a greater voice. Republicans and Democrats want money spent for defense contracts in their states and congressional districts. The problem with all of this is that we are not at war officially with anyone at the present time. So let Congress decide, do they want a war or not?
If Congress does not like this, I promise to attend my impeachment trial.
Robert B. Winn
by
Robert Winn (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 26 comments)
on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 9:41:43 PM
my view of life its to find out why so that a cure can be divised. Public reactions should tell you that merely stating facts will get "tsk tsk" from the public but little action.
I find it more useful to analyse why something has occured and generate discussion which leads to ownership of both the problem and the solution.
I wonder why Gitmo got legs. Was it Loss of face, revenge (find a whiping boy), a sense of impedance against an unattackable (unbeatable) enemy, that is invisible? American pride/arrogance that doesn't respect international tribunals. (the right place for 3rd country terrorists in a 3rd country combatants? See Kosovo et sec) or simply fear that independent judgement might condemn US of war Crimes.
I put it to you that untill the US gets its own house in order in so much that the US needs to follow the same laws the same way as every one else does, Gitmo, Rendition, the CIA and Blackwater abuses will continue. Human right will remain as a moving feast, vulnerable to the excesses of "Holier than you" attitudes that spawn such breaches of Human Rights. If the US continues its early 20century attitude towards foreign policy it will become increasingly the subject of international ire, criticism, contempt antd isolation to the detriment of its people.
America is losing its preminence as the world biggest economy. as the world becomesmore Globalized the US will become more and more dependent (vulnerable)to other nations. Even militarily it is loosing it superiority (it depends on how you measure it) and reliant on technology but for how long.
It is time that the US veiwed human right equatibly, not only for its own self respect which all the above compromises But for its survival.
by
Andris (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 532 comments)
on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 9:56:03 PM
