Human Rights, Not Hollow Words
From Amnesty International: "An appeal to President George W. Bush on the occasion of his re-inauguration"
"Mr President,
"In your inaugural address four years ago, you promised to be a leader who would 'speak for greater justice'. Since then, a much repeated promise of your administration has been that the USA will adhere to fundamental principles of human dignity and the rule of law, including in the context of the 'war on terror' ...
"Of course, a government should not be assessed on its words alone, but also on its actions. For things may not be as officially described. As you yourself pointed out in your 26 June 2003 statement on torture, 'notorious human rights abusers ... 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'.
"Your administration has as a matter of policy for more than three years denied international human rights monitors, including Amnesty International, access to detainees held by the USA in the 'war on terror', in addition to routinely denying detainees access to the courts, legal counsel and relatives. In addition, US personnel have staged deceptions in order to subvert basic human rights protections and the rule of law ...
"For Australian detainee Mamdouh Habib, the threat of transfer to Egypt became a reality. According to a motion filed in US federal court in November 2004, he was secretly transferred from Pakistan to Egypt with US agents involved and knowing that he would face torture. He spent six months in Egyptian custody where he was allegedly subjected to electric shocks, water torture, physical assaults, suspension from hooks, threats with dogs, and cruel prison conditions. He was subsequently transferred to Guantánamo in May 2002 and held without charge or trial there for more than two and a half years. A released detainee has alleged to Amnesty International that Mamdouh Habib was subjected to a regime of sleep deprivation in Guantánamo that left him with 'blood coming from both his nose and ears'."
[See Pip's remarks below about presumption of innocence. And all emphasis in above text is mine. - N]
Read the full text of the Amnesty letter [a blistering indictment of US policies + recommendations for change].
From Amnesty International: "An appeal to President George W. Bush on the occasion of his re-inauguration"
"Mr President,
"In your inaugural address four years ago, you promised to be a leader who would 'speak for greater justice'. Since then, a much repeated promise of your administration has been that the USA will adhere to fundamental principles of human dignity and the rule of law, including in the context of the 'war on terror' ...
"Of course, a government should not be assessed on its words alone, but also on its actions. For things may not be as officially described. As you yourself pointed out in your 26 June 2003 statement on torture, 'notorious human rights abusers ... 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'.
"Your administration has as a matter of policy for more than three years denied international human rights monitors, including Amnesty International, access to detainees held by the USA in the 'war on terror', in addition to routinely denying detainees access to the courts, legal counsel and relatives. In addition, US personnel have staged deceptions in order to subvert basic human rights protections and the rule of law ...
"For Australian detainee Mamdouh Habib, the threat of transfer to Egypt became a reality. According to a motion filed in US federal court in November 2004, he was secretly transferred from Pakistan to Egypt with US agents involved and knowing that he would face torture. He spent six months in Egyptian custody where he was allegedly subjected to electric shocks, water torture, physical assaults, suspension from hooks, threats with dogs, and cruel prison conditions. He was subsequently transferred to Guantánamo in May 2002 and held without charge or trial there for more than two and a half years. A released detainee has alleged to Amnesty International that Mamdouh Habib was subjected to a regime of sleep deprivation in Guantánamo that left him with 'blood coming from both his nose and ears'."
[See Pip's remarks below about presumption of innocence. And all emphasis in above text is mine. - N]
Read the full text of the Amnesty letter [a blistering indictment of US policies + recommendations for change].
Nora posted item above at 2:13 AM | Permalink
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home