Showing posts with label Guantanamo Bay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guantanamo Bay. Show all posts
Friday, April 09, 2010
The Cover Up
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantánamo Bay prison camp because they feared that releasing them would harm the push for war in Iraq and the broader War on Terror, according to a new document obtained by The Times.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Powell Calls For Closure of Guantanamo Bay
Former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday that the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay for foreign terrorism suspects should be immediately closed, and its inmates moved to the US.
Mr Powell, who in a 2003 speech to the UN Security Council made the case for war against Iraq for possessing weapons of mass destruction that were never found, described the prison in Cuba as a "major problem" for the US's image abroad and has done more harm than good.
Quote:
"Guantanamo has become a major, major problem ... in the way the world perceives America, and if it were up to me I would close Guantanamo, not tomorrow but this afternoon ... and I would not let any of those people go. I would simply move them to the United States and put them into our federal legal system.
Essentially, we have shaken the belief the world had in America's justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like the military commission. We don't need it and it is causing us far more damage than any good we get for it."
That's all very well, but why did he not say this several years ago?
Mr Powell, who in a 2003 speech to the UN Security Council made the case for war against Iraq for possessing weapons of mass destruction that were never found, described the prison in Cuba as a "major problem" for the US's image abroad and has done more harm than good.
Quote:
"Guantanamo has become a major, major problem ... in the way the world perceives America, and if it were up to me I would close Guantanamo, not tomorrow but this afternoon ... and I would not let any of those people go. I would simply move them to the United States and put them into our federal legal system.
Essentially, we have shaken the belief the world had in America's justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like the military commission. We don't need it and it is causing us far more damage than any good we get for it."
That's all very well, but why did he not say this several years ago?
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Pictures of Execution Shown To Prisoners
It seems that prisoners being held by the US in Guantanamo Bay have been shown photos of Saddam Hussein, hanging from a rope following his execution.
That at least is the case according to lawyers for David Hicks, Australia's only Guantanamo inmate.
Joshua Dratel, the lead American lawyer for Hicks, said that pictures of Saddam's trial were also shown to detainees, along with articles about executions carried out by extremists.
Quote:
"Displaying photos of condemned men to those who may be facing capital charges can only be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate and compel submission under a threat of death and mentally torture an already abused detainee population."
A spokesman for Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said:
"This is the first we've heard of it. Mr Hicks did not take the issue up with the consul-general when he had the opportunity, nor has the legal team made an approach to us to follow it up with the Americans.
It's very hard to attempt to verify some of these claims if Mr Hicks himself doesn't feel the need to raise it with us directly."
That at least is the case according to lawyers for David Hicks, Australia's only Guantanamo inmate.
Joshua Dratel, the lead American lawyer for Hicks, said that pictures of Saddam's trial were also shown to detainees, along with articles about executions carried out by extremists.
Quote:
"Displaying photos of condemned men to those who may be facing capital charges can only be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate and compel submission under a threat of death and mentally torture an already abused detainee population."
A spokesman for Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said:
"This is the first we've heard of it. Mr Hicks did not take the issue up with the consul-general when he had the opportunity, nor has the legal team made an approach to us to follow it up with the Americans.
It's very hard to attempt to verify some of these claims if Mr Hicks himself doesn't feel the need to raise it with us directly."
Saturday, November 11, 2006
What Goes Around, Comes Around
In an interesting reversal of fate, it appears that Donald Rumsfeld one of the men primarily responsible for the Iraq fiasco may face criminal abuse charges.
Rumsfeld, who was "resigned" as US defence secretary this week, may face criminal charges in Germany for alleged abuses in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq.
The US group Centre for Constitutional Rights, representing a Saudi detained in Cuba and 11 Iraqis held in Baghdad, has filed a criminal complaint against Rumsfeld.
German law allows the pursuit of cases originating anywhere in the world.
A similar request was made in 2004 by the centre, but German prosecutors dropped that case.
The argument runs that Rumsfeld was instrumental in abuses committed at Guantanamo Bay and at Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad, and that Rumsfeld personally approved torture to be used to extract information from the prisoners.
In addition to filing charges against Rumsfeld, the centre also wants to prosecute US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former CIA director George Tenet.
The complaint will be filed with German federal prosecutors on Tuesday.
How ironic that as Saddam has been brought to a form of "justice", those that initiated the attack should also face legal scrutiny for their actions. It is even more ironic given Rumsfeld's association with Saddam back in the 1980's.
Rumsfeld, who was "resigned" as US defence secretary this week, may face criminal charges in Germany for alleged abuses in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq.
The US group Centre for Constitutional Rights, representing a Saudi detained in Cuba and 11 Iraqis held in Baghdad, has filed a criminal complaint against Rumsfeld.
German law allows the pursuit of cases originating anywhere in the world.
A similar request was made in 2004 by the centre, but German prosecutors dropped that case.
The argument runs that Rumsfeld was instrumental in abuses committed at Guantanamo Bay and at Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad, and that Rumsfeld personally approved torture to be used to extract information from the prisoners.
In addition to filing charges against Rumsfeld, the centre also wants to prosecute US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former CIA director George Tenet.
The complaint will be filed with German federal prosecutors on Tuesday.
How ironic that as Saddam has been brought to a form of "justice", those that initiated the attack should also face legal scrutiny for their actions. It is even more ironic given Rumsfeld's association with Saddam back in the 1980's.
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