Entry details

Curzon
Author

Curzon

Date

June 6th, 2005

Tags

, ,

Comments

4 Comments so far.
Add yours.

Wouldn’t it be fascinating…

Final post on this topic, I promise. Amnesty backtracks…

Despite highly publicized charges of U.S. mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo, the head of the Amnesty International USA said on Sunday the group doesn’t “know for sure” that the military is running a “gulag.”

Executive Director William Schulz said Amnesty, often cited worldwide for documenting human rights abuses, also did not know whether Secretary Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved severe torture methods such as beatings and starvation.

Schulz recently dubbed Rumsfeld an “apparent high-level architect of torture” in asserting he approved interrogation methods that violated international law.

“It would be fascinating to find out. I have no idea,” Schulz told “Fox News Sunday.”

Ha ha! Yup, shure would.

And to address MutantFrog’s concerns, I conceed that it is possible that Gitmo is over the top. For the time being, I continue to give DOD the benefit of the doubt.

Remember that we are not dealing with soldiers of another country. We are dealing with transnational terrorists loosely associated in a network of worldwide terrorism. None of these guys were abducted from within the US borders—they were either fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan or were captured overseas working for Al Qaeda. Hundreds have been released, although I bet the US regrets letting some go free. All prisoners are provided with a Koran—a pretty phenomenal gesture. None have been killed. None have died in prison. Those who are on their best behavior can socialize with each other and enjoy minimum security (even see this Mother Jones article).

THANKS TO NATHAN: For those of you who need a modicum of perspective…

Comments to this entry

Nathan
June 6, 2005
3:22 pm
And all that despite the fact that almost all of them are legally entitled to less than nothing under the Geneva convention.

Let's not lose perspective that these guys are... What's that word again? "War criminals" right?

I know that a good number of countries ratified the amendments to protect terrorists and non-uniformed fighters, but we haven't and it's far from standard international practice to give them the same treatment as uniformed soldiers who don't hide amongst civilians. It might be different if the countries who weep for these guys were a little more proactive about using their soldiers to hunt down bad guys (or even having the soldiers to do so in the first place).
Grendel
June 6, 2005
11:13 pm
None have been killed. None have died in prison.

You might want to look for info about that... Saturday, I read a cut-out article/commentary (might have been the Washington Post) that over 100 died during internment in US prisons. One online source with references to various sources I found was "this one":http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/us_law/etn/statements/abu-yr-042605.htm
Mutantfrog
June 7, 2005
9:14 am
That was referring to detention centers in the Middle East, there are no reports of any deaths in Gitmo. The big problems with the Guatanamo detention facility are more in terms of legality than material treatment.
Curzon
June 7, 2005
9:56 am
Alas Nathan, remember that most on the Left only care about war criminals once they're dead. Then they have to make bold arguments about what we should teach about their legacy and if visiting cemetaries where they are buried or remembered should be grounds for breaking bilateral relations. See also European criminal courts, where the butchers in Sudan, China, Burma, and Zimbabwe get a free pass while precious trying to bring Pinochet and Kissinger to trial.