February 14, 2006
UN Request to Shut Down Gitmo: What a Joke
According to this article from Reuters yesterday:
Five U.N. human rights experts recommended the United States close down Guantanamo Bay after concluding the forced-feeding of detainees and other interrogation techniques amounted to acts of torture, according to a draft report obtained on Monday.The 38-page report, which may be revised after Washington gives its response, accused the United States of denying prisoners the right to due process and attempting to reinterpret some interrogation methods as not constituting torture.
"The U.S. government should close Guantanamo Bay detention facilities without further delay," the report said. "The U.S. government should either expeditiously bring all Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial ... or release them without further delay."
The report was first published by the Los Angeles Times in its Monday editions and obtained by Reuters.
It is the product of an 18-month investigation ordered by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and was based on interviews by the investigators with former prisoners, their lawyers and families rather than on-site visits.
The U.N. team rejected an invitation to tour the U.S. naval base in Cuba, where more than 500 people have been held since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States because they would not have been allowed to interview the prisoners.
It is important to note that some of the members of this UN Commision on Human Rights hail from countries such as Sudan, Cuba, and South Africa, all certainly experts in human rights (what a joke). Of course, the five members who reviewed Gitmo are not from any of these countries but it is important to note that they refused to visit Guantanamo Bay. They essentially developled a report based completely on hearsay and propaganda. This "investigation" is a joke and its only purpose is to add more fuel to the fire that has become our relationship with the international community.
Tags: News, Politics, Islam, terrorism, war on terror, guantanamo bay
Posted by everyman at February 14, 2006 08:22 AM | TrackBackThey took their que from the 911 commission, never let facts sway the outcome of your investigation, that's what I alays say.
Posted by: T F Stern at February 14, 2006 09:13 AMSo if a person comes from a country were human rights have been or are being violated they have no voice?
Well then none of us should speak....
Is it possible that the reasoning behind refusing to take the tour is that it would be led by American official, who just by instinct, put a different slant on what was really going on.
It is time for us as Americans to begin to humble ourselves and be able to listen to others voices in the world community.
So if a person comes from a country were human rights have been or are being violated they have no voice? Well then none of us should speak....
Surely you're not naive enough not to know that these people placed in these positions in the UN aren't there by accident. They aren't victims themselves, they are enablers of corrupt governments. That is why they represent their countries on the United Nations.
Is it possible that the reasoning behind refusing to take the tour is that it would be led by American official, who just by instinct, put a different slant on what was really going on.
Okay so these "investigators" should only listen to one side of the story without investigating for themselves? That is completely asinine.
It is time for us as Americans to begin to humble ourselves and be able to listen to others voices in the world community.
You have got to be kidding me. I think we've done quite enough "humbling" of ourselves to the international community. It would be easier for us to listen to others' voices in the international community if they'd listen to ours every once in a while. Communication is a two way street and right now, like the press, the only thing most of the international community is concerned with is demonizing an adminstration they disagree with. This UN report is a perfect example of that.
Thanks for your comments.
