Thursday, May 29, 2003

Gagged, bound, hooded QUOTE OF THE DAY "If the Nuremberg laws were applied today, then every Post-War American president would have to be hanged." - - Noam Chomsky MAY 29 IN HISTORY: 1986 - - The Christic Institute files lawsuit charging US complicity in Contra assassination bombing at La Penca, Nicaragua & the CIA role in smuggling cocaine into the US to fund Contra wars. The American mainstream media ignores the allegations for 10 years; a federal judge throws the suit out as frivolous & at government request, assesses all government court costs to Christic, forcing it out of business. RHINO HERE: I attended the Amnesty Film Festival screening of The Killing Fields last night and was blown away once again by the epic tale of the consequences of war on ordinary people. The results of decisions made by well groomed & amply fed men in granite buildings. A tale of journalists who risked their lives to uncover the truth in behalf of the world citizenry. Yesterday being the anniversary of the founding of Amnesty, the organization released its annual report on human rights abuses. On the drive home from the movie, I tuned into a Clear Channel talk radio station where the hostess was bad mouthing Amnesty for criticizing the U.S.,"the only country in the world willing to stand up to dictators." And a caller responding that "those world socialists will never be happy till the whole world is world socialists." Today Rhino offers beginnings & links to articles regarding the results of more recent decisions made by well groomed & amply fed men in granite buildings who have never been to war themselves. "War on terror" has made world worse - Amnesty By Gideon Long, Reuters, 5/28/03 LONDON, May 28 - Washington's "war on terror" has made the world more dangerous by curbing human rights, undermining international law and shielding governments from scrutiny, Amnesty International said on Wednesday. Releasing its annual report into global human rights abuses in 2002, the London-based watchdog made one of its fiercest attacks yet on the policies pursued by the United States and Britain in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. If the war on terror was supposed to make the world safer, it has failed, and has given governments an excuse to abuse human rights in the name of state security, it said. THE REST'S AT: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28545360.htm It's not like Amnesty's coming out of left field once a year with their evaluations. Here's a sampling just from one month, this last April, regarding their warning to the bushites. USA, 9 March 2003 Amnesty International: There is no 'Acceptable' Torture Admissions in NY Times Article at Odds With President Bush's Earlier Promises http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/2003/usa03092003.html USA, 7 March 2003 US Assurances to UN on Torture Insufficient -- 2002 State Dept Reports Condemned 'Stress and Duress' Techniques as Torture http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/2003/usa03072003_2.html USA, 5 March 2003 Amnesty International: Alarm at Reports of US Interrogation Techniques http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/2003/usa03052003.html And Sunday's news on the topic: Red Cross Denied Access To POWs Up to 3,000 Iraqis - some of them civilians - believed to be gagged, bound, hooded and beaten at US camps close to Baghdad airport by Ed Vulliamy, The Observer, Sunday 5/25/03 The United States is illegally holding thousands of Iraqi prisoners of war and other captives without access to human rights officials at compounds close to Baghdad airport, The Observer has learnt. There have also been reports of a mutiny last week by prisoners at an airport compound, in protest against conditions. The uprising was 'dealt with' by the Americans, according to a US military source. The International Committee of the Red Cross so far has been denied access to what the organisation believes could be as many as 3,000 prisoners held in searing heat. All other requests to inspect conditions under which prisoners are being held have been met with silence or been turned down. There is circumstantial evidence that prisoners are being gagged and hooded, in the manner of the Afghans and other captives held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba - treatment in itself questionable under international law. THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IS AT: http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,963108,00.html 7:36:34 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - US Plans Death Camp And Monday's news on the topic: (Rhino sez we just gotta getta good dem prospect for pres) RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE US Plans Death Camp The Brisbane Courier-Mail , 5/26/03 THE US has floated plans to turn Guantanamo Bay into a death camp, with its own death row and execution chamber. Prisoners would be tried, convicted and executed without leaving its boundaries, without a jury and without right of appeal, The Mail on Sunday newspaper reported yesterday. The plans were revealed by Major-General Geoffrey Miller, who is in charge of 680 suspects from 43 countries, including two Australians. The suspects have been held at Camp Delta on Cuba without charge for 18 months. General Miller said building a death row was one plan. Another was to have a permanent jail, with possibly an execution chamber. The Mail on Sunday reported the move is seen as logical by the US, which has been attacked worldwide for breaching the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war since it established the camp at a naval base to hold alleged terrorists from Afghanistan. But it has horrified human rights groups and lawyers representing detainees. They see it as the clearest indication America has no intention of falling in line with internationally recognized justice. The US has already said detainees would be tried by tribunals, without juries or appeals to a higher court. Detainees will be allowed only US lawyers... READ IT ALL AT: US Plans Death Camp "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. 6:47:21 AM    comment

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