It takes a lot of work by the state, over time, to corrode perceptions of "right" and "wrong." For example, our government has done its best to hide the torture practiced at Guantanamo. Ten years after investigative reporter Jason Leopold filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request concerning the 'forced feeding' of desperate hunger strikers making a 'last ditch' effort to free themselves from indefinite detention, he received copy of a letter sent to Senator Dianne Feinstein by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter in defense of the practice.
Exposure and protest of prisoner abuse over two decades has failed to force closure of America's Gulag. Today's survivors truly can't wait for remedy--if that is even possible at this point--of extra-judicial incarceration. We refuse to accept further excuses for delay. President George W. Bush declared his wish to shutter the prison he had opened. Both Obama and the current president promised to do the same. The tail end of Biden's administration may well be the last chance for Guantanamo closure; Trump had planned to enlarge the facility for more 'bad guys'; Kamala Harris has been mum on the issue. But Biden still has a chance to follow his word. In the face of Israeli torture of Palestinians in a manner resembling the notorious US prison, I think it's the least he can do.
Join World Can't Wait and Amnesty International to deliver that message Wednesday, August 7, 6PM at the traffic island (Harry Bridges Plaza) outside the SF Ferry Building.
"I've received a steady stream of mail that dates back to requests I filed in 2017," writes Jason Leopold. The agencies can't and won't explain why it's taken 7 years to turn over these documents. But that's the FOIA for you. If you use it, prepare to play the long game," https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-07-26/foia-docs-reveal-long-awaited-details-on-michael-flynn-mike-pompeo-guantanamo (think Guantanamo).
President George W. Bush declared his wish to shutter the prison he had opened. Both Obama and the current president promised to do the same. The tail end of Biden's administration may well be the last chance for Guantanamo closure; Trump had planned to enlarge the facility for more 'bad guys'; Kamala Harris has been mum on the issue. But Biden still has a chance to follow his word. In the face of Israeli torture of Palestinians in a manner resembling the notorious US prison, I think it's the least he can do.
Join World Can't Wait and Amnesty International to deliver that message Wednesday, August 7, 6PM at the traffic island (Harry Bridges Plaza) outside the SF Ferry Building.
November vigil outside the US Embassy in London managed to catch US Vice President Kamala Harris on her visit. Organizer Sara Birch says she is sure Harris would have heard attendees shouting and cars beeping for the closure of Guantanamo. Photo c/o UK Guantanamo Network
The U.S. held Saeed Bakhouch at Guantánamo Bay for 20 years without charge, then sent him to have his rights violated in Algeria.
The fact of the matter is that there are no good options for these men," said American lawyer Candace Gorman. "Very few of these men have landed on their feet. Most have been treated as pariahs, whether they are at home or in some random country, because of the U.S. propaganda."
Project 2025 is the blueprint to institutionalize dictatorship, says Jim Zirin. Key architects of the Heritage Foundation's plan to return Donald Trump to the White House are intent on dissembling pesident Biden's 2020 victory.
John Yoo, a former Justice Department official and authorof the infamous torture memos during the Bush administration, has composed a justification for retaliation prosecutions.
Andy Worthington suggests the US Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling should come as no surprise; 22 years of Guantanamo demonstrated the tyranny of successive administrations.