The Truth About Guantanamo
Apr. 11th, 2008 10:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liveonearthhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/us/11gitmo.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=Glaberson&st=nyt&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
This is the story of a Sudanese man that we have detained who points out American hypocrisy and plans to boycott his own trial in protest. He is correct in his assessment, and yet the judge and government representatives dismiss him as "unstable," as "very distressed, frantic almost." The Government lawyer wants him evaluated "before he makes any statements," i.e., before he is permitted to speak. Perhaps he will say something that rings so true that everyone around will have to admit it.
This one is worth a careful read. Here is an intelligent man whose mind is still free, in spite of American efforts to brainwash him. Perhaps he can help us all become aware of the ways in which we are brainwashed.
The ACLU is actively enlisting some of the top criminal defense lawyers in America to be ready to take part in the defense of several Guantánamo detainees. But not enough people know the truth about the military commissions and the new rules under which our nation plans to prosecute those being held at Guantánamo Bay.
Every American should know that our country is going forward with military commissions that are contrary to the fundamental principles of due process -- a system that allows for the use of evidence obtained through torture, secret evidence and hearsay.
The ACLU is stepping into the fray at Guantánamo Bay because we believe strongly in defending fundamental American values and challenging the government's attempts to change the rules in order to stack the deck in its favor. We cannot stand silently by and witness proceedings that are an affront to fundamental principles of justice and that will disgrace our nation before the world.
It’s during times like this that we have to ask who we are as a nation, what principles we stand for, what actions we will and won’t allow to be carried out in our name. If those principles matter, we must prove that, even when dealing with those accused of committing acts of terror, America remains a nation of laws.
These one-sided, arbitrary proceedings fail any simple test of justice.
This is the story of a Sudanese man that we have detained who points out American hypocrisy and plans to boycott his own trial in protest. He is correct in his assessment, and yet the judge and government representatives dismiss him as "unstable," as "very distressed, frantic almost." The Government lawyer wants him evaluated "before he makes any statements," i.e., before he is permitted to speak. Perhaps he will say something that rings so true that everyone around will have to admit it.
This one is worth a careful read. Here is an intelligent man whose mind is still free, in spite of American efforts to brainwash him. Perhaps he can help us all become aware of the ways in which we are brainwashed.
The ACLU is actively enlisting some of the top criminal defense lawyers in America to be ready to take part in the defense of several Guantánamo detainees. But not enough people know the truth about the military commissions and the new rules under which our nation plans to prosecute those being held at Guantánamo Bay.
Every American should know that our country is going forward with military commissions that are contrary to the fundamental principles of due process -- a system that allows for the use of evidence obtained through torture, secret evidence and hearsay.
The ACLU is stepping into the fray at Guantánamo Bay because we believe strongly in defending fundamental American values and challenging the government's attempts to change the rules in order to stack the deck in its favor. We cannot stand silently by and witness proceedings that are an affront to fundamental principles of justice and that will disgrace our nation before the world.
It’s during times like this that we have to ask who we are as a nation, what principles we stand for, what actions we will and won’t allow to be carried out in our name. If those principles matter, we must prove that, even when dealing with those accused of committing acts of terror, America remains a nation of laws.
These one-sided, arbitrary proceedings fail any simple test of justice.
