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| Pravda on Guantanamo |
| 2003-02-09 |
| From Pravda, read at your own risk. 14 attempted suicides at Guantanamo says all about the psychological state of the detainees at this concentration camp maintained by the USA in Cuba for political reasons. Hmmmm, I think I'm getting the drift of this one rather early on. The prisoners were taken in Afghanistan, were transported to Guantanamo base, dressed in orange shell-suits and held in conditions of high security under suspicion, but not charges, of belonging either to Al-Qaeda or to the Taliban regime. That and the fact that they were illegal combatants as defined by the Geneva Convention. Doncha just hate when the U.S. actually resorts to international law? The psychological problems appear because these people are being treated like sub-humans by a regime which does not even concede to them the right to the status of "prisoner of war", which would entitle them to protection under a number of conventions, the most famous of these being the Geneva Convention. As we were just saying. But if you wish we could compare and contrast the treatment of these clowns with the Chechers that actually get captured by the Russians. Any bets on that one? Instead, they are considered as "illegal fighters", a term which has no precedent whatsoever and as such is not covered by any legal structure. These "illegal fighters" are incarcerated in deplorable conditions, many of them for more than a year and without any formal accusation, without access to legal counsel and without the right to have visitors. Any time you want to start comparing, I'm game. Guantanamo is an American concentration camp on Cuban soil, a country which is accused of being totalitarian. As it turns out Cuba is totalitarian. What an excellent example the USA sets, what a great difference they illustrate between the regimes of these two countries. Should we compare the Gitmo camp and one of Fidel's instead? One is democratic and practises democracy. That being the U.S. The other claims to be democratic yet maintains concentration camps on foreign soil away from the prying eyes of its journalists. Shame Hooray on the Bush administration. Guantanamo brings back memories of Belsen and Dachau, which speaks volumes about the nature of the George W. Bush regime. Someone needs to buy the guys at Pravda a clue. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 "14 attempted suicides..." Among how many prisoners, all of whom are religously inclined to self-destruction? Big whoop. |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-02-09 21:51:58 |
| #4 Right. Shame on the U.S. for not applying international law. Spies and illegal combatants are supposed to be shot. |
| Posted by: Caton 2003-02-09 18:58:01 |
| #3 Anon, All they need to do is visit one of Russia's recent camps. A book entitled "The First Guide To the Prisons and Concentration Camps of the Soviet Union", published in the 1980s IIRC, described as many as the authors could find. What amazed me was that directions to some of the camps consisted of something like "Take the L trolley to 9 Blaggardovitch Prospekt." Three inmates have already been released from Gitmo some time ago. When questioned the worst that one had to say about it was that he hated it there because the jailers were not Muslims. |
| Posted by: Michael Lonie 2003-02-09 18:53:12 |
| #2 Perhaps the kind folks at Pravda need to visit Dachau or Belsen and get the guided tour. Auschwitz would do... then they wouldn't throw these terms around so loosely. |
| Posted by: anon 2003-02-09 07:07:55 |
| #1 Ack, Fred, I think I munged another . Aargh. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-02-09 01:31:46 |