Because its happening on soil where these countries haven't signed the geneva convention.
Why do you think Gitmo is on Cuban soil?
And besides that even, other "developed" nations have done the same thing. But they have asked a relative from the most powerful media house in their specific country to stay quiet about it.
Its considered a communal sin. Why rat out your fellow rats?
Posts: 5744 | From: Minneapolis, Mn USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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No, I checked the Washington Post -- very liberal -- couldn't find reference to this. Not on CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo....
This should have been front page news, even if it was below the fold. I don't get it. I mean I do get it.....businesspeople are Republicans and media are businesses....but dammit, they are supposed to be the govt. watchdogs....
Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Snoozin: No, I checked the Washington Post -- very liberal -- couldn't find reference to this. Not on CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo....
This should have been front page news, even if it was below the fold. I don't get it. I mean I do get it.....businesspeople are Republicans and media are businesses....but dammit, they are supposed to be the govt. watchdogs....
A long time ago when I was much more slutty, I dated this Frenchman who had retired from the French military forces.
He was naturally an asshole, but what struck me dumb was the fact at how "entitled" he felt to beat civilians senseless and that terrorizing West Africans was okay because their were formerly colonized by France.
Now this ass used to handle interrogations. Not all of these interrogation victims were from West Africa, and the country he did this in was Seira Leone. Some of the interrogation victims were Maghribs from Algeria and Morrocco. The were just shuttled into Seira Leone because no leader of Seira Leone had ever signed the Geneva Convention or any international charter banning torture.
So sorry, what I don't understand is why you aren't screaming over the fact that other developed nations dirty secrets haven't been openly addressed in the USA since the 1960s.
We are behaving like a developed nation by taking advantage of nations that aren't developed.
Posts: 5744 | From: Minneapolis, Mn USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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Yes- this should of been plastered on all the news channels..
Makes u wonder what else is going on..
ahem:
more than 20 were citizens of at least six different western European states, and perhaps a similar number were permanent residents. (By comparison, two were U.S. citizens.) The total number of Guantanamo detainees from Europe is significantly greater, statistically, than one would expect, suggesting that there may be something about the European environment that contributes to certain Muslims embracing terrorism. In this regard, Michael Radu of the Foreign Policy Research Institute has reportedly noted that, since September 11, 2001, European countries have arrested 20 times more terrorism suspects than the United States.21
this might explain why the Europeans and American media are so quiet about it.
Remember over 65% of our media houses VIP shareholders and board members are European. We don't own our media. Its because we have a free market, including our media houses. In Europe media houses cannot be influenced by foreigners, their VIP shareholders and board members must be citizens.
Isn't it nice how America sold our asses, worse our media?
Posts: 5744 | From: Minneapolis, Mn USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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Theres an awful lot of talk, no actual proof and is mild in comparison with the way that the Egyptian government has been treating penniless refugees from the Sudan who found their way to Cairo to try and get help. About 7O dead now I believe, kept in most inhumane conditions and finally thrown out on the streets in areas unknown to them without any means of purchasing food or clothing. Many children and babies and some women died in the massacre in Cairo a few weeks back.
Of course, its all been swept under the carpet now as people prefer to constantly attack Mr. Bush, at least they can do that - but they wouldnt dare criticise the Egyptian Administration would they, cos they cowards at heart really? They much prefer to stick their noses into other countries affairs, when indeed their time would be better spent trying to clean the filth and corruption up in their own country. Posts: 304 | From: egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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It's nothing new, Hor. Here's the article. I just was really surprised I didn't see it in *our* press. _______________________________
The United States has a deliberate strategy of abusing terror suspects during interrogation, Human Rights Watch has said in its annual report on abuses in more than 70 countries.
Based mostly on statements by senior administration officials in 2005, the human rights group said the reassurances of President George Bush that the United States does not torture suspects were deceptive and rang hollow.
"In 2005 it became disturbingly clear that the abuse of detainees had become a deliberate, central part of the Bush administration's strategy of interrogating terrorist suspects," the report said.
Bush's repeated assurances that US interrogators do not torture prisoners deceptively and studiously avoid mentioning that international law prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners, Human Rights Watch said.
Gonzales claim
In fact, last January, Alberto Gonzales, the attorney-general, claimed in Senate testimony the power to use cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as long as the prisoner was not an American and was held outside the US, the report said.
"Other governments obviously subject detainees to such treatment or worse, but they do so clandestinely," the report said.
Human Rights Watch says US policy is fuelling terrorism
"The Bush administration is the only government in the world known to claim this power openly, as a matter of official policy, and to pretend that it is lawful."
The White House has flatly rejected Human Rights Watch's criticisms, saying the group was undermining itself by pursuing "a political agenda".
"I'm rejecting the description of the United States," spokesman Scott McClellan said, admiting that he was had not seen the actual report, only media coverage of it.
"When a group like this makes some of these assertions, it diminishes the effectiveness of that organisation," he said. "It appears to be based more on a political agenda than facts."
Counterproductive
In recent years, Human Rights Watch has emphasised its conviction that abuses in the name of fighting terror are unjustified and counterproductive.
Kenneth Roth, executive director of the group, said he remained worried over Bush assertion that he retained "commander in chief authority" to order abusive interrogations.
The report accuses Bush of seeking to justify torture
The report said that last March Porter Goss, the CIA director, justified a torture technique called water-boarding, in which the victim is made to believe that he is about to drown.
In addition the report noted that in Senate testimony last August Timothy Flanigan, a former deputy White House counsel, said the administration would not rule out the use of mock executions in interrogation situations.
It went on to add that evidence shows abusive interrogation has been a conscious policy choice by senior US government officials and cannot be reduced to the misdeeds of a few low-ranking soldiers.
Fuelling terror
Roth said the tactics were fuelling terrorist recruitment, discouraging public assistance against counterterrorists and making prosecution of many detainees impossible.
"The hypocrisy factor has encouraged copycat techniques around the world by people who do like the United States does," said Roth, adding that the policies of the current administration had "weakened the United States as one of the traditional important supporters of human rights".
The report was was also highly critical of some US allies.
It criticized Britain for trying to send terrorism suspects to countries where they faced torture and said Canada had tried to dilute a new treaty outlawing enforced disappearances.
'Leadership void'
It said those practices by US allies - combined with the European Union's practice of subordinating human rights to trade in its relationships with many rights offenders - left a "global leadership void" in defending human rights.
"Sadly, Russia and China were all too happy to fill that void by building economic, political, and military alliances without regard to the human rights practices of their partners." the report said.
"In 2005 it became disturbingly clear that the abuse of detainees had become a deliberate, central part of the Bush administration's strategy of interrogating terrorist suspects"
Human Rights Watch
Russia, trying to counter democratic currents in former Soviet states, and China, seeking resources for its economy, bolstered abusive governments, creating pressure for other powers to do the same or risk losing influence, it said.
Among several "bright spots" on the global human rights scene, the report said increased international pressure on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and North Korea were among optimistic signs.
The group also lauded India for freezing military aid to Nepal after a royal coup there in February and credited Kyrgyzstan for rescuing more than 400 refugees from a massacre in its Central Asian neighbour, Uzbekistan.
AP
Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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hummm, the argument has always been where do you draw the line? The most widely accepted line is that which does not leave lasting damage to the individual is OK. That some guy got spanked in an Iraqi prison is not very important, I might like that myself.
Some of these left wing groups are not interested in a reasonable discussion of the issues but rather simply want to attack President Bush or PM Tony Blair.
-------------------- God Bless President Bush Posts: 5822 | From: USA | Registered: Jan 2004
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Watch the torture scenes in Syriana. Might change your mind....
Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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Syriana is a movie and most media accounts I have seen say it is left wing. Again Susan, what do you think is reasonable?
Let us say I have a terrorist in front of me that has information that could save the lives of 500 people, what do I do....from a moral position? These questions get complicated...do you kill Hitler if you can to save millions? Thats an extreme example but it gets to the point.
-------------------- God Bless President Bush Posts: 5822 | From: USA | Registered: Jan 2004
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Somebody's got to prove to me that torture works...everything I read said its effectiveness is negligible at best.
Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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Well, I think it is a legit subject, no doubt. that said, we need some sort of line drawn that works for us. This is a classic liberal conservative argument. Liberals always want to error on the side of the criminal at the expense of the victim. Conservatives, on the other hand, prefer to error on the side of the victim.
In terms of law the President clearly has the power to decide these issues in time of war and especially on foreign soil.
If we want a legit conversation on where to draw the line that is one thing, if we are just using the issue in domestic American politics it is quite another.
-------------------- God Bless President Bush Posts: 5822 | From: USA | Registered: Jan 2004
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I have no idea what the above comment means. In response to the original question, it's an interesting one. Generally speaking, reports by organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are rarely granted above-the-fold front page news status. I'm not entirely sure why that is, but coverage of such issues may pop up on page 3 or deeper. The Christian Science Monitor, my favorite dry news outfit, DID cover the Human Rights Watch story. The lack of coverage in other papers may be simply a matter of other timely pieces getting copy space. Many of the bigger papers were covering the story about possible secret CIA bases in Europe, a story the New York Times broke, around the same time this report came out. Maybe editors decided their anti-american news quota was filled by that. It's no excuse for leaving it out of the news. I don't think there is any great conspiracy going on in regard to that particular story. As a journalist I hesitate to give my views on which way the media are slanted. It depends on the paper. I have worked with more liberals than conservatives, by far. I think it is hard for uneducated people from countries like Egypt, where the government has an unethical control over, and influence on, the news to understand how a free press works. I have heard statements from people from these kinds of environments that indicate a belief that if something is printed in the paper it MUST be true. As in, why would the government let them run that story if they didn't agree with it. lol. Because the news comes from the government, right? ahhhhh... This story may still surface, so don't give up hope. It is a report that deserves some space.
Posts: 1161 | From: wo xiang xiao bian ji si le | Registered: Oct 2005
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I'd be very interested in your comments/insight Queen Bee. How much does it have to do with the dumbing down of America? With entertainment value (and therefore $$) being the bottom line?
The Washington Post is fairly liberal, and I was surprised not to see it there. Not even on its website, which has more revolving stories than the paper edition....
Maybe I'll start reading the Christian Science Monitor....a paper about which I know very little, I must say.... Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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