[Reader-list] Guantánamo is gulag of our time, says Amnesty

[geert lovink]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1492349,00.html

Guantánamo is gulag of our time, says Amnesty

Richard Norton-Taylor
Thursday May 26, 2005
The Guardian

Britain and the US are betraying the cause of human rights in pursuit 
of their "war on terror", Amnesty International says in its annual 
report published yesterday. Irene Khan, Amnesty's general secretary, 
launching the report, accused the two governments of condoning torture 
while trying to keep their consciences clear. Britain used the language 
of freedom and justice in the context of Iraq, yet insisted that the 
Human Rights Act did not apply to British soldiers operating there, she 
said.

The British government was seeking diplomatic assurances from 
countries, including Algeria, to which it wanted to deport people. By 
seeking assurances for particular cases, it was admitting that torture 
was entrenched in those countries and was therefore, in effect, 
condoning the practice, she said.

"A new agenda is in the making, with the language of freedom and 
justice being used to pursue policies of fear and insecurity. This 
includes cynical attempts to redefine and sanitise torture," said Ms 
Khan. She said the US claimed to be promoting freedom in Iraq, yet its 
troops had committed appalling torture and had ill-treated detainees. 
She described Guantánamo Bay as "the gulag of our time".
She said: "The US administration attempted to dilute the absolute ban 
on torture through new policies and quasi-management speak such as 
'environmental manipulation', 'stress positions', and 'sensory 
manipulation'."

As the unrivalled political, military and economic hyper-power, the US 
sets the tone for governments' behaviour worldwide, said Ms Khan. "When 
the most powerful country in the world thumbs its nose at the rule of 
law and human rights, it grants a licence to others to commit abuse 
with impunity," she said. "From Israel to Uzbekistan, Egypt to Nepal, 
governments have openly defied human rights and international 
humanitarian law in the name of national security and 
'counter-terrorism'."

Although the US supreme court ruled a year ago that federal courts had 
jurisdiction over Guantánamo detainees, no detainee had had the 
lawfulness of his detention judicially reviewed, the Amnesty report 
says. And although the US government told the detainees they could file 
habeas corpus petitions in a federal court, it also argued that they 
had no basis under constitutional or international law to challenge 
their detention.

The report contrasts the response of ordinary people to the Indian 
Ocean tsunami with the failure to deal effectively with other global 
crises. The report highlights the Darfur region in Sudan. The US had 
described the situation as genocide, but nothing had been done, said Ms 
Khan. The UN was paralysed because of China's imports of oil from Sudan 
and Russia's arms exports to the country.
The US could not garner support in Africa for military intervention at 
least partly because it had spent its "moral currency" in Iraq, she 
said.

Amnesty also highlighted growing violence, including rape, against 
women, in Darfur. Rape was being used as a "weapon of war" in the 
Democratic Republic of Congo, said Ms Khan. Rights abuses around the 
world Israel and the Palestinian territories
Israeli forces killed more than 700 Palestinians, including 150 
children in 2004. Armed Palestinian groups killed 109 Israelis in 2004, 
including 67 civilians, eight of them children.

Greece
The authorities "tortured and ill-treated" immigrants, and hundreds of 
children under state supervision disappeared. There were allegations of 
torture by police in December of about 60 Afghan asylum-seekers, 
including at least 17 minors.

Afghanistan
Lawlessness and insecurity increased and anti-government forces killed 
civilians involved in the electoral process, making much of the country 
inaccessible to humanitarian groups. US forces continued "arbitrary and 
unlawful" detentions and failed to investigate complaints of prisoners 
being tortured or mistreated.

China
There was some progress toward reform, but still "serious and 
widespread human rights violations". Tens of thousands were detained in 
violation of their rights and were at high risk of torture or 
ill-treatment; thousands were sentenced to death or executed.

Haiti
Scores were killed before, during and after the rebellion that toppled 
the former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Russia
"Serious human rights violations" continued in the Chechen conflict. 
Russian forces enjoyed "virtual impunity" for abuses, and armed Chechen 
groups launched bomb attacks and the hostage-taking in Beslan, in which 
hundreds were killed.

Sudan
Government forces and allied militias killed thousands and displaced 
tens of thousands in the Darfur region. The ceasefire signed in April 
was violated by all sides.

US
Hundreds still held without charge or trial at Guantánamo Bay. 
Thousands detained during US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and 
routinely denied access to families and lawyers.

Zimbabwe
Government continued campaign of repression aimed at eliminating 
political opposition and dissent. Hundreds arrested for holding 
meetings or participating in peaceful protests.