Post by C on Jun 13, 2005 17:48:33 GMT -5
"For over two years I have been begging for a sign that my son is alive, that he is being treated justly, that he has not been tortured, that his dignity has been preserved as he sits alone in a cell in Guantanamo"
Rabiye Kurnaz, mother of Guantanamo detainee, Murat Kurnaz
Appalling Treatment of Muslim Detainees in 'Hellmarsh's' High Security Unit
Protest against the appalling treatment of Muslim detainees in Belmarsh prison, specifically in the High Security Unit, including:
* dietary requirements not being met; prisoners forced to sustain themselves on chocolates & junk food.
* Islamic material not provided to prisoners unless from a specific prison bookshop. CDs of Quran, or any other Islamic literature is not afforded to the detainees.
* Arabic material precluded due to conditional translations costs which are beyond the prisoners' means
* Clothes cannot be provided by family members; only to be purchased from a prison catalogue - if the detainees cannot afford this then they go without the clothes or footwear
* A large percentage of prsioners do not have families/friends in this country to be able to assist them financially or have families who are unable to support them
* The alleged 'security operation' for 48 hours in which the detainees were deprived without any prior notification of their meals, medication, sunlight, fresh air, association time, and thus completely isolated from family, fellow prisoners and their solicitors; leaving the prisoners visibly distressed and vomiting for up to a week after the incident at the mere sight of a chocolate bar.
* The practice of strip searching prisoners and forcing them to squat, applying pressure on their bodies if they refused to do so.
These detainees need the assistance of the public in this bizarre situation that they are being placed in. They need our support to be able to ask the Director of Prisons why such a regime took place.
Click here for more detailed information and who to lobby.
Rachid Ramda: A Decade of Decayed Belmarsh
From every transient moment that decay arose, buds of hope flourished to blossoms on the bough of faith in thousands…whispering in silence. I am in the hands of God. Safe.
Doors slam shut, screeching steel on their pivotal pins, resonance of wet stones against my soul. One by one, the last mortice clangs.
The silence commands I walk in - two steps. Walls of jaded cell enclose, depressing my heart. I freeze inside the belly of this cold monster.
A gate opens in my mind. The fragrance of rose and jasmine fill the air. My father arches his back. The weight of distance and the dust of time on his brow. He smiles his smile reminiscent of happy moments sparks a light steady pace. Silken beard like clouds. A question “why” - lachrymose pearls in his eyes.
[More...]
Events
June 26th: International Day of Action Against Torture
26-06-2005, Amnesty International
International Events in Support of the June 26 Day of Action Against Torture, in support of Torture victims and survivors.
Legal Issues
The Iraq War in Retrospect
by Anthony Dworkin
The war in Iraq divided opinion around the world. For some people, it was an imperialist adventure, not justified under the Charter of the United Nations.
After Bangladesh: The Law of Humanitarian Intervention
by Franck and Rodely
Is the Bangladesh incident to be seen as creating a new common law, one which accords priority to human rights and self-determination over other norms of international conduct, including legal restraints on the unilateral use of force?
Downloads
US Southern Command Inquiry into Quran Desecration at Guantanamo
Report published by the US Southern Command in Guantanamo on 03-06-05 substantiating allegations that the Quran was desecrated.
Letter from General Secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Renews request for permission to visit detainees at Guantanamo. Indicates that NCCCUSA has signed amicus brief in case before US Supreme Court determining due process rights of detainees.
Letter from Senator Charles E. Grassley to Assistant Attorney General Daniel L. Bryant
Requests information regarding possible rendition of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to another country for torture. Attaches letter from [name redacted] making the initial complaint regarding Mohammed and US torture.
Control Orders: Worst Law I Have Ever Seen
by Gareth Peirce
BBC Video on Kuwaiti Guantanamo Detainees - High Quality
Articles
Show Trial in Florida: Feds' Withchunt of Al Arian Goes To Court
by Nicole Colson
After more than two years in prison--much of it spent in solitary confinement--former University of South Florida professor and political activist Sami Al-Arian finally went on trial in Tampa, Fla., this week. There’s little chance, however, that Al-Arian will be able to get a fair trial.
The Domino Effect
by Asim Qureshi
If one was to calculate all the people who are affected by the extradition whether they be family, or even friends, then the numbers could run into hundreds if not the thousands. Soon enough, all of us will know at least one person who will have been extradited.
Guantanamo Bay: A "Gulag Of Our Times" or a "Model Facility"? A Debate on the U.S. Prison & Amnesty International
by Amy Goodman
A week ago Amnesty International accused the Bush administration of being a "leading purveyor and practitioner" of human rights violations, debate has intensified over the U.S. war on terror. On Tuesday, Bush described the Amnesty report as "absurd." Today we host a debate between Amnesty's William Schulz and attorney David Rivkin.
Who are the Guantanamo Detainees?
Jamal Mar’i
Abdel Malik Abdel Wahab
Mustafa Ait Idir
David Hicks
Murat Kurnaz
Desperate for Terror Arrests, FBI Turns to Entrapment
by Paul Craig Roberts
The U.S. has a vast and very expensive Homeland Security bureaucracy with nothing to do. There hasn't been a terrorist attack in America since 2001. There has been a vast quantity of terror alerts, the purpose of which was to scare Americans into supporting an unnecessary and illegal aggressive attack on Iraq.
Justice At Guantanamo?
by Ed Bradely
So far, only four of more than 500 prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been charged with war crimes. And so far there have been no military trials. They have been shut down because of a suit filed against the president by a member of what may seem like an unlikely group of opponents: U.S. military lawyers.
One Muslim's Odyssey to Guant?namo
by Richard Bernstein
About two months after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, the Pakistani police picked up Murat Kurnaz, a 19-year-old Muslim from Germany who was traveling by bus near the city of Peshawar.
Skeptic of Terror Charge Against Doctor Cites Previous Dropped Cases
by Jane Musgrave
Dan McBride laughs when he hears that the government thinks his friend Dr. Rafiq Sabir is a terrorist.
Analysts Argue Merits of Boca Terrorism Case
by John Coté and Shahien Nasiripour
Are they aspiring al-Qaida terrorists or simply braggarts? That is the central issue under the law being used to charge a West Boca Raton doctor and a New York jazz musician with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, said former federal prosecutors and defense attorneys involved in other terrorism-related cases.
The Other Face of the War on Terror
by Human Rights Watch
The brothers Zain Afzal and Kashan Afzal, US citizens of Pakistani origin, were abducted from their home in Karachi on August 13 last year. They were released on April 22 this year, without having been charged.
Further Details Released of British Army Abuses in Iraq
by Liz Smith
The lawyer for nine Iraqi men who claim they were tortured by British soldiers has revealed further allegations of abuse.
The John McCain of Bagram Prison
by Margaret Carlson
Torture is torture, in Vietnam or Afghanistan.
[More Articles at Cageprisoners.com]
News
GUANTANAMO
Carter Says U.S. Should Close Detention Center at Guant?namo
AP Releases Stories of Youngest Detainees in Gitmo
Saudi Lawyers See Benefits in Koran Mishandling Reports
Myers: Gitmo Prison Shouldn't Be Closed
Senator: US Needs To Shut Guantanamo Down
OIC Wants US to Punish Qur’an Desecraters
Habib: I'm Living in Fear Over Death Threats and Break-Ins
MI5 'Left al-Qa'ida Informant To Rot in Guantanamo Bay'
Pentagon: US Guards Kicked, Urinated On Quran
Specter to Push for Foreign Detainee Rules
French Judiciary to Probe Guantanamo Detentions
Amnesty Chief Seeks Guantanamo Inspection
UK
Report To Attack Labour Anti-Terror Laws
Downing Street Protest For Long-Serving Belmarsh Prisoner
Extradition Hearing For Syrian-Born Suspect
Judge Approves Extradition For Belmarsh Detainee
UK Court Says Terror Suspect Can Be Sent To Spain
US
New Sentencing Hearings for 3 in 'Virginia Jihad' Case
2 Men Held in Links to Terror
Florida Doctor Has Court Appearance
Trio in Terror Trial Victims of U.S. Fervor, Defense Says
Two Sentenced in Illegal Iraqi Charity Case
IRAQ
Family Reunion That Ended With Detention in 'Basra's Belmarsh'
Iraq Nabs Nearly 900 Suspected Militants
Federal Court Orders Government to Turn Over Videos and Photos Showing Detainee Abuse
MISCELLANEOUS
Detainees Hunger Strike Over Quran Desecration in Israeli Jails
Lawyers Worry About 9/11 Convict's Future
Jordan Suspects Claim They Were Tortured
CSIS Wanted Arar Kept in Syria, Memo Shows
53 Afghan Prisoners Released
[More News on the War on Terror at Cageprisoners.com]
Rabiye Kurnaz, mother of Guantanamo detainee, Murat Kurnaz
Appalling Treatment of Muslim Detainees in 'Hellmarsh's' High Security Unit
Protest against the appalling treatment of Muslim detainees in Belmarsh prison, specifically in the High Security Unit, including:
* dietary requirements not being met; prisoners forced to sustain themselves on chocolates & junk food.
* Islamic material not provided to prisoners unless from a specific prison bookshop. CDs of Quran, or any other Islamic literature is not afforded to the detainees.
* Arabic material precluded due to conditional translations costs which are beyond the prisoners' means
* Clothes cannot be provided by family members; only to be purchased from a prison catalogue - if the detainees cannot afford this then they go without the clothes or footwear
* A large percentage of prsioners do not have families/friends in this country to be able to assist them financially or have families who are unable to support them
* The alleged 'security operation' for 48 hours in which the detainees were deprived without any prior notification of their meals, medication, sunlight, fresh air, association time, and thus completely isolated from family, fellow prisoners and their solicitors; leaving the prisoners visibly distressed and vomiting for up to a week after the incident at the mere sight of a chocolate bar.
* The practice of strip searching prisoners and forcing them to squat, applying pressure on their bodies if they refused to do so.
These detainees need the assistance of the public in this bizarre situation that they are being placed in. They need our support to be able to ask the Director of Prisons why such a regime took place.
Click here for more detailed information and who to lobby.
Rachid Ramda: A Decade of Decayed Belmarsh
From every transient moment that decay arose, buds of hope flourished to blossoms on the bough of faith in thousands…whispering in silence. I am in the hands of God. Safe.
Doors slam shut, screeching steel on their pivotal pins, resonance of wet stones against my soul. One by one, the last mortice clangs.
The silence commands I walk in - two steps. Walls of jaded cell enclose, depressing my heart. I freeze inside the belly of this cold monster.
A gate opens in my mind. The fragrance of rose and jasmine fill the air. My father arches his back. The weight of distance and the dust of time on his brow. He smiles his smile reminiscent of happy moments sparks a light steady pace. Silken beard like clouds. A question “why” - lachrymose pearls in his eyes.
[More...]
Events
June 26th: International Day of Action Against Torture
26-06-2005, Amnesty International
International Events in Support of the June 26 Day of Action Against Torture, in support of Torture victims and survivors.
Legal Issues
The Iraq War in Retrospect
by Anthony Dworkin
The war in Iraq divided opinion around the world. For some people, it was an imperialist adventure, not justified under the Charter of the United Nations.
After Bangladesh: The Law of Humanitarian Intervention
by Franck and Rodely
Is the Bangladesh incident to be seen as creating a new common law, one which accords priority to human rights and self-determination over other norms of international conduct, including legal restraints on the unilateral use of force?
Downloads
US Southern Command Inquiry into Quran Desecration at Guantanamo
Report published by the US Southern Command in Guantanamo on 03-06-05 substantiating allegations that the Quran was desecrated.
Letter from General Secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Renews request for permission to visit detainees at Guantanamo. Indicates that NCCCUSA has signed amicus brief in case before US Supreme Court determining due process rights of detainees.
Letter from Senator Charles E. Grassley to Assistant Attorney General Daniel L. Bryant
Requests information regarding possible rendition of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to another country for torture. Attaches letter from [name redacted] making the initial complaint regarding Mohammed and US torture.
Control Orders: Worst Law I Have Ever Seen
by Gareth Peirce
BBC Video on Kuwaiti Guantanamo Detainees - High Quality
Articles
Show Trial in Florida: Feds' Withchunt of Al Arian Goes To Court
by Nicole Colson
After more than two years in prison--much of it spent in solitary confinement--former University of South Florida professor and political activist Sami Al-Arian finally went on trial in Tampa, Fla., this week. There’s little chance, however, that Al-Arian will be able to get a fair trial.
The Domino Effect
by Asim Qureshi
If one was to calculate all the people who are affected by the extradition whether they be family, or even friends, then the numbers could run into hundreds if not the thousands. Soon enough, all of us will know at least one person who will have been extradited.
Guantanamo Bay: A "Gulag Of Our Times" or a "Model Facility"? A Debate on the U.S. Prison & Amnesty International
by Amy Goodman
A week ago Amnesty International accused the Bush administration of being a "leading purveyor and practitioner" of human rights violations, debate has intensified over the U.S. war on terror. On Tuesday, Bush described the Amnesty report as "absurd." Today we host a debate between Amnesty's William Schulz and attorney David Rivkin.
Who are the Guantanamo Detainees?
Jamal Mar’i
Abdel Malik Abdel Wahab
Mustafa Ait Idir
David Hicks
Murat Kurnaz
Desperate for Terror Arrests, FBI Turns to Entrapment
by Paul Craig Roberts
The U.S. has a vast and very expensive Homeland Security bureaucracy with nothing to do. There hasn't been a terrorist attack in America since 2001. There has been a vast quantity of terror alerts, the purpose of which was to scare Americans into supporting an unnecessary and illegal aggressive attack on Iraq.
Justice At Guantanamo?
by Ed Bradely
So far, only four of more than 500 prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been charged with war crimes. And so far there have been no military trials. They have been shut down because of a suit filed against the president by a member of what may seem like an unlikely group of opponents: U.S. military lawyers.
One Muslim's Odyssey to Guant?namo
by Richard Bernstein
About two months after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, the Pakistani police picked up Murat Kurnaz, a 19-year-old Muslim from Germany who was traveling by bus near the city of Peshawar.
Skeptic of Terror Charge Against Doctor Cites Previous Dropped Cases
by Jane Musgrave
Dan McBride laughs when he hears that the government thinks his friend Dr. Rafiq Sabir is a terrorist.
Analysts Argue Merits of Boca Terrorism Case
by John Coté and Shahien Nasiripour
Are they aspiring al-Qaida terrorists or simply braggarts? That is the central issue under the law being used to charge a West Boca Raton doctor and a New York jazz musician with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, said former federal prosecutors and defense attorneys involved in other terrorism-related cases.
The Other Face of the War on Terror
by Human Rights Watch
The brothers Zain Afzal and Kashan Afzal, US citizens of Pakistani origin, were abducted from their home in Karachi on August 13 last year. They were released on April 22 this year, without having been charged.
Further Details Released of British Army Abuses in Iraq
by Liz Smith
The lawyer for nine Iraqi men who claim they were tortured by British soldiers has revealed further allegations of abuse.
The John McCain of Bagram Prison
by Margaret Carlson
Torture is torture, in Vietnam or Afghanistan.
[More Articles at Cageprisoners.com]
News
GUANTANAMO
Carter Says U.S. Should Close Detention Center at Guant?namo
AP Releases Stories of Youngest Detainees in Gitmo
Saudi Lawyers See Benefits in Koran Mishandling Reports
Myers: Gitmo Prison Shouldn't Be Closed
Senator: US Needs To Shut Guantanamo Down
OIC Wants US to Punish Qur’an Desecraters
Habib: I'm Living in Fear Over Death Threats and Break-Ins
MI5 'Left al-Qa'ida Informant To Rot in Guantanamo Bay'
Pentagon: US Guards Kicked, Urinated On Quran
Specter to Push for Foreign Detainee Rules
French Judiciary to Probe Guantanamo Detentions
Amnesty Chief Seeks Guantanamo Inspection
UK
Report To Attack Labour Anti-Terror Laws
Downing Street Protest For Long-Serving Belmarsh Prisoner
Extradition Hearing For Syrian-Born Suspect
Judge Approves Extradition For Belmarsh Detainee
UK Court Says Terror Suspect Can Be Sent To Spain
US
New Sentencing Hearings for 3 in 'Virginia Jihad' Case
2 Men Held in Links to Terror
Florida Doctor Has Court Appearance
Trio in Terror Trial Victims of U.S. Fervor, Defense Says
Two Sentenced in Illegal Iraqi Charity Case
IRAQ
Family Reunion That Ended With Detention in 'Basra's Belmarsh'
Iraq Nabs Nearly 900 Suspected Militants
Federal Court Orders Government to Turn Over Videos and Photos Showing Detainee Abuse
MISCELLANEOUS
Detainees Hunger Strike Over Quran Desecration in Israeli Jails
Lawyers Worry About 9/11 Convict's Future
Jordan Suspects Claim They Were Tortured
CSIS Wanted Arar Kept in Syria, Memo Shows
53 Afghan Prisoners Released
[More News on the War on Terror at Cageprisoners.com]