Human Touch
There are not enough jails, not enough policemen,not enough courts to enforce a law not supported by the people
--Hubert H. Humphrey
My occupation now, I suppose, is jail inmate
--Ted Kaczynski
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Problem is, he has gone loony as a jay bird living as he has the last five years in an 8 x 12 confinement cell (Detainees' Mental Health is Latest Legal Battle.)
Mr. Hamdan spends at least 22 hours each day in the cell, which according to the picture above shows a vault-like tightness reminiscent of a safety deposit room in a bank. His lawyers say he has become delusional.
But in the obfuscation that is military-ese, Hamdan has not been subjected to a long run of solitary confinement. According to a military spokeswoman, rather, he is inhabiting a "single-occupancy cell." Conjures up images of a Microtel, or perhaps a Japanese capsule motel. Cramped, but not impossible.
The argument that these prisoners are so dangerous they must be confined in maximum security isolation does not wash with Hamdan; he drove a car. Since he is the first "war criminal" out of the gate, it is looking peaked for the U.S. side of things.
U.S. Prisoners of War in Hanoi were all dangerous men. They dropped big bombs on little people. However, this did not give the North Vietnamese the right to resort to cruel and inhumane methods of incarceration in violation of the Geneva Conventions. Likewise, the events of 9-11 do not give the U.S. license to act barbarously, in contravention of the GC.
Solitary confinement is only legal as a limited punishment (usually 3o days maximum) for actions performed by the prisoners while in custody. Solitary confinement as a matter of course was illegal in Hanoi, and it is illegal in Gitmo.
Labels: gitmo abuse, gitmo vs. hanoi hilton, hamdan trial
posted by rangeragainstwar at 7:22 PM
2 Comments:
gtmo, in and of itself, if a war crime, and even beyond that a crime against humanity.
the administration has been proven to torture, to hold without cause or trial. the idea of trying hamdan is a sick fucking joke on the souls of decent military lawyers (although most of them have resigned in disgust or been cashiered, leaving yoo quality "scholars") the phones of the practices and homes of any lawyer who takes the defense chair in a gtmo case are routinely and shamelessly tapped.
the mush that was left of padilla's mind after his three years of captivity should have been all anybody needed to know about what's going on in our "war on terrah."
pretty soon there won't be much of anything left in this country but prisoners and guards.
why don't you go down the chapel honey
raise up the lord
oh, oh, oh
they done hurt me so hard
that i can't hurt no more
oh, oh, oh.
leadbelly
MB, ref Hamdan there are some interesting twists going on. The former O6 in charge of the prosecution has gone over the fence. This should be interesting since he's alledging overt Command interference in prosecutions based on POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS. Hard to believe these trials have political motivation; this smacks of show trials.
As i always point out Adolph H's drivers were not prosecuted after WW2, they were only drivers! jim
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