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ANALYSIS: By Elaine Cassel, October 14, 2003
Here are excerpts from her take on what is happening at Guantanamo and why. The full article can be read on her website - URL above. '' I started to write about the disgraceful situation in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Friday morning. I had read about the International Red Cross's condemnation of the Bush administration's continued detention of 650 or more prisoners, some of them juveniles, captured in Afghanistan two years ago. They have been held in cages on the American military base there, without attorneys, with little access to family, and without any charges being placed against them. Before the war in Iraq fell apart, we heard that Paul Wolfowitz was planning to be in charge of trying some of the men. Several prisoners were targeted to be the guinea pigs for prosecution and, of course, they were facing the death penalty. But it turned out that one or more of those were British subjects. Tony Blair stepped in and, with support for his wholesale commitment to Bush's war waning, begged Bush not to execute any British citizens. That's the last we heard from Guantanamo. Until this week when we heard from the Red Cross. Men are trying to commit suicide repeatedly, physical and mental health is deteriorating. One wonders what the hell we are doing down there and the answer is probably nothing. It's just as well I did not get the article written Friday morning. For on Friday afternoon, driving home, I heard that Bush may now be planning our next war in Cuba. Whether that materializes or not, he was placing new restrictions on Americans visiting Cuba, threatening tourists with criminal prosecution on the grounds that taking money to Cuba was "money laundering for terrorists." ... ... Of course we know the reason why Bush needs desperately to win Florida in 2004. He's counting on this invitation to Cubans in Cuba to win the votes of the Cubans already there. So it is all about politics. Politics as usual. And the Bush administration's politics is, at the core, destructive of civil rights and human rights. In fact, that appears to be its one of its main agendas - destruction of human rights. It has already done a damn fine job of destroying civil rights. At his press briefing yesterday, Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary who makes Ari Fleischer look like a genius, said that the President "rejects" the report of the Red Cross about the horrible treatment of people in Guantanamo. Rejects it. What the heck does that mean? We just don't listen to it? We don't care what the international community thinks of us? It's irrelevant? We are not going to read it? Yes, to all of the above. Then I heard an attorney on NPR Friday night boast that "we" had to treat the prisoners that way. After all, they caused the September 11 attacks. Honestly, that is what he said! What? You can be sure if they were even remotely connected to September 11 they would have been brought to trial, in public, and be awaiting death now. Sadly, the interviewer did not question him about his statement. How many listeners heard it and assumed it to be the truth? How many, like me, heard it and were incensed at the lie of it? As for the prisoners of Guantanamo, their chaplain and at least two of their translators have been locked up in military prisons, at least one of them charged with treason. Their crimes so far have been enumerated as serving baklava to prisoners (on the banned food list, I guess), having on their computers emails intended for prisoners' families, and having "maps" of their cells. If the government could, it would charge them with the crime of kindness to fellow human beings or treating prisoners humanely. It can't do that, so it trumps up charges to make those who try to help them look like terrorists themselves. When the prisoners have not themselves been shown to be terrorists. So, in an administration where irony is too subtle a term, we have George Bush opening up the shores of Florida to Cubans who will, as soon as they can, become citizens and vote for him and his brother. In the meantime, the Cuban lobby in Florida will see that Bush carries Florida. By hook or crook... ... At the same time, we have Bush presiding over the wholesale mistreatment, even torture, some say, of upwards of 700 men who have been shown to have done nothing wrong. Except to have been on the streets of Afghanistan when Bush wanted to act like a cowboy and get "somebody" for September 11. In the meantime, the Supreme Court has been asked to review a federal appeals court ruling that forecloses federal courts from hearing the pleas of the Guantanamo prisoners. The lower courts agreed that the federal courts had no jurisdiction because the prisoners are not on American soil. How's that for a catch-22? We arrested them, brought them to a U.S. military base, classified them as "enemy combatants" so as to try to exempt them (and us) from international law, the laws of war, and U.S. law, and now we have declared them outside of the law. I guess, in a sick and twisted way, that does make some sense. For the hapless prisoners in the black hole of Guantanamo comes a voice from the past to file a friend of the court brief in their behalf. Fred Korematsu, a American citizen of Japanese descent, who refused to enter a Japanese internment camp in California 60 some years ago, and who was prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned for challenging the internment order. The Supreme Court then said it was just fine that he was ordered to be locked up, and even finer that he was prosecuted for challenging the order. In his brief he begs the court to respect the fundamental principle that those deprived of liberty have the right to a fair hearing. Doubtless, the Supreme Court will follow its leader and "refuse to accept" Mr. Korematsu's plea. After all, what does fairness, justice, and decency have to do with anything anymore?'' § FREEDOM OF THE PRESS RANKED. Publishing its second world ranking of press freedom on 20 October Reports Without Borders noted that the US and Israel are special cases. They are ranked in 31st and 44th positions respectively as regards respect for freedom of expression on their own territory, but they fall to the 135th and 146th positions as regards behaviour beyond their borders. RSF's media release says ''The Israeli army's repeated abuses against journalists in the occupied territories and the US army's responsibility in the death of several reporters during the war in Iraq constitute unacceptable behaviour by two nations that never stop stressing their commitment to freedom of expression.'' The full report is available at http://www.rsf.org/ If you have feedback on the content of JustPeace, or news items, please e-mail christine.dann@clear.net.nz Previous issues of JustPeace are archived at www.justpeace.greens.org.nz http://www.justpeace.org.nz/
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