Entries Tagged 'Human Rights' ↓

GA Supreme Court Decision is ‘Simply Stunning;’ U.S. ‘Has Shrugged
 Off the Very Notion of Justice at Every Level’ in Davis Case
Amnesty International USA decried today’s Georgia Supreme Court decision to deny a new trial for Troy Anthony Davis, who has been on death row for more than 16 years despite significant concerns regarding his innocence. The human rights organization, which has collected more than 60,000 petition signatures while campaigning for Davis, said the ruling demonstrates a blatant disregard for justice, and asserted that the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles must grant clemency in his case.

Continue reading →

In a reversal of their previous position the Australian government - a close US ally with regard to their “war on terror” policies - has called for the closure of Guantánamo! More here: (original article).

As an expert witness in the defense of an Abu Ghraib guard who was court-martialed, psychologist Philip Zimbardo had access to many of the images of abuse that were taken by the guards themselves. For a presentation at the TED conference in Monterey, California, Zimbardo assembled some of these pictures into a short video. Wired.com obtained the video from Zimbardo’s talk, and is publishing some of the stills from that video here. Many of the images are explicit and gruesome, depicting nudity, degradation, simulated sex acts and guards posing with decaying corpses. Viewer discretion is advised.

Read more here: link

The full article: link

By Norman Solomon, a SpidelBlog friend.

The chances are slim that you saw much news coverage of Human Rights Day when it blew past the media radar — as usual — on Dec. 10. Human rights may be touted as a treasured principle in the United States, but the assessed value in medialand is apt to fluctuate widely on the basis of double standards and narrow definitions.

Every political system, no matter how repressive or democratic, is able to amp up public outrage over real or imagined violations of human rights. News media can easily fixate on stories of faraway injustice and cruelty. But the lofty stances end up as posturing to the extent that a single standard is not applied. Continue reading →

“If there were no photographs, there would be no Abu Ghraib,” a guard stationed at the infamous detention facility commented.

Host a “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib” house party: http://86days.amnestyusa.org

Images are the only evidence for an American conscience that the unimaginable horrors of Abu Ghraib were real. Host a “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib” house party as November’s “86 days” campaign action and help educate your community about this tragic truth.

Through extensive interviews and documentation, “Ghosts of Abu Graib” demonstrates that the President and his senior advisors are responsible for the abuses at the prison.

When Congress passed the Military Commissions Act one year ago, the U.S. abandoned its core founding principles. The Administration continues to give a green light to policies that place guilt before innocence, imprisonment without charge, and fear above all else. When a government sanctions the use of torture tactics, it disposes of justice and the rule of law, and thereby, discards our freedom.

Join with Amnesty advocates in new ways each month to call attention to these violations as a part of our “86 days” campaign. Invite your neighbors and help educate your community by hosting a special screening of the documentary “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib”. Witness how poor policies against the “war on terror” breed tragedies like the human rights abuses at Abu Ghraib.

http://86days.amnestyusa.org

Images shouldn’t be the only proof of Abu Ghraib’s existence…our conscience reminds us that Abu Graib exists when the principals of decency and democracy do not.

In solidarity,
Kevin Spidel
Campaign Manager, Denounce Torture
Amnesty International, USA

The Business Journal of Phoenix - by Mike Sunnucks Phoenix Business Journal

Two Roman Catholic priests were sentenced to five months each in federal prison for trespassing on Fort Huachuca, the U.S. Army base in Southern Arizona.

The Revs. Louis Vitale, 75, and Steve Kelly, 58, both from California, entered the installation last year to deliver a protest letter. They worry about interrogation techniques being taught at the Army Intelligence Center there, and that base commanders have ties to Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison.

The U.S. Army denies charges that torture techniques are being taught at the Arizona fort.

A number of defense contractors also have operations in and around the Arizona base, which is southeast of Tucson, near Sierra Vista.

The two priests pleaded “no contest” to the trespassing charge.

Pissed? Do something!

I don’t know who this guy is, but this argument is damn good. I had to post. I will post more guest vblogs from time to time on the issues that SpidelBlog covers.