Captives clustered in a once-hated cellblock

Captives clustered in a once-hated cellblock

www.miamiherald.com

More than half of Guantánamo's captives are now clustered in a two-tier penitentiary-style structure that is steadily emerging as their lockup of choice.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- The imposing steel and concrete building known here as Camp 6 once was the bane of Guantánamo detainees and human rights groups alike.

(visit the link for the full news article)

It seems as life is slowly changing for the better for the 200 plus inmates still being held without charge in Guantanamo Bay stemming from the Bush era detainee policies on the “War on Terror”.

While Obama has failed to close down the camp as promised it appears that the men are now being held within the guidelines of the Geneva Convention for Prisoners of War versus the Bush Era coined distinction Enemy Combatant, replete with a set of rules that often violated key tenants of the Geneva Convention.

Whether this is a change of heart on Obama’s and the Military’s part or simply a concession to our allies having to settle costly lawsuits with former detainees for Human Rights Violations they suffered at the camp is hard to tell.

While these men still remain in legal limbo, detained without charge or trial, the conditions they are being held in are vastly improved.

For those interested in what life is like in Guantanamo Bay today, this Miami Herald in depth article can bring you up to speed!


www.miamiherald.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


screw them i don't care what those terrorist like or dislike. legal limbo lol they are prisoners of war which plotted against the USA. I would like to see how those 2 guys that went hiking in Iran are treated then give their prisoners the same treatment

We really just need to expedite these peoples' trials and decide whether they're innocent or guilty. We're not going to be able to move forward out of this ridiculous War on Terror or have credibility as a just nation until that happens. Imagine being held several years without trial... seems to me that's fundamentally against everything this country used to stand for.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


It is good to see that some semblance of justice is finally working its way into this situation. Regardless of what others may say or feel during spasms of patriotic pride, I am always left, regarding this issue, with a singular thought...

Violence as a way of achieving justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert.

Justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere
Martin Luther King

There is only one-way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man.
Alan Paton

One can never use injustice as a means of pursuing justice. The mercy we show those who stand against us is ultimately more of a statement than the mercies we might show ourselves.

~Heff

Originally posted by pcrobotwolf
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

 

screw them i don't care what those terrorist like or dislike. legal limbo lol they are prisoners of war which plotted against the USA. I would like to see how those 2 guys that went hiking in Iran are treated then give their prisoners the same treatment

edit on 1-12-2010 by pcrobotwolf because: (no reason given)

Actually we don't know if they did plot against the United States or not. We simply know that most of them were plucked off of battlefields in Afghanistan once we invaded their country. That doesn't mean these people were plotting against ours, while it is of course natural to defend their own.

We did violate the Geneva Conventions in regards to their 'status' for years and many other nations are having to pay an economic price for that in lawsuits.

Ultimately the Magna Carter was all about the King not being able to arbitrarily decide to detain or punish someone, that at some point in the process charges have to be filed and a jury of the people have to decide that a crime took place.

Guantanomo instead has been run as a catch and release terror training school, where low level offenders plucked from battle fields are often held with the most vehement fundamentalists, schooled and mentored by them, and then released back onto the same battlefields.

This has been a sham, most of all on the American people, whose good name is being sullied by our failure to adhere to time honored treaties and conventions and are own fundamental laws and beliefs.

There is no justification for that.

Originally posted by pcrobotwolf
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

 

screw them i don't care what those terrorist like or dislike. legal limbo lol they are prisoners of war which plotted against the USA. I would like to see how those 2 guys that went hiking in Iran are treated then give their prisoners the same treatment

edit on 1-12-2010 by pcrobotwolf because: (no reason given)

And why do you suppose that prisoners from the U.S. are treated worse now than before ?
What you sow . . . so shall you reap.

What goes around . . . comes around.

reply to post by Hefficide


Great post and some very valid observations.

The 'Might Makes Right' philosphy so often employed in our gunboat diplomacy and dictatorial stance towards other nations and entitites can be very appealing to the egos of those who identify with 'national pride' but might makes right, is not always and some would argue is seldom ever truly right.

At the end of the day these people regardless of their religion, national origin, or what they may or may not have been doing when captured, deserve the oversight of an impartial civilian body to determine if and to what degree and for what length and where their incarceration is truly warranted.

It's great that they are recieving better treatment but it's no real consolation when justice as you put it so wonderfully is being denied.

Thanks for posting.

Hi Proto,

This is good to see. I am pleased that some semblance of humanity is surviving in the ranks of the military. I suppose most prisoners wouldn't mind being raped by the guards as long as they get to watch 'I Love Lucy' in the meantime. And I suppose I wouldn't mind being separated from my family for nearly a decade simply because the US Gov't needed a scapegoat as long as I get to see reruns of the 'Fresh Prince'.

These people committed no crime other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soon enough American Citizens will be denied due process simply because they disagree with government policy.

I am disappointed at the faux patriotism that has taken hold in this nation and allowed this atrocious prison to exist. What a joke to be a "patriot" of a government that spends its time stripping its citizenry of their natural rights under the guise of "protection from terrorists". The bigger atrocity are the flag-waving fools that support it. Its as bad as the "report your Communist neighbor" craze of the '50s. Caught up in the middle are these innocent bystanders who were trying to fight off this invasion and violation of their nation's sovereignty.

The US Gov't needed scapegoats and they found them in the Middle East.

reply to post by dbloch7986


A truly great post my wise friend. I couldn't agree with you more.

Patriotism shouldn't be simply a love of "might makes right' military prowess and gunboat diplomacy, but rather a tempered compassion and wisdom that considers the rights of others to self determination and to live freely as they feel fit too. These people weren't taken off of American streets, but from distant shores we had invaded.

There is a big difference there.

Partriotism shouldn't be hiding religious prejudices behind the flag either.

Ultimately as you have pointed out, we are going to pay a steep price for such foolhardy notions.

Great addition.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


It is absolutely horrible that innocent people get treated like this, based on someone ringing up americans and being paid money just for giving america just peoples names.

No comfort is for these peopel when you do not have freedom, you do not have freedom.

Amazing that they try and make out these peopel are in a hotel or something.

reply to post by andy1033


They are in fact innocent until proven guilty under our system of law and justice.

I don't think it matters how much entertainment you give someone who has been kidnapped and ferried half way around the world and held captive against their will and away from their home and loved ones.

It's still just wrong with out a trial and the people deciding.

Thanks for posting.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


Its just a foolish notion to believe patriotism means anything these days. There is absolutely no pride in calling yourself an American Citizen. What you're really saying is, "I am a slave to a tyrannical government that stages and commits acts of terrorism on its own soil and the soil of other countries and uses members of those countries as a scapegoat for their own crimes."

Its just crazy to me that these people are being detained on completely imaginary charges and yet people are still waving their flag and have the gall to say, "Well at least they can talk to each other, breathe fresh air and wath TV." Although I guess I shouldn't be surprised seeing as the same thing can and does happen to Americans through corruption in the police force.

This is precisely why the military used to be and should be kept away from policing activities. Its precisely why Rome began to fall when the long standing policy that banned soldiers from entering the city was violated. Fortunately we have not gotten to that point yet. The military fights enemies, the police enforce the law. The two do not mix because one who breaks the law is not always an enemy. The situation gets much worse when countries start enforcing their laws in other nations through the military, as is being done here.