Secret CIA Prisons?
The Washington Post reported last week that the CIA has been operating secret prisons in various countries around the world since 911, for the purpose of "questioning" suspected terrorists. Since then, the expected round of accusations, denials, and international calls for investigation of these allegations have roughly held equal visibility in the media to stories concerning Hollywood celebrities' love lives. One can easily daydream a fairly accurate response by news media executives: "The U.S. government may be imprisoning and torturing people in other countries? Put it on the very top--of page three."
But even if the United Nations investigated the matter and found that the U.S. government is demonstrably guilty of foreign torture and atrocities not seen since Nazi Germany's operation of concentration camps in Poland and other countries, would anyone really be shocked? I seriouly doubt it, because no one seems genuinely shocked that such an accusation could ever be made against the U.S. government in the first place.
But this is the United States of America--the land of the free, home of the brave, and author of some of the most significant pro-human rights documents in the history of human civilization. How could people not be shocked by even the mere accusation of human rights atrocities committed by the United States government?
The existence of U.S. prisons at Abu Ghirab and Guantanamo are already well-documented, and few people seem to really care, despite evidence that activities within those prisons more closely resemble the Spanish Inquisition than anything prescribed by American law or the U.S. Constitution. Indeed, ongoing debate over the Bush administration's admitted affinity for human torture (of other people--not themselves) has rarely reached the fevered pitch of debate on whether the Star Wars prequels stand up to the original trilogy.
Are American citizens really that barbaric in their apathy toward human suffering? Are they really as bad as those nameless masses who allowed the Spanish Inquisition, or the Crusades, or the Holocaust to occur? Do they really consider arbitrary imprisonment and torture an acceptable form of behavior simply because the United States was attacked on its own soil by Muslim terrorists once, when most other nations have been attacked repeatedly for centuries or millenia?
Are Americans really that stupid?
I don't think that is the case. However, without a clear understanding of just why Americans do allow their government to commit acts that violate human rights which have been cherished since the Magna Carta, we are really left with no alternative explanation.
But where can we find this understanding? Right here in our homeland. With the largest prison industry in the world, and a hidden American Debtors Prison which effectively incarcerates unknown numbers of citizens without bars, Americans have gradually become desensitized to the idea that false imprisonment and torture are human right violations at all, and instead regard them as natural features of the "rule of law". There was a time in America when people were considered innocent until proven guilty. Yet today, "Law" and "Prison" are words that just seem to go together, as if anyone who finds themselves on the business end of our legal system deserves to be imprisoned, and the only injustice occurs when anyone is not incarcerated after being suspected of an offense. No trial, evidence, proof, or conviction is even necessary any more, in a court of public opinion that is openly held in the mass media daily.
The Washington Post story about CIA prisons overseas might be bogus. Those prisons may or may not exist. But we do know one thing for certain: American citizens in general don't seem to care too much about stopping or preventing these kinds of human rights violations by their own government either way.
So why should they care about abolishing the American Debtors Prison either? I'll tell you why. Because the assumption of "guilty until proven innocent under conditions of torture" holds true for CIA terrorist prisons and the American Debtors Prison alike. However, while very few American citizens could conceivably be mistaken for a terrorist, nearly all adult citizens are debtors....
All the best,
Paul
But even if the United Nations investigated the matter and found that the U.S. government is demonstrably guilty of foreign torture and atrocities not seen since Nazi Germany's operation of concentration camps in Poland and other countries, would anyone really be shocked? I seriouly doubt it, because no one seems genuinely shocked that such an accusation could ever be made against the U.S. government in the first place.
But this is the United States of America--the land of the free, home of the brave, and author of some of the most significant pro-human rights documents in the history of human civilization. How could people not be shocked by even the mere accusation of human rights atrocities committed by the United States government?
The existence of U.S. prisons at Abu Ghirab and Guantanamo are already well-documented, and few people seem to really care, despite evidence that activities within those prisons more closely resemble the Spanish Inquisition than anything prescribed by American law or the U.S. Constitution. Indeed, ongoing debate over the Bush administration's admitted affinity for human torture (of other people--not themselves) has rarely reached the fevered pitch of debate on whether the Star Wars prequels stand up to the original trilogy.
Are American citizens really that barbaric in their apathy toward human suffering? Are they really as bad as those nameless masses who allowed the Spanish Inquisition, or the Crusades, or the Holocaust to occur? Do they really consider arbitrary imprisonment and torture an acceptable form of behavior simply because the United States was attacked on its own soil by Muslim terrorists once, when most other nations have been attacked repeatedly for centuries or millenia?
Are Americans really that stupid?
I don't think that is the case. However, without a clear understanding of just why Americans do allow their government to commit acts that violate human rights which have been cherished since the Magna Carta, we are really left with no alternative explanation.
But where can we find this understanding? Right here in our homeland. With the largest prison industry in the world, and a hidden American Debtors Prison which effectively incarcerates unknown numbers of citizens without bars, Americans have gradually become desensitized to the idea that false imprisonment and torture are human right violations at all, and instead regard them as natural features of the "rule of law". There was a time in America when people were considered innocent until proven guilty. Yet today, "Law" and "Prison" are words that just seem to go together, as if anyone who finds themselves on the business end of our legal system deserves to be imprisoned, and the only injustice occurs when anyone is not incarcerated after being suspected of an offense. No trial, evidence, proof, or conviction is even necessary any more, in a court of public opinion that is openly held in the mass media daily.
The Washington Post story about CIA prisons overseas might be bogus. Those prisons may or may not exist. But we do know one thing for certain: American citizens in general don't seem to care too much about stopping or preventing these kinds of human rights violations by their own government either way.
So why should they care about abolishing the American Debtors Prison either? I'll tell you why. Because the assumption of "guilty until proven innocent under conditions of torture" holds true for CIA terrorist prisons and the American Debtors Prison alike. However, while very few American citizens could conceivably be mistaken for a terrorist, nearly all adult citizens are debtors....
All the best,
Paul
posted by Paul at 1:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home