CitizenSugar -- Breaking News, Together.

Barack Obama Plans to Close Guantanamo Bay

LibertySugar — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:40:45 -0800

Behind the scenes, President-elect Obama is creating a plan to close Guantanamo Bay, and move numerous terrorist suspects to the United States. The detainees, currently in legal limbo, will most likely face trial in the US criminal justice system or be released.

A review of military tribunal files recently revealed that a good amount of the 255 detainees have significant terrorism credentials, such as connections to al Qaeda leaders, assassination experience, and training in the use of poison and disguises. Under Obama's plan, detainees whose cases involve classified and extremely sensitive evidence will most likely go to new courtrooms designed to handle national security cases. Military tribunals would no longer prosecute detainees outside of the US.

Are you happy to see that most detainees will be tried publicly in the United States, or do you think Guantanamo is necessary to win the war on terror?

Source

New Administration Must Confront Dilemma at Guantanamo

LibertySugar — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:30:00 -0800

At the top of the next president's to-do list surely sits confronting the challenges presented by the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. While the secretive detention center has been a poster child for the curtailment of basic rights by the US since the War on Terror began, many Guantanamo detainees present severe threats to global security.

A review of military tribunal files reveals that a good amount of the 255 detainees have significant terrorism credentials, such as connections to al Qaeda leaders, assassination experience, and training in the use of poison and disguises.

Both John McCain and Barack Obama say they will close Guantanamo Bay. Whether it stays open or closed, the new leader must find a way to avoid atrocities, such as holding journalist Sami al-Hajj for six years without a single charge at Guantanamo, while also taking seriously the concerns of intelligence agencies. Hopefully, the next administration will use all the tools of an upright criminal justice system to prosecute terrorists.

Source

9/11 Guantanamo Defendants Denied Access to the Internet

CitizenSugar — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:00:40 -0700

Five defendants, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed professed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, are being denied Internet access as they prepare for their death penalty trial. The men are being held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base for the 9/11 attacks on the United States and are facing charges from conspiracy to terrorism. The no-net ruling was handed down by a US military judge siding with prosecutors who argued at a pretrial hearing last month that providing these “high value” defendants access to extra-prison communications would pose a security risk.

Among the other items refused to the inmates by their captors were printers and the ability to speak with their families by telephone. They were, however, given laptops installed with a legal dictionary, the US Constitution and the Geneva Conventions. Three of the five awaiting trail are representing themselves although the Pentagon is providing standby counsel should they wish assistance.

Is the ruling fair? Can they fairly and adequately prepare without Internet access — or is even considering giving it to them, ridiculous?

Source

Front Page: Fed Cuts Interest Rate, Judge Orders 17 Freed From Gitmo, Russia Begins Georgia Pull-Out

CitizenSugar — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:58:30 -0700

Fed Cuts Interest Rate:
In an effort to shore up the global market slide, the Federal Reserve and six other major banks worldwid cut interest rates. The Fed downgraded from 2 percent to 1.5 percent. Banks in the UK, China, and Canada followed suit after five days of tumbling stocks. The Fed's action will reduce borrowing costs immediately to US borrowers whose home-equity loans are tied to the prime interest rate.

Judge Orders 17 Freed From Gitmo:
A federal judge ordered the Bush administration to free 17 Guantanamo Bay detainees by the end of the week, the first such order in seven years of disputes over the detentions. The 17 men have been held since 2002 and are members of a western Chinese minority. The judge says, “I think the moment has arrived for the court to shine the light of constitutionality on the reasons for detention."
Russia Begins Georgia Pull-Out:
Russia says its troops are leaving the so-called "buffer zone" around South Ossetia and five of the six checkpoints have been dismantled. Under a ceasefire deal, Moscow has to pull troops out of other areas around South Ossetia by Friday, though they will keep 8,000 troops in areas they've recognized as independent states. The move is part of the deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in August.

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Front Page: Guantanamo Secret Footage, Suicide Attack Kills Iraqi Recruits, Bush Press Conference

CitizenSugar — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:06:43 -0700

Guantanamo Secret Footage:
A secretly filmed tape of a detainee being questioned at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay has just been released. The video shows 16-year-old detainee, Omar Khadr, being questioned by Canadian officials about events that led to his capture by US forces. The Canadian detainee is accused of throwing a grenade resulting in a US soldier's death in Afghanistan in 2002. In the video, he can be heard repeatedly chanting, "help me". The tape was released by Khadr's lawyers after a Supreme Court ruling that key evidence be released that would allow a full defense of the charges he's facing, and they're hoping the tape will cause PM Harper to demand that the US not prosecute Khadr.

Suicide Attack Kills Iraqi Recruits:
Two suicide bombers dressed as army recruits detonated at an Iraqi base this morning killing at least 35 Iraqi recruits and wounding 63. The bombers were wearing belts packed with explosives as they infiltrated a crowd of more than 200 recruits and exploded about 30 seconds apart in front of the headquarters of an Iraqi brigade where the recruits had gathered.
Bush Press Conference:
US President George W. Bush is set to speak in moments (10:20 a.m. ET) with an opening statement on steps he has taken to fix the economy. The White House said, "he will talk about the overall state of the economy," and, "the president will talk about steps his administration has taken to stabilize the housing and financial markets." The news conference is expected to overlap Barack Obama's proclaimed major policy address on Iraq, scheduled for 10:45 a.m.

Learning Annex: Communist Chinese Torture Taught at Gitmo

LibertySugar — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:00:00 -0700

Does an interrogation class covering "coercive management techniques" like sleep deprivation, prolonged constraint, and exposure sound like something that would be conducted in modern America, or 1950s communist China? The answer is both!

During the Korean War, the US Air Force studied Chinese "torture" tactics used to obtain often false confessions from captured Americans. Recently, CIA and Guantanamo interrogators have become students of the tactics, according to the New York Times. Specifically, an entire interrogation class taught at Gitmo in December 2002 focused on the coercive techniques. To find out how the teachers explain the purpose of the class,

McCain: Rights to Gitmo One of the Worst Decisions in History

LibertySugar — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:15:42 -0700

John McCain has called last week's Supreme Court ruling that extends the
right to challenge one's detention to detainees at Guantanamo Bay “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country."

McCain said the decision highlighted the importance of nominating conservative justices to the court. McCain explained that although he still wants to close the prison and opposes torture, the decision threatens American security.

"These are enemy combatants, these are people who are not citizens, they are not and never have been given the rights that the citizens of this country have," the Republican nominee said. I wonder how a detainee could prove he is in fact an American citizen, without the right to challenge detention.

McCain eagerly distinguished himself from Barack Obama, who supported the decision saying: “This is an important step toward reestablishing our credibility as a nation committed to the rule of law, and rejecting a false choice between fighting terrorism and respecting habeas corpus.”

Is it possible to simultaneously support the closing of Guantanamo, and detention without charge?

Source

Supreme Court Rules Against Bush, For Gitmo Detainees

LibertySugar — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:00:00 -0700

In a historic ruling, the US Supreme Court ruled that terror suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba have a right to contest their detention in United States court, using the constitutionally enshrined principle of habeas corpus — which allows courts to determine whether a prisoner is being held illegally.

In the 5-4 ruling, the majority held that "the laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."

The four "conservative" justices dissented. Justice Scalia wrote: "The nation is "at war with radical Islamists" and that the court's decision "will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed."

To find out what the Bush Administration argued,

US Allegedly Using Navy Ships As Secret Prisons

LibertySugar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:15:56 -0700

The US allegedly has used 17 ships as floating prisons to detain suspects in the war on terror, according to US military statements, the Council of Europe, European Parliaments, and prisoners themselves.

Human Rights group Reprieve is set to publish its findings, which also include 200 cases of rendition, a polite term for kidnapping and secret detention, since 2006, the year President Bush maintained the practice had ended.

One prisoner, released from Guantanamo, told the group:

One of my fellow prisoners in Guantanamo was at sea on an American ship with about 50 others before coming to Guantanamo. . . . he was in the cage next to me. [. . . ] They were all closed off in the bottom of the ship. The prisoner commented to me that it was like something you see on TV. The people held on the ship were beaten even more severely than in Guantanamo.

Even if the words of prisoners cannot be trusted, the US admits that it detains enemy combatants without trial. Recently the US released an uncharged cameraman after holding him for six years.

Imagine you were picked up and brought to a secret prison — none of your friends or family knew where you were, and you were being held without a trial and with no way to defend yourself. I think I would feel like a victim of terrorism.

Source

Should the US Listen to Criticism of Its Human Rights Record?

LibertySugar — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:45:00 -0700

Amnesty International's latest report assails the US for its human rights record, and calls for the immediate closure of Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba.The report says: As the world's most powerful state, the USA sets the standard for government behaviour globally. With breathtaking legal obfuscation, the US administration has continued its efforts to weaken the absolute prohibition against torture and other ill-treatment. [. . .] These actions have done nothing to further the fight against terrorism and a great deal to damage the USA's prestige and influence abroad.

The international human rights group also calls out China and Russia, as well as the European Union's complicity in the rendition of terror suspects. Recent attacks against Roma encampments in Italy, were also condemned by the group. In the past, the US State Department has deflected responsibility by accusing Amnesty International of using the United States as “a convenient ideological punching bag." We're still waiting on an official statement regarding the latest report.Is it a worse when the world's superpower abuses human rights? Is America's moral authority weakened when it is called out by international watch groups? What human rights advancements been made in the 60 years since the adoption Universal Declaration of Human Rights?Source

Should the US Listen to Criticism of Its Human Rights Record?

Yay! Americans owe respect for human rights to themselves and the world.

Nay. These groups will always have something to complain about.

The US should change because it's the right thing to do, not because a group says.

Other. I'll tell you in the comments.