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Will Your Vote Be Counted in 2008? Electronic Voting Machines and the Privatizatio...
With less than a month before Super Tuesday, every vote counts. But will every vote actually be counted? One-by-one, states across the country are finding critical flaws in the accuracy and security of electronic voting machines. We speak with Clive Thompson, the author of a New York Times Magazine cover story titled ?Can You Count on Voting Machines?? With less than a month before Super Tuesday, every vote counts. But will every vote actually be counted? One-by-one, states across the... more
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Standard operating procedure: People behind the Abu Ghraib abuse
"Standard Operating Procedure" is Academy Award winner Errol Morris's documentary using interviews with soldiers who actually tortured prisoners to investigate the abuse scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
This detailed article also presents a number of striking photographs, as well as two memorable videos (a video of the full documentary is included). "Standard Operating Procedure" is Academy Award winner Errol Morris's documentary using interviews with soldiers who ac... more -
la cina e i diritti umani? abbiamo molto da insegnare!
in questi giorni si sente parlare e straparlare della cina, delle promesse non rispettate nell'ambito dei diritti umani... e a me è venuta in mente una suora... si avete letto bene, da ateo comunista mi è venuta in mente una suora nord-americana. Diana Ortiz.
ho ritorovato questo articolo non recentissimo in cui racconta, in parte le violenze subite in guatemala.
Che c'entra il guatemala con noi? gli squadroni della morte che hanno "arrestato" sorella Diana sono state addestrate nella cosi' detta school of the america (che al tempo risiedeva a panama). Per chi non lo sapesse la School of the america era una scuola americana dove si insegnava a torturare le persone; si insegnava.... con i libri di testo...
le materie di esame? cattura notturna per massimizzare lo schock, privazione del sonno, alterazione del cibo etc etc..
In una recente intervista (che adesso non trovo) Diana ortiz dice che non è riuscita a guardare le foto di abu ghraib... ricordate il carcere iraqueno dove torturavano i prigionieri? quello li.
le ricordavano troppo quello che le avevano fatto.
è comunista ed antiamericana pure la suora americana?
tanto per informare, sotto l'amministrazione Clinton alcuni documenti sono venuti alla luce e la struttura di Panama è stata chiusa... e ha riaperto poco dopo nella vicina Georgia in questi giorni si sente parlare e straparlare della cina, delle promesse non rispettate nell'ambito dei diritti umani... e a me... more -
US holding Iraqi prisoners in crates
The U.S. military is segregating violent Iraqi prisoners in wooden crates that in some cases are not much bigger than the prisoners..
The military released photos of what it calls "segregation boxes" used in Iraq.
Three grainy black-and-white photos show the rudimentary structures of wood and mesh. Some of the boxes are as small as 3 feet by 3 feet by 6 feet tall, according to military officials. There was no image released of a box that size.
The average Iraqi male is 5 feet 6 inches tall, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Health. That leaves little room for a prisoner to move once placed inside. See how a man might fit in the crate »
The photos were made public after a blogger filed a Freedom of Information Act request in 2005.
The military said the boxes are humane and are checked every 15 minutes. It said detainees, who stand inside the boxes, are isolated for no more than 12 hours at a time.
"Someone in a segregation box is actually observed more than those anywhere else," said Maj. Neal Fisher, a spokesman for Task Force 134, the Marine unit in charge of detainees. "Their care and custody does not change simply because they are in segregation." Video Watch why the boxes raise human rights concerns »
A prisoner has never fallen ill or died because of being held in a segregation box, Fisher said.
Human rights advocates say little is known about how the military treats prisoners inside these boxes.
"There are concerns that they could be used in places where the detainees are enclosed in extremely hot conditions. It is important to know whether or not detainees are provided with food," said Jennifer Daskel of Human Rights Watch.
Detainees are given food and water while they are in the boxes, Fisher said.
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How the hell did we get to a point where a Major says, with a straight face, "Someone in a segregation box is actually observed more than those anywhere else," and expects us to nod and say, 'Oh, ok.' FUCK THAT. The U.S. military is segregating violent Iraqi prisoners in wooden crates that in some cases are not much bigger than the prisoners.. ... more -
Standard Operating Procedure
Documentary maker Errol Morris investigates the story behind the controversial Abu Ghraib photos.
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Is there anything the president could not order to be done to a suspect? Yoo can&#...
This has to be seen to believed. John Conyers asks John Yoo a simple question: "Is there anything the president could not order be done to a suspect?" He can't give a straight answer. So Conyers reduces it to a simple hypothetical: "Could the president order a suspect to be buried alive?" He still can't answer! It's a yes or no question!
What can be done in the face of such a disgusting evasion of simple decency from the Bush administration? Not much, but laugh. This has to be seen to believed. John Conyers asks John Yoo a simple question: "Is there anything the president could not order b... more -
Abu Ghraib inmates sue contractors, claim torture
The lawsuits allege that those arrested and taken to the prison were subjected to forced nudity, electrical shocks, mock executions and other inhumane treatment. They seek payments high enough to compensate the detainees for their injuries, and to deter contractors from such conduct in the future. The lawsuits allege that those arrested and taken to the prison were subjected to forced nudity, electrical shocks, mock executions an... more
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Ex-Abu Ghraib detainees file a lawsuit
Former detainees of the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq are suing U.S. contractors in four states, alleging the contractors' employees tortured them.
The first complaint was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Others are being filed in Detroit; Columbus, Ohio; and Greenbelt, Maryland.
The complaints allege that innocent people who were arrested and taken to the prison were subjected to forced nudity, electrical shocks, mock executions and other inhumane treatment by employees of defense contractors CACI International and L-3 Communications, formerly Titan Corp.
The plaintiffs are represented by law firms in Philadelphia and Detroit and by the Center for Constitutional Rights.
In case you are wondering what happened at Abu-Gharib, go to this link: http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/Abu-Ghraib-Prison-... Former detainees of the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq are suing U.S. contractors in four states, alleging the contractors' employees ... more -
Iraqi Abu Ghraib Victims File Lawsuits Against Their Torturers
The first of four lawsuits has been filed by Iraqi victims of American torture and abuse. This promises to be very interesting and revealing, and probably very long-winded. The first of four lawsuits has been filed by Iraqi victims of American torture and abuse. This promises to be very interesting and rev... more
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Abu Ghraib inmates sue, claiming torture
Four Iraq men who were captured and placed in Abu Gharib prison are now suing U.S. Contractors. The reason, multiple Claims of torture, and a lack of a judicial process.
Excerpt
HAGERSTOWN, Md. - Four Iraqi men are suing U.S. military contractors who they say tortured them while they were detained in Abu Ghraib prison, according to lawsuits filed Monday at U.S. federal courts.
The lawsuits allege the contractors committed violations of U.S. law, including torture, war crimes and civil conspiracy.
The scandal over the treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib unleashed a wave of global condemnation against the United States when images of abused prisoners surfaced in 2004.
The four plaintiffs, all later released without charge, described their experiences to Reuters on Monday at an Istanbul hotel, where they periodically meet their U.S. legal team. They gave accounts of beatings, electric shocks and mock execution.
End of Excerpt
Source: MSNBC/Reuters Four Iraq men who were captured and placed in Abu Gharib prison are now suing U.S. Contractors. The reason, multiple Claims of torture... more -
Children raped by American soldiers in front of their mothers - Pentagon has tapes
From Daily Kos' partial transcript of a video (link to REAL stream) of Seymour Hersh speaking at an ACLU event. He says the US government has videotapes of children being raped at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
" Some of the worst things that happened you don't know about, okay? Videos, um, there are women there. Some of you may have read that they were passing letters out, communications out to their men. This is at Abu Ghraib ... The women were passing messages out saying 'Please come and kill me, because of what's happened' and basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys, children in cases that have been recorded. The boys were sodomized with the cameras rolling. And the worst above all of that is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking that your government has. They are in total terror. It's going to come out."
Link (via Warren). There's also a piece worth reading in this week's Newsweek about new allegations of rape and sexual torture at Abu Ghraib. Feature includes details on the identities of the Iraqi prisoners shown in those widely-circulated photographs -- including Satar Jabar (charged with carjacking, not terrorism), whose iconic hooded figure with wires attached is derisively described by many Iraqis as the "Statue of Liberty." From Daily Kos' partial transcript of a video (link to REAL stream) of Seymour Hersh speaking at an ACLU event. He says the US go... more -
Maybe these kids Know something, Let's Torture them!-- I mean, interrogate th...
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0631915420080606
It is truly a sad day when America has less ethics than communist China. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0631915420080606 ... more -
Court backs Gauntanamo torture victim
A British resident facing a life sentence at Guantánamo Bay has won a battle in a British court to force the government to hand over documents showing he was tortured into confessing he was a terrorist.
Binyam Mohamed, once a cleaner in Kensington, west London, is accused by the US of being an al-Qaida terrorist intent on the mass murder of civilians.
Yesterday it emerged that the high court had rejected a British government attempt to avoid a court hearing which would decide whether it should reveal evidence showing Mohamed was tortured by the US.
Mohamed, through his lawyers, who have visited him in Guantánamo, alleges he was "rendered" to Morocco, where his torture included his genitals being slashed.
The high court found the UK government supplied America with information to interrogate Mohamed and said the hearing should be held as soon as possible.
Mohamed's lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith, said: "I have seen not one shred of evidence against him that was not tortured out of him. We know the British talked to Binyam in Pakistan, told him he was to be rendered and gave information to the US that was used in his torture in Morocco." A British resident facing a life sentence at Guantánamo Bay has won a battle in a British court to force the government to hand over d... more -
Waiting for the guards: stress position torture
From Amnesty International's Unsubscribe-Me campaign:
"This film shows a performance artist undergoing, for real, interrogation techniques permitted in the CIA handbook.
WARNING: SOME VIEWERS MAY FIND THIS DISTURBING.
UNSUITABLE FOR UNDER 14s.
Please turn your speakers up.
Waiting For The Guards is the first of 3 films commissioned by Amnesty to highlight the enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA in the “War on Terror”.
The Directors approached the making of the film in a way that has never been done before, choosing to show the reality of Stress Positions in as authentic a way as possible. They filmed a person who was put in Stress Positions for over a 6 hour period. There is no acting on the part of the 'prisoner' – his pain and anguish are real.
This powerful film shows without a doubt that what the US administrations say is interrogation is really torture, and must be stopped." From Amnesty International's Unsubscribe-Me campaign: ... more -
Turkish Police Kurdish women Torture
Turkish Police Kurdish women Torture during Kurdish newroj (new day) festival
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Lawyer who exposed abuses at GitMo jailed and may lose law license
Devastating story of how standing up for Truth, Justice and the American Way under the Bush Regime will destroy your life.
"During the winter of 2005, sometime after Matthew Diaz realized that the government was ignoring the landmark Supreme Court decision affording counsel and due process to every alleged terrorist in the military prison, Lt. Cmdr. Diaz printed out and mailed all of their names to civil rights attorneys in New York. That act ultimately resulted in his imprisonment in the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., and the forfeiture of his military job and pension, and may yet lead to the permanent loss of his license to practice law."
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"The problem was that within months after he arrived at the military prison, Diaz realized how the system there had been designed to conceal prisoner abuse and undermine human rights. Though Gitmo was no Abu Ghraib, he was nevertheless appalled by the conditions and the treatment of prisoners. Around the same time that his tour there began, the Supreme Court had ordered the Bush administration, in a case known as Rasul v. Bush, to provide habeas corpus rights to the Guantánamo prisoners. By the winter of 2005, more than six months after that order came down, neither the Pentagon nor the Justice Department had taken any action to obey it. Indeed, Diaz believed that they had no intention of obeying it at all."
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"Looking back, the method he chose to bring a measure of justice to Guantánamo seems more than slightly eccentric (and very likely to be detected). Reviewing legal documents in his office, he had seen the name of Barbara Olshansky, a civil liberties attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, who had requested the names of all the prisoners so that they could be provided counsel. There was no chance that she would receive a positive response from the Pentagon, but she did get a strange, oversize Valentine's Day card at her office in New York. When she opened the big red envelope, there was a funny card inside, plus a 39-page printout listing all the 550 Gitmo prisoners. She told a federal judge about this odd and suspicious delivery. The judge instructed Olshansky to turn everything over to the FBI, whose agents quickly tracked down Diaz. He was arrested and charged with five felony counts, including the disclosure of classified information that could aid America's foreign enemies." Devastating story of how standing up for Truth, Justice and the American Way under the Bush Regime will destroy your life. ... more -
Errol Morris has a new documentary out
Do you think Abu Ghraib is still relevant today? Do you believe you have seen, read, and heard everything there was to know about this huge embarrassment to US military forces? Do you agree with Errol Morris when he says that this event would have never occurred had the soldier pictures not come to light? Do you think Abu Ghraib is still relevant today? Do you believe you have seen, read, and heard everything there was to know about this... more
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Good people turn evil; from Stanford to Abu Ghraib
Psychologist Philip Zimbardo has seen good people turn evil, and he thinks he knows why.
Zimbardo will speak Thursday afternoon at the TED conference, where he plans to illustrate his points by showing a three-minute video that features many previously unseen photographs from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Zimbardo conducted a now-famous experiment at Stanford University in 1971, involving students who posed as prisoners and guards. Five days into the experiment, Zimbardo halted the study when the student guards began abusing the prisoners, forcing them to strip naked and simulate sex acts.
His book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, explores how a "perfect storm" of conditions can make ordinary people commit horrendous acts. In this rare and powerful interview, get inside the ideals behind Zimbardo's study and findings.
**Please note the link leads to the full article and some very disturbing video images of the acts that went down at Abu Ghraib most of which have never been seen before, viewer discretion is advised!** Psychologist Philip Zimbardo has seen good people turn evil, and he thinks he knows why. ... more
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