Posts Tagged ‘torture’

USA’s Secret Prisons

Saturday, March 31st, 2012

One more American torture facility has been uncovered, this time in Poland. Under backlash from the US Government, prominent Poles have revealed damning details of a prison run by the CIA on Polish soil.

A similar CIA ‘interrogation’ program, unmasked in 2009, was being held at an exclusive horseback riding academy in Lithuania. Inmates, suspected of harboring violent intent against the United States, were subjected to various forms of torture including “sleep deprivation, forced standing, painful stress positions.”

Just to be clear, these clandestine prisons have zero public oversight. Most Americans have no knowledge of said places, nor would they authorize such atrocities were it up to them. (more…)

Canadian Conservatives Condone Torture

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Canada “does not condone torture,” said Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, defending his orders to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to begin using information that may have been derived from the use of torture.

“Information obtained by torture is always discounted. But the problem is, can one safely ignore it when Canadian lives and property are at stake?” Toews said in question period.

So, in other words, while he does condone the use of torture, he just doesn’t want it labelled as such.

Opposition MP Jack Harris accused the government of “showing utter contempt” for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms with a “sudden passive endorsement” of torture.

“Instead of moving forward,” Harris said in the House, “this government is moving Canada backwards. The public safety minister has directed CSIS to use information that is extracted through torture. As long as there is a market for information derived from torture, torture will exist. Why is this government getting Canada into the torture business?”

Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae said he’s concerned such a ministerial directive was issued “without real discussion with Canadians about its implications.” “The law in Canada has been pretty clear that information based on torture, first of all, is not reliable and, second of all, is not permissible.”

Amnesty International was quick to condemn the move, stating that information obtained under torture “has no place in the justice system, full stop.”

Once again, the Conservative party has adopted another of American’s failed policies. Following our neighbors to the south, we’ve expanded the prison industrial complex, extended the horrendous war on drugs, and now we are complicit in torture. What’s next from Harper and his cronies?

Maybe we’ll start bombing foreign civilians with remote controlled planes while letting giant corporations decide who wins the next election. Either way, when the Conservatives are behind the wheel, the country keeps heading places most Canadians don’t want to go.

Family Guy Writer Shares Occupy Arrest Horrors

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

A mind behind the once-edgy animated series Family Guy, writer Patrick Meighan, describes being tortured by police alongside 291 fellow activists from the L.A. wing of the Occupy movement:

I was put on a paddywagon with other nonviolent protestors and taken to a parking garage in Parker Center. They forced us to kneel on the hard pavement of that parking garage for seven straight hours with our hands still tightly zipcuffed behind our backs.

My hands… turned blue. I am now suffering nerve damage in my right thumb and palm.

Some began to pass out. One man rolled to the ground and vomited for a long, long time before falling unconscious. The LAPD officers watched and did nothing.

It seems unreal, yet tales like Patrick’s are becoming an all too common occurrence. Why are the police relying on such a militarized response to peaceful protesters? Because they are paid to do it, and they are getting away with it. Simple as that.

For how much longer is up to Americans themselves. No doubt, each case of shocking brutality made public adds more fuel to the already overstuffed tinderbox. And when the people’s uprising hits in full force, I’d like to think most police will be standing on the right side of the protest line.

Corporations Seeking Immunity for Rape, Torture, Genocide

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Imagine what can happen when international corporations are no longer liable for committing heinous crimes against humanity. It’s a scary premise for any entity, let alone some of the world’s most influential and vehemently greedy institutions.

Yet that is precisely what is being ruled on right now in the US, where a split decision is due to be settled in the Supreme Court.

The case centers around Shell Oil subsidiaries that colluded with the Nigerian government to torture and execute individuals protesting against the companies’ oil exploration. Plaintiffs filed suit in a US district court under the Alien Tort Statute, which empowers federal courts to hear cases by “an alien” bringing a civil suit for wrongs committed “in violation of the law of nations.”

Last year, while ruling on the Citizens United bill, the Supreme court found the First Amendment does mean Corporations are considered people, opening the doors for unlimited political spending by business entities. Now, this same ruling might make international corporations financially liable for their actions.

Of course, given how much clout these mega-conglomerates yield, it won’t come as a huge surprise to see the Supreme Court affording corporations all the pros of personhood while shielding them from any cons – like facing repercussions for using mass murder as a business tactic.

Whatever comes of this ruling, it certainly shows us the direction the pro-corporatism people want to take our world. It is far more profitable when businesses get all the benefits the government offers, while at the same time skirting any accountability and shirking all responsibility to the world in which they exist.

This is why populist movements, like #occupy, are so essential. The pro-business side will continue to tirelessly and systematically stack the cards in their own favor at the expense of everyone else. Unless we fight tooth and nail right now, the hill we’re climbing towards a more just civilization could very well grow into a mountain right under our feet.

Exposing Torture to Transparency

Monday, April 25th, 2011

More than 700 leaked secret files on the Guantanamo detainees lay bare the inner workings of America’s controversial prison camp in Cuba. Files obtained by the website Wikileaks have revealed that the US believed many of those held at Gitmo were innocent or only low-level operatives.

The leak depicts a system often focused more on extracting intelligence than on containing dangerous terrorists or enemy fighters. The documents also reveal US authorities relied heavily on information obtained from a small number of detainees under torture.

The Pentagon said the files’ release could damage anti-terrorism efforts, mostly because they expose the hypocrisy and inherent flaws of US foreign policy, where terrorism is used on innocent people in a bid to reduce terrorism.

Wikileaks’ Hero Still Being Tortured

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

He’s been in custody since July of last year, but Pfc. Bradley Manning – the man who leaked a huge pile of classified US documents – still hasn’t been convicted of any crime.

But that won’t stop his jailers from assuming he’s guilty. Openly abused by fellow inmates. Kept in isolation 23 hours a day. Forced to strip naked at night.

Pfc. Manning is enduring torture to serve as warning to other freedom fighters as to what can happen if they attempt to promote transparency and truth in the land of the free.

There’s a large petition here if your interested in a way to help.