When We Torture

[spanone]

~snip~ The most famous journalist you may never have heard of is Sami al-Hajj, an Al Jazeera cameraman who is on a hunger strike to protest abuse during more than six years in a Kafkaesque prison system.

Mr. Hajj’s fortitude has turned him into a household name in the Arab world, and his story is sowing anger at the authorities holding him without trial.

That’s us. Mr. Hajj is one of our forgotten prisoners in Guantánamo Bay.

If the Bush administration appointed an Under Secretary of State for Antagonizing the Islamic World, with advice from a Blue Ribbon Commission for Sullying America’s Image, it couldn’t have done a more systematic job of

discrediting our reputation around the globe. Instead of using American political capital to push for peace in the Middle East or Darfur, it is using it to force-feed Mr. Hajj.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/opinion/14kristof.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

[madokie]

1. its hard for me to wrap my little brain around what this country has become to be

I trully loved our country but today I'm not so sure anymore.

[lonestarnot]

2. What we have become...

:shakehead:

[leftchick]

3. More on Mr. al Hajj from Amnesty International. He is INNOCENT!!!

:grr:



http://www.amnestyusa.org/Global_Writeathon/Sami_al_Hajj/page.do?id=1011519&n1=3&n2=34&n3=65

"I wish to return to Sudan to resume my normal life with my precious family" – Sami al Hajj
Sami al Hajj © Private

Sami al Hajj, a Sudanese national, has been detained in Guantanamo for more than 5 years, without charge or trial. The reasons for his detention remain unclear.

Prior to his detention, Sami al Hajj was a journalist working for the television station al-Jazeera. Following the September 11 attacks on the United States, he was asked by his editors to cover the international conflict in Afghanistan. While traveling through Pakistan en route to Afghanistan, Sami al Hajj and his crew were stopped by Pakistani police near the border. Sami al Hajj was the only one taken into custody.

Sami al Hajj was held in Pakistani custody for nearly 3 weeks before being transferred to U.S. custody and taken to Bagram air base in Afghanistan. He was stripped of his passport, his visa to travel to Afghanistan, and his press identification. Sami al Hajj has described the 16 days he spent detained at Bagram air base as "the worst in my life" because of the torture he endured there. On June 13, 2002, he was transferred to Guantánamo Bay.

At Guantánamo, Sami al Hajj says that he was constantly interrogated about any possible links between his employers and Islamist extremists. He alleges that the first time he was interrogated in Guantánamo he had been deprived of sleep for over two days. He alleges that throughout the past five years he has been subjected to a range of ill-treatment including, being beaten by guards, having military dogs used to intimidate him, and being subjected to racist abuse.

Sami al Hajj suffers from a number of pressing health problems, and he alleges that the authorities in Guantánamo have consistently and systematically denied him access to the medical care. For example, after surviving throat cancer in 1998, doctors prescribed medication which was intended to be taken daily for the rest of his life. During his time in U.S. custody he reportedly has not been provided with these drugs. With patience and hope depleted, Sami al Hajj embarked on a hunger strike in January 2007 to protest the harsh treatment and the legal limbo status of the detainees at Guantanamo. He has lost 15 pounds and is reportedly being force-fed, which can be a painful procedure.

Sami al Hajj's psychological health is reported to have deteriorated considerably in recent weeks. After a psychological evaluation which was organized by his lawyers, Sami al-Hajj was found to be suffering from acute depression and a condition linked to enforced sleep deprivation. His family has received little information about his state of health or his situation. Sami al-Hajj, married and the father of a six-year-old boy, has not seen his son since the child was a year old.

[spanone]

4. i cannot express my outrage against those who have commandeered our democracy

~snip~ Suppose the Iranian government arrested and beat Katie Couric, held her virtually incommunicado for six years and promised to release her only if she would spy for Iran. In such circumstances, Iranian investments in public diplomacy toward the United States wouldn’t get very far, either.