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Crimes against Humanity (CHum)
Author: Raine    Date: 06/02/2008 06:36:32

Now we have Torture Ships.
The United States is operating "floating prisons" to house those arrested in its war on terror, according to human rights lawyers, who claim there has been an attempt to conceal the numbers and whereabouts of detainees.

Details of ships where detainees have been held and sites allegedly being used in countries across the world have been compiled as the debate over detention without trial intensifies on both sides of the Atlantic. The US government was yesterday urged to list the names and whereabouts of all those detained.

Information about the operation of prison ships has emerged through a number of sources, including statements from the US military, the Council of Europe and related parliamentary bodies, and the testimonies of prisoners.

The analysis, due to be published this year by the human rights organisation Reprieve, also claims there have been more than 200 new cases of rendition since 2006, when President George Bush declared that the practice had stopped.
[...]
According to research carried out by Reprieve, the US may have used as many as 17 ships as "floating prisons" since 2001. Detainees are interrogated aboard the vessels and then rendered to other, often undisclosed, locations, it is claimed.

Since 2001. Since the *Resident told us that we longer use rendition, it is even more troubling that 200 cases were alegedly carried out. How are these not crimes against humanity?
In 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in The Hague (Netherlands) and the Rome Statute provides for the ICC to have jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The definition of what is a "crime against humanity" for ICC proceedings has significantly broadened from its original legal definition or that used by the UN,[1] and Article 7 of the treaty stated that:
For the purpose of this Statute, "crime against humanity" means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
    Murder;

    Extermination;

    Enslavement;

    Deportation or forcible transfer of population;

    Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;

    Torture;

    Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;

    Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;

    Enforced disappearance of persons;

    The crime of apartheid;

    Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health
.
Source.

In case anyone forgot, a few years ago, we learned that America was practicing extraordinary rendition. It is also known as "torture by proxy". In 2006, the report that stunned so many people was that we renditioned one hundred people. Did you get that?

100.

Can we go back, for a minute? Did you see where I mentioned that since 2006 we did this to 200 people? Is the scale being put into place?
A little background...
A Canadian citizen told his story about what happened to him. America sent him to Syria -- he was tortured. A Canadian. oh, and btw... the US picked him up at Kennedy Airport.
Over the past 7 years there have been many stories like this. Here is another, from 2004.

I could go on. I am tempted to go on. Tempted because I think at the time when these terrible atrocities were happening, many of my fellow Americans were at the height of a patriotic fervour. Even in 2004, many were still very in shock and distraught about the events of 9/11. *ush was still a rather popular man, and many did not want to know or listen to those that would speak out against him. Are they ready to listen now? In 2006, Bush said we do not practice extraordinary rendition.

Well, now I want people to listen. Here we are in 2008, and today we are learning that this administration has torture SHIPS. Boats. BIG ass Boats... and we are accused of keeping these people in the hulls. We interrogated them on board and then 'rendered' them to undisclosed locations. PBS told us ALL about it last year.
Oh, and Blackwater helped transport *suspects* as well...

Nice, huh? You know, I would like to know if anyone kept a list of ALL the people on these ships. it would be really easy for a person to suddenly become chum. Ooopsie, a suspect died, the body can now be given a burial at sea. Yes, my snark is at full tilt right now.

It's easier to make chum than anything to put into an oven. I say this to inflame, yes, but to also get people to understand that this is not a holocaust or a genocide, but this is a beginning of a terrible atrocity of a people. I use 'beginning' lightly as well... I think we are actually in full bore.

In light of that snark, I would like to know who implemented this policy? Is it like Abu Ghraib, a policy where we never really get the full story about who gave those commands? You can't blame a few bad apples on this one, not when you have SHIPS, Amphibious Assault vehicles and the like carrying out these practices. This administration has used (perhaps 'forced' would be a better word) our fine men and women who volunteered to serve our nation with honour, to carry out war crimes and atrocities that make me cry for our nation.

This administration has been found guilty of crimes against humanity once. It's time that we NOW do something about it, for real. Do you hear me, Speaker Pelosi? Do you think for one minute that we are treating prisoners better on a boat than we did at Abu Grahib, when we are still trying to say that waterboarding is a legal practice? The bigger question is WHY we are allowing these practices to continue. Why? Just how far can this administration actually bend the law? It seems as though once they do, they know they can break it because you took impeachment off the table.

Ms. Pelosi, don't you get it?

I think it is time for this man to be charged with crimes against humanity. At one point in time we could have blamed Rummy, but he has been gone since 11/06... you can't keep blaming this on him. Not when we are learning that AFTER he left office we increased it by about 100%. 100 incidents BEFORE 2006, 200 since (I may be a bit conservative in my math).

The President is our nation's leader... it is time for him to take responsibility for his actions. AND, if they were not his actions, he needs to come clean. At that point he needs to held accountable. If he cannot, we need a house speaker who will. This is not about a blowjob, This is not about politics, or positioning for the '08 elections... this is about EVERYTHING this nation was built upon.

How about this... we forget about Iraq with all those bogeymen terrorists and start being as concerned about this president and our own country and Constitution, THEN we worry about the bad guys over there? In other words: let's clean up our own house before we start telling everyone else how to run theirs. The USA has some serious cleaning up to do.

These are crimes against humanity. Either we hold our own accountable or the world will truly judge this administration. The only other thought is that this administration is trying to redefine *Humanity*... that is a scary thought. We could all be chum then, you know.

:peace: and :heart:
Raine

 

305 comments (Latest Comment: 06/03/2008 07:24:01 by livingonli)
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