From: "Movement for a Socialist Future" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 21:38:13 -0000 To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;@tonto.eunet.fi> Subject: US treatment of prisoners a threat to us all US treatment of prisoners a threat to us all - a statement by the Movement for a Socialist Future ________________________________________________________________________ The brutal treatment of captured Al Qaeda and Taleban fighters by the United States government exposes the real objectives that lie behind the Bush-Blair "war on terror". Chief among these is the determination to reimpose the tarnished authority and power of the state in both America and Britain. Before the September 11 terror attacks, the dwindling support for both governments and the political process was self-evident. Thus an endless "war on terror" was declared in the wake of the attacks on America. This rapidly became a catch-all campaign to disguise a fundamental shift in politics on both sides of the Atlantic that was well under way before September last year. The illegal detention of prisoners on a US base in Cuba is, therefore, a warning aimed at all those - not just terrorists - who dare to challenge the Bush-Blair governments and the global corporations who stand shoulder to shoulder with their governments. So far 80 prisoners captured in Afghanistan have been flown hooded, shackled and in some cases drugged, to the base, which is ready to hold 2,000 prisoners. They are locked into eight-foot by six-foot wire cages, described by a reporter for CBS television, as "kennels". There is no protection from the elements or mosquitoes. Bright lights remain on at night and to humiliate the men still farther, their beards - which were an expression of their religious beliefs - were shaved off. Just as in Britain, New Labour has passed anti-terror laws that override international human rights conventions, so the United States has rushed through legislation that tramples in the mud the Geneva Convention and the treatment of prisoners of war. Under the USA Patriot Act, the Bush government has set up military commissions to prosecute non-US citizens involved in what is termed international terrorism. These tribunals offer defendants no legal rights and can impose the death penalty. The final decision rests with Bush and defence secretary Rumsfeld. As a 660-page report issued by the New York-based Human Rights Watch group states, suspects can thus be tried, convicted and even executed without appearing before an independent judicial tribunal. They have no right to appeal, no right to a public trial, no right to confront evidence against them, and no requirement that proof be established beyond reasonable doubt. There is, needless to say, no presumption of innocence. These military commissions make a mockery of the notions of "democracy" and "civilisation" which the US, with Blair as their cheerleader, claimed that the war on terrorism was supposed to be about. They are, in fact, the methods used by dictatorships the world over. Foreign secretary Straw, defence secretary Hoon and Blair have all backed the US government's actions. Straw even claimed the prisoners enjoyed rights "customary to national law", which only shows how compliant he is. Without Blair's tour of world leaders to whip up support, the United States would have had great difficulty sustaining the myth that the bombing of Afghanistan was the reaction of a community of civilisations to the events of September 11. The "war on terror" has provided dictatorial regimes with the excuse to rush through legislation which removes fundamental rights. As the HRW report outlines, "for too many countries, the anti-terror mantra has provided a new reason to ignore human rights". In Israel, the "war on terror" is the signal for the most brutal repression of the Palestinians. In the United States itself, emergency legislation allows indefinite detention of "non-citizens", once the attorney general "certifies" that he has "reasonable grounds to believe" an individual is engaged in terrorist activities or endangers national security. The Movement for a Socialist Future from the start opposed the bombing of Afghanistan and the sending of foreign troops. We have no reason to change our position. Removing the Taleban and installing the corrupt and equally brutal Northern Alliance does nothing for the rights of the Afghan people. Nor does it help the families of the victims of September 11. Killing innocent civilians has only reinforced the ranks of Islamic-inspired terrorists and further encourages crude anti-Americanism in countries ruled by US-backed despots. We condemn the treatment of the prisoners and demand their release and return to countries of their choosing . Where there is evidence of an alleged and specific crime, let the authorities produce it. The treatment of the prisoners is a warning of what New Labour will do with its own anti-terror legislation. Already, more than a dozen people are held indefinitely without the right to a trial or to appear in court. Other people are being picked up in dawn raids because they have voiced support for Osama bin Laden. Conviction for the undefined crime of "terrorism" can be arbitrarily used against anyone who comes into conflict with the state for whatever reason. New Labour's anti-terror laws cast their net far and wide. The "war against terror" is unfolding against a background of a rapidly disintegrating world economy. This is bringing rising unemployment, the destruction of pension plans and personal investments that were supposed to pay off mortgages. What the callous treatment of the Afghan prisoners confirms is that the gloves are off for the global corporations and their puppet governments. The era of so-called liberal democracy is at an end. To defend and advance our rights means challenging the Bush-Blair alliance at every level. That is why the MSF is one of the sponsors of the Charter for Basic Democratic Rights and its campaign for a democratisation of economic resources and the creation of new, truly democratic political structures. January 18, 2002 ======================= Movement for a Socialist Future visit our website @ www.socialistfuture.org.uk _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
