The travesties at Guantanamo Bay
The big news story in Britain today is that the four remaining Britons held by the United States in Guantanamo Bay are going to be released. Great news and I'm happy for their families, but this situation should never have been allowed to happen. The United States has for a long time called itself the land of the free and the defender of democracy but their actions in Guantanamo Bay strike me as being worse than those of many dictatorships around the world. The men held at Guantanamo Bay have been held against their will without trial or access to a lawyer for almost three years. Their civil rights have been totally ignored; they have been treated as if they had no rights whatsoever. The United States have been acting with total disregard for what anyone else may think. Their country was attacked and so they attacked Afganistan and arrested anyone they could get their hands on. They claimed these people were a threat to their national security and gave them an excuse to do whatever they liked with them.
Just like a playground bully they cry, "They started it!" And everyone is powerless to do anything about it. There is no country in the world with the courage to stand up to the United States and stop them doing it because the United States is just too powerful. It is out of control and there is no one who can stop it. Well, maybe 250 million people could have stopped it but they voted the madman responsible for this travesty back into office. George Bush is guilty of many War Crimes but I bet he never has to answer for any of them, assuming we all survive the next four years with someone like him in power.
But George Bush isn't the only dangerous person out there we need to careful of. Tony Blair hasn't kept himself clean through the last couple of years. His unwavering support of George Bush has lost him serious credibility in this country and let's not forget that we have our own version of the Guantanamo Bay detainees. There are twelve people being held in this country without trial in clear contravention of their human rights. Last month the Law Lords from the House of Lords, the upper house of parliament, ruled that the detention was unlawful but they still haven't been released.
I despair at all the breaches in civil liberties that have happened since 2001. Many of them in this country had been instigated by the former Home Sectretary, David Blunkett, a man I grew to despise, mainly because of his cavalier attitude to human rights. In the weeks leading up to his eventual resignation I was crying for his blood, but once he had gone I was sorry that he'd had to resign in the way that he did. In the end his resignation has done nothing to improve the situation. The twelve detainees are still being held and the ridiculous Identity Cards are still being brought in.
We live in troubled times that make me fearful for the future. God save us from this madness.
Just like a playground bully they cry, "They started it!" And everyone is powerless to do anything about it. There is no country in the world with the courage to stand up to the United States and stop them doing it because the United States is just too powerful. It is out of control and there is no one who can stop it. Well, maybe 250 million people could have stopped it but they voted the madman responsible for this travesty back into office. George Bush is guilty of many War Crimes but I bet he never has to answer for any of them, assuming we all survive the next four years with someone like him in power.
But George Bush isn't the only dangerous person out there we need to careful of. Tony Blair hasn't kept himself clean through the last couple of years. His unwavering support of George Bush has lost him serious credibility in this country and let's not forget that we have our own version of the Guantanamo Bay detainees. There are twelve people being held in this country without trial in clear contravention of their human rights. Last month the Law Lords from the House of Lords, the upper house of parliament, ruled that the detention was unlawful but they still haven't been released.
I despair at all the breaches in civil liberties that have happened since 2001. Many of them in this country had been instigated by the former Home Sectretary, David Blunkett, a man I grew to despise, mainly because of his cavalier attitude to human rights. In the weeks leading up to his eventual resignation I was crying for his blood, but once he had gone I was sorry that he'd had to resign in the way that he did. In the end his resignation has done nothing to improve the situation. The twelve detainees are still being held and the ridiculous Identity Cards are still being brought in.
We live in troubled times that make me fearful for the future. God save us from this madness.
posted by David Keates at 1:37 am
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