Tag Archive for 'torture'


06
Jan
2009

The New York Times documents war crimes by the US Government

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , .
original article

A New York Times article documents the plight of a Pakistani citizen, Mr. Muhammad Saad Iqbal, who was arrested in Indonesia in 2002, then transferred to Egypt by CIA to be tortured.

He was finally released from Guantanamo Bay in August of 2008 after more than six months in captivity. He had repeatedly been cleared by lie detectors and other interrogation techniques of having anything to do with Al Qaeda. Yet it took the US six years to release this man.

He’s been on antibiotics for more than five years and is dependent on multiple drugs. He has multiple infections in his ears and suffers from injury to his back that’s making walking difficult. He’s attempted suicide twice and went on hunger strike three times while held illegally by the United States.

You have to wonder about a Government that’s supposed to be the champion of democracy and justice all over the world, and does things like this to innocent people. Here’s hoping a jury awards this man a multi-billion dollar settlement once his lawyers get around to suing the US Government for torture, kidnap and illegal detainment.

-TPP


13
May
2008

Torture on US soil, pt II

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , .
original article

I wrote last year about two lawsuits filed against the US Government by two immigrants deported from the country. The deportees claimed the US immigration officials escorting them out of the country drugged them with powerful antipsychotic drugs against their will and with no medical reason to pacify them while they were in custody and en route back to their home countries. Both those cases have since been settled out of court in favor of the deportees.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) changed its rules regarding Involuntary chemical restraint of detainees (i.e. torture) after the lawsuits so that any such actions requires a court order, but a Washington Post article investigating the issue says ICE has continued to ignore its rules.

Haldol, one of the drugs routinely administered to deportees, has been in used in Soviet Union, where it was often given to political dissidents imprisoned in psychiatric hospitals. It is good to know “cultural” exchange with the Soviet Union is still bearing fruit.

-TPP


12
Oct
2007

Torture on US soil

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , .
original article

CNN.com reports that two immigrants, who were deported from the United States, are suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with the help of ACLU.

It appears that ICE decided it’d be a good idea to forcefully inject the detainees with powerful anti-psychotic drugs to make the detainees easier to handle. The detainees medical condition was not assessed before the injections, so the drugs could’ve had severe side effects with other medication the detainees might have taken.

I know ICE really doesn’t think immigrants, especially the illegal ones, have any rights and that they can do whatever they please to these people, but this is going way over the line. It is, according to all international (and likely domestic) laws, torture, plain and simple.

Let’s see what becomes of this. Will some higher ups get a slap on the wrist, or is there going to be an appropriate punishment for all involved for torturing another human being?

-TPP


03
Aug
2005

Liberating Iraq one General at a time

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , .
original article

The Washington Post article describes torture techniques CIA and the US Army used while interrogating an Iraqi General, who walked into a US Army base and surrendered soon after Baghdad fell to the US troops.

Turns out hitting people repeatedly with the butt of an M16 rifle and then sitting on their chest while said person is restrained inside a sleeping bag tied with eletric wire can cause sudden death. Who would’ve thunk it?

-TPP