A Child At Guantánamo: The Unending Torment of Mohamed Jawad

However, the most shocking detail to emerge from Maj. Montalvo’s visit to Afghanistan was his announcement that recent research indicated that Jawad was not 16 or 17 when seized (in contrast to the Pentagon’s claim that he was 18), but that he was in fact just 12 years old. Full article by Andy Worthington.

Al Jazeera Journalist Imprisoned & Tortured at Gitmo to Sue Bush

Sami al-Haj, the al Jazeera journalist who spent seven years at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo is preparing to file a lawsuit against former president George W Bush and other top Bush administration officials. al-Haj was repeatedly interrogated by U.S. operatives attempting to falsely link al Jazeera to al Qaeda. al-Haj was also tortured. Full article.

Dick Cheney’s fantasy war

“Last week a report by inspectors general at five federal agencies offered more insights into the efforts of the National Security Agency and CIA on warrantless eavesdropping. It turns out there not just one, but an entire suite of secret efforts that the report helpfully labelled “the President’s Surveillance Programme” (PSP). Each new report makes it clearer that Cheney’s stated determination to “take the gloves off” resulted in the creation of a shadowy bureaucratic archipelago of highly secret anti-terror programmes accountable to virtually no one (except, theoretically anyway, Cheney himself).” Full article.

The American People Must Demand Torture Accountability

Not only is torture illegal, but condoning it leads us down a slippery slope toward unfettered executive power and sets a dangerous precedent for prisoner treatment, both in the U.S. and abroad. What are the implications for the future of the United States, especially in terms of public faith, the rule of law, and global trust and respect, if our government refuses to investigate and prosecute torture? Full article.

Arundhati Roy at the London Literature Festival – 2009

Another question was about “the fact that liberal, educated people are the ones who can listen and appreciate your arguments and books and not the poor.” Roy’s touchiness showed as she replied that, “strangely in India, the hierarchy of education and status has, like you, resulted in more narrow thoughts at the top rather then amongst the poor.” Arundhati Roy

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