Torture as Acceptable Government Policy: USA, NATO and Canada
Contributed by John W. Warnock
Monday, 16 January 2012
On January 5 Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared that within one month the U.S. government and NATO must hand over control of the Parwan prison at Agram Air Force Base north of Kabul to the Afghan government. An Afghan government commission investigated and reported that the there is systematic abuse of those held in this prison.
Gul Rahman Qazi, head of the commission, told the press that only 300 of the 2700 mainly Afghans held at the prison had been charged with any offense. The remainder “were being held without charges or evidence of guilt” and should be released. The vast majority of detainees had “no access to the courts” or family members. Many of those who had been charged in court and released, or who had served enough time in the jail to cover their sentences, were still being held by NATO authorities on the grounds that they were suspected of being insurgents.
In addition, the Afghan commission charged that detainees were being subjected to practices that were widely understood to be torture. These included beatings, various techniques of sleep deprivation, being held in small cells with no light, no heat and inadequate clothes and blankets, and being stripped and given intrusive body searches. Some of those who had not been charged were held for long periods of time in solitary confinement.
Last week the U.S. government announced that the ninth Predator Drone will be deployed protecting the borders of the United States against the infiltration of terrorists, criminals, drug traffickers and economic refugees. Six of these unmanned attack aircraft are based in Arizona and Texas and operate along the border with Mexico. The other three operate along the northern border, between Minneapolis and Seattle. They are stationed at the Grand Forks, ND U.S. Air Force base. When the program of U.S. government monitoring the “undefended border” began it had the full support of the Harper government. The Predator drones operate high in the sky and cannot be seen or heard from the ground. They are active far from the bases where they are stationed and directed. They can monitor individuals well across the border into Canada. The U.S. government insists that so far they have not been armed with missiles.
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At Monday's meeting of City Council, Fred Clipsham's motion--"Prevent the
demolition of the apartment block at 1755 Hamilton Street"--passed
unanimously. This means the motion will appear as an agenda item at the next
City Council meeting, which will take place Monday January 23.
At that meeting, interested members of the public will be able to make
presentations. Presentations must be no longer than 10 minutes. They must be
submitted in writing to the City Clerk a few days before the meeting.
Although any one who wishes is free to give a presentation, I think we
would be wise to draw up a list of presenters so that as many groups as possible
are represented and so we do not become too repetitive.
Thanks to everyone who made phone calls or sent emails to the Mayor and
City Councillors. They really made a difference. Thanks also to all those who
showed up at last night's meeting.
City Council will be talking about housing at its meeting tomorrow,
Monday December 19, starting at 5:30. Fred Clipsham will make a motion
to defer taking a decision on the 1755 Hamilton Street building (the
Black Building) until Council's January meeting.
The Black Building is a 46 unit, low-rent
apartment building in downtown Regina. Recently tenants were
given eviction notices and the property, owned by Westland Properties,
is set to be demolished.
If Fred's motion passes, then we will have a few more weeks to get ourselves organized to oppose the demolition.
We need a full house at the Council meeting. Spread the word.
Also on the agenda: Heritage designations for the Cornwall Row House, Turgeon International Hostel and the Waddell Residence.
CR11-167: the
results of the Regina Revitalization Initiative’s (RRI) private/public
partnership (P3) study. Council will look to recommend a P3 as a way to
fund a new stadium.
The third recommendation in the report states that council will ask
administration to guide them on the type of stadium they should
pursue through the P3 process.
The issue of the veiling of women is again on the political agenda in Canada. The mainstream media has generally portrayed this as a conflict between the state and the right of women to assert their freedom of religion under the Charter of Rights. However, there is nothing in the Qur’an (I have read an English version) that even implies that women should be veiled when in public. If this were so, then you would not see so many women in Muslim countries around the world who do not wear any form of the veil.
The veiling of women is a patriarchal cultural practice that was widespread around the world before the beginning of Christianity and Islam. In her study of the origins of patriarchy, U.S. historian Gerda Lerner found that what seems to us today to be extreme misogynist laws and practices date back to the pre-state tribal and agricultural societies of the Near East. They are then codified in state regimes, including the Code of Hammurabi (1752 BCE), the Middle Assyrian kingdoms (15th to 11th BCE) and the Hebrew laws (1200 - 400 BCE).
1755 Hamilton Street is a 46 unit, low-rent apartment building in downtown
Regina. Recently tenants were given eviction notices and the property, owned by
Westland Properties, is set to be demolished.
In the context of Regina's housing crisis, the demolition of such a
building is surely unethical. 1755 Hamilton Street is one of the few remaining
places in the city offering low-rent accommodation. The vacancy rate in Regina
is currently 0.6%, which essentially means there is no rental accommodation
available.
What can we do to stop the evictions and the demolition?
Here are a few ideas I have. Please add to the list.
1. Form a coalition of all the groups in the city concerned about the
housing crisis.
2. Start a campaign of some sort. For example, send 1000s of messages
to City Councillors over the holiday period.
3. Whatever we do, we would need to get media attention.
Please let us do something. Not only might we be able to save this low-rent
apartment building, we could also let City Hall know that many of the city's
residents want it to address the housing crisis.
The recent images of Attawapiskat, Ontario have given a glimpse into the
third world conditions some Canadians are living in. Black mold,
plastic covered windows, 20 people sharing a two-bedroom house, the list
goes on. A group of Saskatoon supporters are holding a film screening/fundraiser to support the Red Cross Intervention, Sunday, Dec. 11 at La Troupe du Jour 914 20th St. W.. The film is 'Canada: Apartheid Nation.' Here's the movie trailer:
Condo conversion policy report is out. It is not good. It will be before the Regina Planning Commission on Monday, November 28th at 4 pm. We encourage everyone to be there to show your concern around housing and what this policy will do to reduce housing availability not support it. If you want to make a presentation, read the report and come to speak your 10 minutes on the report. http://www.regina.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=7771
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In the Spanish general election last Sunday, the Socialist Party government was soundly defeated. The rightist Peoples Party won the election but only increased their vote by a very small margin. The Indignados, the people who staged mass street mobilizations, asked the voters to stay home, spoil their ballot or vote for the numerous smaller parties. Neither of the two major parties were deemed fit to govern, they argued. The Socialists lost three million votes.
The Spanish economy is in the tank with unemployment at 22% and youth unemployment over 40%. Personal and government debt is huge, and investors fear they will default on their bonds. As in the United States, the crisis is the fallout from the collapse of the housing bubble, created by the unregulated finance industry supported by low interest rates and neoliberal government policies.
The decline of the social democrats All across Europe, the pattern is the same. The social democratic parties in government embraced the agenda of big business. They deregulated the finance industry, cut taxes on corporations and the rich, and privatized state assets. As government revenues fell, they imposed “reforms” to social programs which fell heaviest on the poor and the working class.
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1755 Hamilton Street is a 46 unit, low-rent apartment building in downtown
Regina. Recently tenants were given eviction notices and the property, owned by
Westland Properties, is set to be demolished. 