Children Held in Guantanamo

Guess this shouldn't really be considered 'news', we all know the horrendous abuses that have been carried out in the name of the 'eternal war' set out by Bu$h Corp. Still, the following clip of an interview with a former Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo makes for uncomfortable watching (Length: 2.21mins).

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International

Guantánamo: Amnesty International responds to Military Commission Judge’s ruling to drop Khadr charges

Jumana Musa, Amnesty International’s legal observer at the military commission hearings in Guantánamo Bay for the last two years issued the following statement in response to today’s significant ruling by the military commissions judge to drop charges against Omar Khadr:

“Today’s ruling is the most significant setback since the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the original military commissions. It also signals that these commissions need to be scrapped and the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay must be closed now. The judge’s decision clearly indicates that a fair trial is not possible within a system that is being developed as it proceeds. It raises more questions about the Bush administration and Congress’ wisdom and logic in rushing to patch together a new system of justice, when there are fully functioning federal courts that can not only offer fair trials but also come with established procedure.”

For more information, please see United States of America: Justice delayed and justice denied? Trials under the Military Commissions Act on http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maagEs4abyZS7cksvcKb/

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USA / Guantánamo: Omar Khadr to face trial by military commission

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International

25 April 2007

Reacting to the charges brought against Guantánamo detainee Omar Khadr, Amnesty International said:

“The treatment of Omar Khadr over the past five years exemplifies the USA’s disregard for international law in the ‘war on terror’. Unless the US authorities bring him to trial in a civilian court, taking full account of his age at the time of any alleged offences, he should be returned to Canada.”

Amnesty International reiterates its call to the US authorities to abandon trials by military commissions and to bring any prosecutions of Guantánamo detainees in the ordinary civilian courts. Anyone who is not to be tried in full accordance with international standards should be released.

Background Information

Canadian national Omar Khadr is accused of offences committed in the armed conflict in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old. Instead of taking his age into account when US authorities took him into custody in 2002, as they were obliged to do under international law, they subjected him to years of indefinite detention without charge in Guantánamo.

Omar Khadr, who has alleged that he has been ill-treated in Bagram and Guantánamo, was one of 10 detainees to be charged for trial by the earlier military commissions struck down as unlawful by the US Supreme Court in 2006. Omar Khadr has now been charged for trial under the Military Commissions Act, under procedures that fail to comply with international law and standards.

For further information, please see: USA: Justice delayed and justice denied? Trials under the Military Commissions Act http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510442007
(For information on Omar Khadr and the issue of children, see pages 25-26).

25 April 2007

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Past and current Amnesty news services can be found at <http://www.amnesty.org/news/>. Visit <http://www.amnesty.org> for information about Amnesty International and for other AI publications. Contact amnestyis@amnesty.org if you need to get in touch with the International Secretariat of AmnestyInternational.

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War=Fashion

Good news for all you war loving fashionistas, the RAF is to produce its first official clothing range. According to the head of the RAF's PR and corporate communications, it is all part of an 'education' campaign:

'We started kicking around this idea about two years ago. Our understanding is that the general public is very supportive of us, but they know very little about us - very few can name any frontline aircraft, or explain what we do. So we want to build on their support and create better awareness.'

Smart thinking. Clearly, the military has never been as fashionable as it is now. Although aimed at "middle to young trendy men and....ladies," luckily they also intend on launching a children's range shortly. The militarisation of children has never looked so appealing.

The Innocence Broken With Lies

Remember I posted about the Palestinians used as human shields by the Israeli army? According to B'Tselem's report that was posted on their website today, the victims include a fifteen-year-old boy and an eleven-year-old girl. The following is an extract from their findings:

According to the testimonies, on the first day of the operation, around five o'clock in the morning, soldiers came to the house of the 'Amirah family, in the Old City , and removed all the occupants from the house and took them to a nearby house, where other Palestinians were also being held. Then the soldiers ordered one of the family, 15-year old 'Amid to accompany them in their search of three other houses. According to 'Amid's testimony, the soldiers pushed him with the barrels of their rifles and forced him to enter rooms of the house in front of them, open cabinets and empty out the contents, and open windows. In one instance, according to the testimony, a soldier shot several shots into the room.

In its letter to the Judge Advocate General, B'Tselem pointed out that this was the fourth time since June 2006 (when "Operation Summer Rains," in Gaza , took place), that the organization had documented Israeli soldiers' use of Palestinian civilians as human shields. As far as B'Tselem knows, in only one of these cases did the JAG order a Military Police investigation. That investigation has not yet been completed. In light of these cases, B'Tselem expressed its concern that the military order prohibiting this practice is not property communicated to soldiers, and that the delay in investigating these incidents conveys a message of lenience in the military's treatment of soldiers who engage in such practices. [emphasis mine]

It goes without saying that it is entirely unacceptable for children to be used in this way. It reflects a wider trend for children to be treated as combatants in war. After all, Israel's biggest backer has children locked up at Guantanamo as 'enemy combatants'. There was a time when the militarisation of children was abhorred by civilised states. Now, it would appear, treating children as a part of the wartime environment is par for the course. It is about time all civilised people came together and called for an end to the growing use of children in the battlefield. Whatever happened to innocence?

Further information: B'Tselem's investigation.
Related: B'Tselem have also released a study on the infringement of the human rights of the tens of thousands of Palestinian workers staying in Israel without a permit. You can read more here.