Judge Says Guantanamo Policies Deny Justice

"It is often said that 'justice delayed is justice denied.' Nothing could be closer to the truth with reference to the Guantanamo Bay cases," U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler of Washington D.C., wrote in a ruling Friday, spurning the Pentagon's attempt to deny Bisher Al Rawi, another Afghan man held at Guantanamo, from representing his friend Al Razak.

Al Rawi would represent his friend with the help of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has aided several hundred Guantanamo detainees, and New York lawyer Alan Sussman.

Al Razak's legal filings say he is not a member of the Taliban, al-Qaida or any terrorist group, but has been kept in isolation, repeatedly interrogated and severely beaten, put in cages without privacy, shackled with heavy chains and irons, exposed to extreme temperatures, sexually humiliated and subjected to violent behavior and psychological abuse.

Kessler wrote that Al Razak has been cut off from family, friends and indeed all of the outside world for more than three years, can't speak English, doesn't know the criminal justice system, lacks access to a law library and has no criminal charges filed against him.

"He has every reason to distrust his captors and keepers. He has every reason to rely on the friendship of other detainees, who speak his language and suffer the same disabilities. He has every reason to challenge his detainment," Kessler wrote. "He cannot communicate with his attorney, nor does he even know at present that he has an attorney. He has no expectation of release, ever."


The paragraphs above, from an AP article in the Houston Chronicle, details the kind of treatment given detainees held by our military at the Guantanamo Base detention facilities. There the detainees are tortured, humiliated, and denied the right to be represented by an attorney.

George Bush is quick to tell us how he believes in freedom and justice, but his actions tell a different story. The freedom and justice he talks about are only for his rich friends.

He showed us in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that he does not care about the less fortunate citizens in the United States. The treatment shown the Guantanamo detainees tells us he is unwilling to grant even the most basic human rights to those he considers his enemies.

For a country that has always prided itself on being a beacon for freedom, justice and human rights, Bush's actions are a profound embarrassment.

The idea of basic human rights for everyone is something he simply does not believe in. To him, human rights are something he doles out to those that he feels deserves them. I don't think it's ever occurred to him that if rights are denied to one person, they are endangered for everyone.

Speaker-elect of the House Nancy Pelosi made a serious mistake when she said a couple of weeks ago the impeachment is "off the table". Bush's dastardly actions make the impeachable offenses of Nixon and Clinton look like child's play. Bush's impeachment should not only be "on the table", but those proceedings should start immediately upon the convening of the new Congress.

If the Guantanamo detainees have committed crimes against the United States, then they should be tried and convicted in a court of law. But no one, not even the enemies of our country, should ever be tortured, humiliated or denied the right to be represented by an attorney in a fair and impartial trial.

Justice is either for everyone, or it is for no one. I would have thought even a moron could understand that concept. But evidently Bush doesn't.