'Deal struck' over Cuba Britons (Guantanamo Bay)

[Judi Lynn]

Last Updated: Sunday, 17 August, 2003, 09:18 GMT 10:18 UK

'Deal struck' over Cuba Britons

The Britons' parents have not heard from them for months
The nine British terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba will serve their sentences in the UK if convicted, in a deal reportedly struck by the government.
In return, the government has agreed to abide by whatever sentences are handed down by the US military tribunals and not to release any of the men early, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

A senior UK adviser told the newspaper the government does not want the men returned to the UK for trial because it could be difficult securing a successful prosecution.

"The Americans would be glad if we took the men now, but there is little chance of them being tried here because we have little evidence against them that would be admissible in a British court," he is quoted as saying. (snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3157541.stm

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

1. can we tolerate Gitmo at all ? It's sadistic and offshore.

Dope de doe--
Brits held indefinitely without charges..
What?
In the USA?
no, x cuse me...technically not in the USA...
so that's ok?????

Since when do we all just say "yup, whatever..."???

These little brats in the White House have a torture chamber deluxe going !!!

and we're all just dope de doe!!!!!!!??????

Since when do we as Americans tolerate actions of our leaders that violate human rights to such a degree? What ? just because of 911? no way.

What they're doing is so sick they can't even do it on American soil.
Tribunals have begun in secret.
Secret executions.

No journalists...no international inspectors--
Gestapo SS NAZI Style concentration camps.
And you can believe this is just the beginning.

The American people have to put a stop to this.

And you just know that Rumzfoold and Shrubby go down there for their own little private torture jollies tour.
All on the taxpayers bill.

Is that ok with all of you?

[Judi Lynn]

2. Just read your post

Felt additionally sick!

Did you read the thread posted here in the last few days which said that the _Bush administration has claimed that they have no actual knowledge of just how many prisoners they HAVE at Gitmo?

They claim they just don't know.

When I read your reference to the new execution facility, it hit me that they certainly can't say how many there are when they are executing them behind everyone's back.

If we knew how many went in, we'd expect the same number to come back out.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

3. you have a good point

I would like to read the thread from the other day. Do you have a link by any chance?

By the way, I really think these "secret" prisons are going to get more serious when next year's electon fraud puts Bush in again.
(and you know that they will fix the elections)
And after the fake elections I'd bet those who push to investigate may just be swept into these prison camps.

Americans may be denied their constitutional rights just because they oppose the facist takeover of our country.

We need to raise issues via CONGRESS about the legality of "secret" prisons within our free system.

I am writing Waxmnan about this.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Haven't found it yet. The subject should be brought up continually!

Intresting words from Amnesty International, an organization whose statements have been used by our own rightwingers to devaluate the governments of third world countries, as if they are etched in stone.

When Amnesty International has an opinion of our own human abuse problem at Guantamo, we appear to get really huffy!

(snip) Amnesty International says U.S. anti-terror drive sets bad example


Updated at 4:32 on August 19, 2003, EST.


LONDON (AP) - Amnesty International has urged the United States to call off plans to try terrorist suspects before military tribunals, and to give international observers access to prisons in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.


The international human rights organization said Tuesday it was seriously concerned about persistent allegations of ill-treatment and the refusal of U.S. authorities to grant access to independent human rights organizations and lawyers.

"Allegations of abuses such as arbitrary arrests, prolonged incommunicado detention, ill-treatment, interrogations without legal counsel and threats of unfair trials by military bodies are raised each year in the U.S. State Department's reports on human rights practices in other countries," Amnesty International said.

"Now they are being made against the U.S. government in the context of its 'war on terror.' " (snip/...)

http://www3.cjad.com/content/cjad_news/article.asp?id=w081937A

From a posted article by Kainah, concerning Amnesty International's statement on Guantamo:

(snip) Sean McCormack, spokesman for the National Security Council, declined to comment yesterday, saying he had not seen the report. NSC spokesmen have challenged previous claims of ill treatment, saying that the United States treats enemy combatants humanely.
(snip)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=72089

Yeah, A.I. seems to be waaaay out of line, according to our N.S.C. if they are questioning the _Bush "administration."

[T_i_B]

5. The terrorists are winning, Mr Blair

Fantastic article on the subject.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/08/05/do0502.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2003/08/05/ixopinion.html

There is some inevitability that the most scandalous decision yet made by this Government emerged on a blazing hot weekend, as the world abandoned seriousness and turned for Barbados or Tuscany or some other version of oblivion and rest. As the holidays loom, we have now at last learnt that the nine British terrorist suspects held by the Americans in Guantánamo Bay are going to be tried there.

It is the decision itself that is wicked, the strongest signal yet that this Government has no interest or belief in the essential foundations of this country's legal and political systems.

It becomes clearer by the day that its heart lies more with authority than with justice, more with the imposition of its will than with the rights of any citizens and more with its desire for re-election than anything to do with good government. Its controlling spirit is the essence of illiberalism. The millenarian phrases so breezily bandied about by the Blair gang in the mid-1990s, "New Labour, New Hope", "Things can only get better" - how sickeningly hollow they sound now, the pompous and deceitful thumping of the humbug drum.