Asscroft's latest torture chamber (from WP)...the horror is too

[diamond14]

much...America is gone now...we are living in a nightmare of bush* madness...this man hasn't even had a trial, he is 'accused' but not yet gone to trial....once upon a time, a person was "innocent until proven guilty" and torture was not allowed...

--------------------------------------
-snips-

Torture at the Push of a Button

By Jonathan Turley
Thursday, August 28, 2003; Page A27


Last week accused sniper John Allen Muhammad raised a point of legal procedure and received a shocking response -- literally. Muhammad objected to a medical test that had not been ordered by the court or discussed with his attorney. In response to his refusal to cooperate, the guards activated a stun belt that sent a powerful electrical charge through his body.

While few people in this region have sympathy for Muhammad, the use of a 50,000-volt shock was a disturbing introduction to this common device. In fact, the use of the stun belt in such a circumstance is unlawful but not unique. Stun belts have been denounced internationally as a violation of basic human rights. Local government and Congress should insist on new guidelines, if not a ban, on the use of these devices.

At $800 each, stun belts are the closest thing to a fashion craze in the correctional field. For the well-appointed prosecutor or prison guard, they're a must. The devices are battery-operated and fit around the waist of a prisoner. The guard holds a simple remote control that sends an eight-second, 50,000- to 70,000-volt surge through a prisoner, causing immediate loss of muscular control and incapacitation. When shocked, many individuals will defecate or urinate on themselves. Some can experience fatal cardiac arrhythmia. Muscular weakness and temporary paralysis or weakness continue for 30 to 45 minutes. Last spring Wisconsin sheriffs held a public display to show the media how harmless tasers (stun guns) and stun belts are by shocking one of their own deputies, appropriately named Krist Boldt. Boldt was hit with a five-second jolt and was sent to the hospital with a head wound after he hit the floor.

The increasing use of stun belts in the United States has alarmed some of our closest friends internationally. Stun belts have been defined as a torture device by Amnesty International, which describes them as "cruel, inhumane and degrading." The United Nations Committee Against Torture has objected that they may violate the Geneva Conventions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56565-2003Aug27.html

[Sushi_lover]

1. we live with evil science fiction overlords

fight the power.

[Plaid Adder]

7. No shit!

I am writing a dystopia novel right now and I'll tell you, I cannot invent *anything* that is to bad that this administration will not immediately top it. In my little dystopic prison, the guards are using handheld stun guns...but it never occurred to me to give the *prisoners* stun belts that can be activated by remote control.

I have a fairly active imagination, but it just cannot compete with Ashcroft's America.

:scared:

The Plaid Adder

[Capn Sunshine]

8. Let's not forget the spirit of this policy goes to Nixon's America

If you didn't experience it, read up on Bobby Seale's treatment at the "Chicago Seven "conspiracy trial.

Seal was representing himself. In response to his constant objections, Judge Julius Hoffman ordered he be bound, gagged and tied to his chair.

read up, young DUers and see what we had to deal with in the Anti-war movement then:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/Account.html

[diamond14]

9. unless today's youth adopt Chicago 7 spunk....the DRAFT will be

simply too easy to implement...there seems to be no fight in today's potential draftees: lack of votes, lack of participation in protests, lack of any new ideas, putting no effort into it, not even using computer skills, total lack of backbone, no plans...IMHO, the DRAFT is coming simply because of the lack of resistance to it...the most media-savvy generation ever, yet, no effort to use that understanding....sheep, going to the slaughter....

[arcane1]

2. "Muhammad reportedly refused to submit to an X-ray ..."

"...without speaking with his counsel. Muhammad had agreed to a court-ordered MRI, but objected that the X-ray was never raised. According to The Post, Muhammad was restrained by the wrists and ankles and never became violent. The stun belt was apparently used to punish him and force him to conform to the wishes of the guards. With stun belt literature promising guards "total psychological supremacy" over inmates, an inmate's failure to yield can enrage a guard and easily lead to such "corrective action."


:wtf: world are we living in?

[Brian Sweat]

5. I have little sympathy for Muhammad, but this is clearly wrong.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Huh?

I remember stun belts from a few years ago. Big deal over them and sadistic cops and guards using them for torture, and not having much actual use in practice. Maybe use them for subduing the most crazed offenders when handcuffs or chains aren't enough, and the safety of the cops or guards is in question, but not much else.

Thought they were pretty much forgotten in most places.

I guess not.

[diamond14]

4. "stun belts are used in 30 state prisons and all federal trial courts"

makes you wonder about those people in Gitmo....welcome to the USAPATRIOT America...where torture in routine at all levels...

[ComerPerro]

6. Do you expect me to talk, Ashcroft?

No, Mr. Muhammad, I expect you to die.