Tell President Obama and Congress to Respect Human Rights and Counter Terror With Justice
by Danny Fisher
This from Amnesty International:
President Obama and a number of members of Congress have resisted full accountability for torture, and have endorsed indefinite detention and unfair military commissions. Further, loopholes for torture and abuse remain and U.S. detentions at Bagram and other facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq do not meet human rights standards. The U.S. government is required by law to end human rights violations and ensure accountability for them. Human rights violations are immoral, illegal and—according to military and intelligence experts—ineffective and counterproductive. There is an alternative: call on President Obama and Congress to respect human rights, follow the law and counter terror with justice.
Send letters to President Obama and your Congresspersons here.
I’ve talked to Republicans and Conservatives who don’t see a problem with treating “enemy combatants” as human garbage. Even if they believe these people have no rights, they should take this into account: Terrorists are using the Abu Graib (spelling?) photographs and other material detailing human rights violations at detention centers as propaganda and recruiting material. We are actually helping these people by sinking to their level and ignoring the law. Just because terrorists are not members of a recognised army does not mean we have the right to treat them like dirt. It is, infact, blatantly against our own interests to not treat these prisoners with some degree of human dignity and respect.