As part of its national Guantanamo Cell Tour, Amnesty International is bringing the Guantanamo Cell Tour to Denver and Minneapolis-St Paul for the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, respectively. And we’ve got billboards in each city too!
Amnesty International is non-partisan and independent of any political ideology. We neither support nor oppose any political party or candidate for public office, and we don’t seek to influence elections. Rather, we call for every government-and every armed group and private company for that matter-to abide by international human rights law and standards.
For anyone reading this who thinks that the fight against terror justifies human rights violations, or that the U.S. government needs to break the law to support U.S. troops, I’ve got news for you: a lot of U.S. military and intelligence folks disagree with you. Here’s a sample, off the top of my head:
- “Amici curiae are retired military officers. Each has extensive experience with U.S. military regulations and the Laws of War. Each believes that the mission of the Nation’s Armed Forces must be consistent with the rule of law.“
- “As retired military leaders of the U.S. Armed Forces…We believe it is vital to the safety of our men and women in uniform that the United States not sanction the use of interrogation methods it would find unacceptable if inflicted by the enemy against captured Americans.”
- “Anybody with real combat experience understands that torture is counterproductive.”
Now back to the Cell Tour:
We’ll be in Denver August 24 -26, at the City of Cuernavaca Park, 20th street and Little Raven (across from the skate park). We’ll be open on Sunday, August 24th, 3pm - 8pm; Monday, August 25th, 11am - 8pm; Tuesday, August 26th, 11am - 8pm. And on Wednesday, August 27th, the cell will move to the Denver Coliseum Parking Lot for the Rage Against the Machine show. The cell will be open that day from 10:30am - 5pm.
We’ll be in Minneapolis-St Paul (specifically, St Paul) September 1- 3, at 7th Street West and Walnut Street. We’ll have an opening event with Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA on Sunday August 31st at 5 pm, and the cell will be open Monday - Wednesday from 10:30am - 7:30pm.
Please stop by! And if you’re attending either of the conventions, please wear orange!
ZJ
20 August 2008 at 5:38 pm
Good morning ZJ!
Hey I read with interest your 3 bullets above.
The first bullet contains 3 retired military officers that are critical of the CSRT process. WOW…Considering the process is more favorable to any enemy combatant or POW in the history of U.S. Conflict, considering it was blessed off by Congress, considering it was drafted and approved by those senior Judge Advocates and Senior Military Leadership Responsible TODAY, considering there is absolutely ZERO undue/command influence or pressure on three independent senior ranking military officials who sit on the CSRT board, since they investigate claims of abuse and when in doubt DO NOT consider inculpatory evidence if it was a self-admission made as the result of claimed torture and considering the detainees now have the right of habeas corpus…not very impressive.
The second bullet is retired military officers (brilliant men and women, 4 of whom I know, have served with and have an immeasarable amount of respect for) who think torture is bad. Any reasonable person and any reasonable member of the Military would agree. That is why the Service Members responsible for guarding and interrogating detainees at GITMO don’t come close to torturing them.
Bullet 3 is a miscellaneous sampling of statements taken at various times, various context, from various sources. When there is an ALTERNATIVE…like Ft. Leavenworth, a U.S. Military Ran Afghanistan or Iraq Detention Facility, or transfering to the CUSTODY of another country (that we can trust) I’m sure GITMO will be closed down…but not when it means releasing terrorists and returning them to the JIHAD.
Hopefully we stop “capturing” them anyway…if you catch my drift!
Well…I have to get back to torturing the detainees now…I think it is some Keanu Reeves movie they are going to watch…AHHHH the HUMANITY!
Have fun in Denver and St. Paul…
BTW…you never responded to my Boumedine v. Bush post. Waving the white flag on that one?
Take care ZJ, Continued peace and blessing to you.
MSG, U.S. Army
U.S.A. Terror Free Since 9-11-2001
20 August 2008 at 5:49 pm
Will you have the fake photo on the background of this page removed? Whatever it is, it is not a U.S. Servivemember or ally standing there…and those hooded tied up people are not at GITMO. It is not a scene from GITMO and to keep it on here to make people believe that it is…that is irresponsible…OMG…Was I right when I guessed you majored in Journalism at Berkeley??
20 August 2008 at 7:06 pm
Brian says:
20 August 2008 at 7:04 pm
Example of “Circular Reasoning” - “Joe is fat because Joe is fat”. How is citing ACTUAL TRUE EVENTS to support my argument…a suicide bomber killing 6 Iraqi Security Police and the examples that Justice Scalia uses…”Circular Reasoning”?…You had a month to chew on this and that is your comeback? C’mon…your dare made it seem like you wanted a debate???
20 August 2008 at 7:28 pm
My challenge was for a rational argument to be provided–and it still hasn’t been met!
20 August 2008 at 8:13 pm
As soon as you are challenged with ACTUAL REAL TRUE UNDISPUTED EVENTS that support the opposite of your argument you hide behind words like Fallacy, Irrational and Circular Reasoning … you seem to not even know what those words mean? You don’t even try to explain how you apply/connect those words to my argument.
Anyway, like I said, have fun in Denver and St. Paul…
Continued peace and blessings to you,
Brian
U.S.A. Terror Free Since 9-11-2001
20 August 2008 at 8:15 pm
“Don’t be shy!”
20 August 2008 at 8:46 pm
Thanks for proving my point!
20 August 2008 at 9:00 pm
Oh, if anyone else is reading: the “challenge” refers to my post from June 13th. After a long delay, it’s still on!
The score so far:
Human rights & justice: 1
Torture & illegal detention: 0
20 August 2008 at 9:03 pm
I am finished with the irrational one (you). You still have proven no point, nor did I prove your point for you. You are a silly child. I made a valid argument that you did not have a response for PERIOD. God Bless you ZJ…since you can’t handle a debate…I’ll leave you and your fallacy, fake, telling half-truths, fake photo-pasting and flatout lies tour and website alone. Good-Bye.
Continued Peace and Blessings to you,
Brian
U.S.A. Terror Free Since 9-11-2001
20 August 2008 at 10:22 pm
Good example of the “ad hominem” fallacy.
28 August 2008 at 7:34 pm
As a military veteran who was stationed at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, I can say that I agree we need to close Guantanamo now. It is a disgrace to America and represents an utter lack of respect for human rights, human life and the rule of law. Having served temporarily with the JTF GTMO I can say that “Brian” is WRONG when he says the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo does not come close to torture. The treatment is consistent with torture and a violation of human rights. Torturing detainees is wrong!
8 September 2008 at 4:25 pm
“SD”-
We agree on one thing…Torture is wrong. Go ahead and close it down as well…since enemy combatants now enjoy habeas rights…lock them up at Ft. Leavenworth instead for all I care. Just stop this riduculous charade. If you really are a military veteran and really did participate in torture or observed it and did nothing…the shame is on you and may the Lord have mercy on your soul. I seriously doubt your authenticity. Just jump the bandwagon!
I for one can sleep at night knowing #1. We are doing the right thing at GITMO and #2. Detainees are not being tortured.
Continued peace and blessing to you “Military Veteran”
U.S.A. Terror Free Since 9-11-2001
MSG, U.S. Army