Libya: Prisoners held in shipping containers

From Amnesty International:

Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011

Amnesty International Reveals Detainees in Libya Left to Suffocate in Blazing Hot, Cramped Metal Containers

Survivors Describe “A Day From Hell” as Detainees Drink Urine and Sweat to Try to Stay Alive

(New York) – Libyan forces loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi forces left 19 detainees to die of suffocation while locked inside metal containers in the sweltering June heat in northwestern Libya, Amnesty International has discovered.

Three survivors described how al-Gaddafi loyalists tortured them and then imprisoned them along with 26 others in two cramped cargo containers on June 6 at a construction site in al-Khums, 75 miles east of Tripoli.

The detainees endured temperatures above 104 degrees Fahrenheit and drank their own sweat and urine when the limited water supply ran out. Their captors shouted “rats, shut up," ignoring their cries for help.

Click to read more ...

Human rights and Egypt's transition

One of the big questions for the future of Egypt is how to change the culture of police enforcement, security agencies and the army when it comes to accountability, respect of the rule of law, human rights practice and more generally attitudes towards public freedoms. It was always unrealistic to expect to change this overnight, and there are several problems to tackle — to start with: 

• deeply ingrained institutional practices (sometimes codified in laws, regulations and procedures that have their origins in the days of British rule in Egypt, as well as the security state established by Nasser);  
• the need for a shift away from a culture of entitlement, paternalism, sexism, and authoritarianism;
• a structural adjustment to end a micro-economy of corruption that made police officers, for instance, resort to accepting bribes because their basic salaries are low and they were practically encouraged to be on the take to compensate. This of course benefited more senior officers who were engaged in more serious corruption (and were paid adequately) and shielded them from criticism, since everyone was on the take. 

Click to read more ...

The justifications of the torturer

Alaa al-Aswany in the Los Angeles Times:

"As President Obama prepares for his trip to Egypt this week, the Mubarak regime is facing unprecedented waves of social protest because life here has become intolerable for millions of Egyptians, who now have no choice but to take to the streets to proclaim their demand for a life fit for humans. Today, between 40% and 50% of Egyptians live below the poverty line; Egypt has become two different countries -- one for the poor and one for the rich. As for the regime, it is now completely incapable of serious reform, so it pushes the police to confront, repress and torture people, overlooking the simple and important fact that police officers are, first and foremost, Egyptian citizens and that what applies to Egyptians in general applies to them too. Most of them suffer in the same way as other Egyptians. I often recall the discussion I had with the State Security officer at the wedding. And I reflect that a political system that relies for its survival on repression always fails to see that the apparatus of repression, however mighty it may be, must be operated by individuals who are part of society and whose interests and opinions generally conform with those of the rest of the population. As repression increases, a day will come when those individuals can no longer justify to themselves the crimes they are committing against people. At that point the regime will lose its power to repress and will meet the fate it deserves. I believe that we in Egypt are approaching that day. "

The story opened with a meeting with a State Security officer whom he confronts about working for the regime. It's worth reading in its entirety.

Click to read more ...

Fault Lines on the torture debate, Obama's relationship with Mubarak, Saudis

I caught a glimpse of a very lively debate on torture on Al Jazeera English's new show Fault Lines (hosted by Josh Rushing, former US Army spokesman in Qatar captured in the wonderful documentary on al-Jazeera Control Room). The show is about the recent US controversy over President Obama to close US-based torture programs (but not torture carried out by allied countries such as Egypt, Jordan or Morocco), his decision not to release further Abu Ghraib and other photos, and his ambivalence about prosecuting senior Bush administration officials who were involved in the decision to authorize torture. Part I The second part has an interesting outburst by former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer against Obama's visit to Cairo. At around 1:08 he says:

This business of rendition and interrogation is important and should get sorted out. But when congressmen and other people say, "this is a a great recruiter for al-Qaeda" -- let me tell you what's the great recruiter for al-Qaeda: when Mr. Obama goes to Cairo and raises his arms with Mr. Mubarak and cheers for freedom, and then goes and kisses the royal buttocks of King Abdallah in Saudi Arabia because we're dependent on their oil, that's much more of a recruitment tool then anything that happened at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay. This is small potatoes.

Later (3:38) he adds:

Mr. Obama does not know the first thing about how this world works and cheer freedom with Hosni Mubarak.

Part II

Click to read more ...

Abu Ghraib abuse photos 'show rape' - Telegraph

Abu Ghraib abuse photos 'show rape' - Telegraph
Explosive - these are the pictures Obama does not want released: "At least one picture shows an American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner while another is said to show a male translator raping a male detainee. Further photographs are said to depict sexual assaults on prisoners with objects including a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube. Another apparently shows a female prisoner having her clothing forcibly removed to expose her breasts."

Click to read more ...

Reuters AlertNet - Afghan was taken to Guantanamo aged 12-rights group

Reuters AlertNet - Afghan was taken to Guantanamo aged 12-rights group
Grotesque: "Interviews with the family of Mohammed Jawad, who like many poor Afghans does not know his exact age or birthday, showed he was probably not even a teenager when he was arrested in 2002, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission said. He was picked up by Afghan police in connection with a grenade attack in Kabul in which two U.S. soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were wounded. He was transferred to U.S. custody the same day and flown to Guantanamo in early 2003. Commissioner Nader Nadery said in addition to being a minor at the time of his detention, Jawad was tortured and abused by the Afghan police and while at the Guantanamo detention centre, located at a U.S. naval base in Cuba."

Click to read more ...

Links February 13th to February 15th

Links for February 13th through February 15th:

• ei: How Barack Obama learned to love Israel - Ali Abunimah on how Obama wooed AIPAC
• Egypt: Arab Charter for Satellite TV a Major Setback to Press Freedom in Region, Says Article 19 - On recently issued Arab Ministers of Information regulations for satellite TV
• "Six Questions for Darius Rejali, Author of ?Torture and Democracy?" by Scott Horton -
• FT.com / World - Syria arrests prominent dissident - Riad Seif latest Syrian dissident to be arrested after joining "Damascus declaration"
• Palestinian revenge was inevitable - Haaretz - Op-ed by senior Hamas advisor in op-ed, says Abu Mazen can no longer negotiate for Pals

Click to read more ...

Links for January 11th

Automatically posted links for January 11th:

• Islam and democracy | The practice?and the theory | Economist.com - Rather flawed piece since it alleges democracy not discussed in Muslim lands
• The Arabs | Between fitna, fawda and the deep blue sea | Economist.com - "IT IS not easy to be an Arab these days"
• George MacDonald Fraser - Economist obituary of Flashman creator
• ACLU: Court Rejects Government?s Attempt to Deport Egyptian to Torture - Egyptian convert successfully claims torture is likely if sent back to Egypt
• House Leaders Vow Tough Stance on Iran - Tom Lantos potential successors just as gung-ho on Israel
• Torture In Egypt: The Nadeem Center?s Report at 3arabawy - Hossam has torture report available for download
• Egypt names site of first nuclear reactor - It's Dabaa, whatever the real estate speculators wanted!
• CIA: We said back in 1974 that Israel had nuclear weapons - But in Seymour Hersh's "Samson Option" it's clear the US knew, but did not want to hear, in late 1960s
• 25 Simply Amazing Mosques - List includes many modern mosques, but what about Hassan II in Casablanca?
• Threat To Cut U.S. Aid Opens Rift With Egypt - Forward looks at Egypt's accusations at Israel lobby

Click to read more ...

Links January 7th and January 8th

Automatically posted links for January 7th through January 8th:

• Bhutto Killing Roils Province, Spurring Call to Quit Pakistan - WSJ.com - Sindhis outraged, some call for armed insurgency, secession!
• Trip Notes from the Middle East - White House blogs during Middle East trip
• The Clash - Fouad Ajami, with hindsight, agrees with Huntington and fears for West
• Menassat - New NGO website on Arab media
• Egypt Police Officer Jailed 5 Years - Another conviction in a police abuse case
• G H A S B O U B A: Touareg Genocide - Very interesting interview (in French) of Niger Touareg leader
• An American in Iran - The New York Review of Books - Max Rodenbeck visits Iran

Click to read more ...

Links for January 6th

Automatically posted links for January 6th:

• Report: FBI translator says Israel planted nuclear 'moles' in U.S. - Another twist the Larry Franklin affair / Israeli spy operation in US
• Interview with Khalil Enani - Author of new book on Muslim Brothers
• Egypt police torture mentally handicapped boy - Can a day pass without one of these stories?
• Egypt court jails three police in abuse case - Another conviction against police torturers
• al-Qaida Videos Now on Cell Phones - Bin Laden & co. develop multimedia distribution platforms

Click to read more ...