Torture

[lederhosen]

Via silverblue, a post here about the conditions in which Jose Padilla has been held. Note that Padilla is a US citizen who was arrested within the USA; it was three years before he was even charged.

No human contact, unless he was being interrogated.
No light.
Nothing to read.
Nothing to sleep on but a metal slab.
The only person in a naval brig; locked into a 10' cell.
For three years.

Comments

[elynne.livejournal.com]

And for everyone who says "Oh, that wouldn't be such a big deal, I could do that standing on my head": imagine it happening to your child. your spouse. your parents.

The thought of this happening to my husband, for instance, makes me incandescent with rage and fear.

[karjack.livejournal.com]

What's appalling is that there are people saying he got off easy considering what he tried to do. Never mind that he was never even charged with a crime.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

Actually, he was eventually charged (CNN story here).

Three and a half years after he was arrested, and the charges bore little resemblance to the 'dirty bomb' allegations used to justify his detainment and the conditions. And even that probably happened only because the Supreme Court was about to consider the legality of his detainment, and their verdict might have embarrassed somebody.

But technically, he was charged.

[karjack.livejournal.com]

Yes, he was. I meant in the context of his imprisonment, i.e. at the time he was being treated the way he was, he wasn't charged with a crime.

Yet online tonight, on an OOC channel on a game, one of my countrymen commented he wished they'd tortured the guy to death given what he had tried to do. He's a garden variety moron, but it's worrisome. I worry about people like this being able to vote even as I'm surprised they can, say, dress and feed themselves.

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

*Grabs his head and goes into a frustrated fit. Vicious people seem to be getting their way.*