Tuesday, May 01, 2007

A little thought for May Day

David Seaton's News Links
When George W. Bush talks about the problem of human rights in Cuba, perhaps he should begin with that part of Cuba that he controls, Guantanamo. Very possibly Fidel Castro's Cuban prisoners have more legal guarantees than George W. Bush's Cuban prisoners do. DS

Gitmo: still a 'legal black hole - Editorial - Los Angeles Times
Abstract: The Bush administration has a shameful record when it comes to detainees at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base who assert that they are wrongly being held as "enemy combatants." At first, the administration argued that detainees had no right to consult a lawyer, period. Later, it had to disavow a mean-spirited attack by a Pentagon official on lawyers who had dared to represent "terrorists." Now the administration is rightly being criticized for asking a federal court to scale back the detainees' access to their lawyers (only three visits once an attorney has been retained) and to place restrictions on attorney-client mail. The rationale for the crackdown is that lawyers have encouraged a hunger strike and other "threats to security" by informing detainees about events in the outside world, including the war in Lebanon and prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. READ IT ALL

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