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Vol. 11 Issue 26…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…June 29, 2008
Intuit's Vibe
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
PREAMBLE
Whereas
recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of
all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace
in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human
rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of
mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of
speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the
highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas
it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last
resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should
be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas
it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between
nations,
Whereas
the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in
the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social
progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged to
achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal
respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas
a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest
importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now,
Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN
RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to
the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this
Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to
promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures,
national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition
and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among
the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
The UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS was adopted on December 10, 1948. To
read the DECLARATION in its entirety, go to http://www2.ohchr.org.
Along the Way America Lost Its Way!
By John Burl Smith
When a society's most cherished values are usurped, the usurpers try to
convince the world that they embody those values. Such is the case in the
United State of America (USA). Founded on ideals of freedom, justice and the
liberty to pursue one's dream of happiness, leaders of America claim it is the
world's greatest democracy, when it actually is a republic. Lacking the
democratic prerequisite of one man one vote, George W. Bush became president by
partitioning the court to stop counting votes. Bush used September 11, 2001 and
his so called "War on Terror" to set the US up as an international
police force, which makes it no better than a rouge state run by a bully.
Using fear of terrorism from will-o-the-wisp individuals and shady non-states
entities, the US has engaged in far greater acts of mayhem, destruction and
murder than the terrorists its behavior was meant to stop. No terrorist act has
caused the loss of life the world has witnessed in Afghanistan, Iraq and the
rest of the Middle East that resulted from US actions. Today, no terrorist
group has used democracy to justify occupying a sovereign nation, while
continuing to hold its people hostage until that country's government accede to
its demands for control of its natural resources and to establish permanent
military bases (permanent occupation). The US has done all of this in the name
of bringing democracy and freedom to the people it is oppressing.
In order to perpetrate this fraud on the world, the Bush junta used the US
Supreme Court to get into power. The court denied voters' choice by refusing to
count legally cast ballots. Had this act taken place in a third world country,
the US would have invaded it to install the rightfully elected leader.
Once in office, the Bush cabal proceeded to rob the American people of the
rights it claimed it would establish in Afghanistan and Iraq, once they
overthrew the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. Considered almost sacrosanct since
its signing by the Founding Fathers, the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights
were immediately undermined. Long held legal traditions, precedents and laws
were usurped or simply ignored. For the first time, government freely intruded
or pried into everything from the bedroom to what books one checked out of the
library.
Human rights, international protocols and treaties were all sacrificed on the
altar of national security and the "War on Terror." Drunk on power,
driven by a lack of concern for the rule of law and obsessed with its own
importance, the Bush White House replaced diplomacy with deception and
duplicity. Bush lied to US citizens, the UN and NATO to create a pretext for
war. Prosecuting that illegal war, the US has used what it calls unusual
renditions, detention in foreign countries and "floating prison"
aboard ships to deny human rights to non-combatants. Torture and other inhumane
treatment have been authorized by the Bush White House in violation of US and
international law.
Armed with the recommendations of the Project for a New American Century
(PNAC), Bush's desires exceeded his authority. And, because of a power hungry
Democratic leadership in Congress, whose spinelessness exceeded the mental
grasp of the American people, Bush has not been held accountable. Even before
the US Supreme Court stole the election of 2000 for Bush and September 11,
2001, somewhere along the way, America lost its way.
When members of a political party desire power so badly that it not only
countenances what Bush has done, but supported and justified it with
legislation, the system has gone wrong. Moreover, when the opposition party
acquiesced by refusing to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities, the
country is under the control of a political dictatorship by all those in power.
The next step is an Adolf Hitler.
The only protection a free society has is its will not to be dominated by fear.
Every petty dictator has used fear to control people, whether it was fear of
those without or those within the society. Dictators, like Hitler, convinced
the people that they needed them to protect the people from the fear they
created. First the people allowed them to take away the rights of those nobody
liked. Then, it was those least able to defend themselves. Then, it was those
who disagreed with them. Then, those left were afraid it would be them next, so
they went along with whatever those in power said, in order to keep the little
they had. By then, the society was lost because the freedom to change things no
longer existed.
Americans and the leaders that have chosen to run the country seem frozen in
fear, afraid to act against the petty dictator occupying the White House. Thus,
America is lost.
Louise Arbour
Born February 10, 1947 to Bernard
Arbour and Rose Ravary, the owners of a hotel chain in Montreal, Quebec, Louise
Arbour attended convent school and earned a reputation for irreverence as
editor of the school magazine. After graduating from Regina Assumpta College,
she attended the Université de Montréal where she completed an LL.L. with
distinction in 1970. While a Law Clerk for Mr. Justice Louis-Philippe Pigeon of
the Supreme Court of Canada (1971-1972), she completed graduate studies at the Faculty
of Law (Civil Section) of the University of Ottawa.
Arbour was called to the Bar of
Quebec in 1971 and to the Ontario Bar in 1977. She was research officer for the
Law Reform Commission of Canada from 1972-73. She began her outstanding legal
career by teaching at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, first as a
Lecturer (1974), then as Assistant Professor (1975), Associate Professor
(1977-1987), and finally as Associate Professor and Associate Dean (1987). She
also was Vice-President of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association until her
appointment to the Supreme Court of Ontario (High Court of Justice) in 1987.
She was appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 1990 and to the Supreme
Court of Canada in 1999.
Subsequent to allegations of prisoner’s abuse, Arbour was appointed as
President of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate and report on events at the
Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario in 1995. She was appointed Chief
Prosecutor of War Crimes for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and
the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague in
1996. In that capacity she indicted then President Slobodan Miloševic for war
crimes, the first time a serving head of state was called to account before an international
court.
On February 20, 2004, she was appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
a position she took officially on July 1, 2004. She replaced Sergio Vieira de
Mello, who was killed in the Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, along with
other members of his staff, in August 2003.
During her tenure as Commissioner, Ms Arbour has been both praised and vilified
for calling upon the world to do more to give a fair hearing to oppressed
people like the Palestinians. Fluent in French and English, she said during the
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, "Those in positions of command and control
could be subject to personal criminal responsibility for their actions in the
conflict."
Responding to a Jerusalem Post question regarding distinction under human
rights law between missile attacks aimed at killing civilians and military
strikes in which civilians are unintentionally killed, Arbour said, "In
one case you could have, for instance, a very objectionable intent - the intent
to harm civilians, which is very bad - but effectively not a lot of harm is
actually achieved. But how can you compare that with a case where you may not
have an intent, but you have recklessness [in which] civilian casualties are
foreseeable? The culpability or the intent may not sound as severe, but the
actual harm is catastrophic."
Throughout her career, Arbour has published in the area of criminal procedure
and criminal law. At various times, she has served as an editor for the Criminal Reports, the Canadian Rights Reporter, and the Osgoode Hall Law Journal. She has been
awarded honorary doctorates by twenty-seven universities. For contributions to
the Canadian justice system and dedication to the advancement of human rights
throughout the world, Madam Arbour was made a Companion to the Order of Canada
in 2007. She is also the subject of a 2005 fact-based Canadian-German
made-for-television movie, entitled Hunt For Justice, which follows her quest
to indict Bosnian war criminals. She has three children: Emilie, Patrick and
Catherine Taman.
Broken Laws, Broken Lives
By Major General
Antonio Taguba, USA (Ret.)
This report tells the largely
untold human story of what happened to detainees in our custody when the
Commander-in-Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of
torture. This story is not only written in words: It is scrawled for the rest
of these individuals' lives on their bodies and minds. Our national honor is
stained by the indignity and inhumane treatment these men received from their
captors.
The profiles of these eleven former detainees, none of whom were ever charged
with a crime or told why they were detained, are tragic and brutal rebuttals to
those who claim that torture is ever justified. Through the experiences of
these men in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, we can see the full scope
of the damage this illegal and unsound policy has inflicted--both on America's
institutions and our nation's founding values, which the military, intelligence
services, and our justice system are duty-bound to defend.
In order for these individuals to suffer the wanton cruelty to which they were
subjected, a government policy was promulgated to the field whereby the Geneva
Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice were disregarded. The UN
Convention Against Torture was indiscriminately ignored. And the healing
professions, including physicians and psychologists, became complicit in the
willful infliction of harm against those the Hippocratic Oath demands they
protect.
After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and
reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to
whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question
that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture
will be held to account.
The former detainees in this report, each of whom is fighting a lonely and
difficult battle to rebuild his life, require reparations for what they
endured, comprehensive psycho-social and medical assistance, and even an
official apology from our government.
But most of all, these men deserve justice as required under the tenets of
international law and the United States Constitution. And so do the American
people. To read the entire report, go to http://brokenlives.info/?page_id=23.
About
Me: Retired Maj. General Taguba led the US Army's official investigation
into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and testified before Congress on his
findings in May, 2004.
The Great Writ's
Return
"The Supreme Court has finally brought an end to one of our
nation's most egregious injustices. By granting the writ of habeas corpus, the
Supreme Court recognizes a rule of law established hundreds of years ago and
essential to American jurisprudence since our nation's founding."
Vincent Warren, Executive Director of the New York-based Center for
Constitutional Rights.
A Latin phrase literally translated as 'We command that you have the body,' the
writ of 'habeas corpus,' also known as "The Great Writ,' is a legal action
through which an individual can seek judicial relief from unlawful imprisonment
or detention. For centuries, it has been an important instrument for
safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary state action.
Shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration
opened the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to hold 'enemy
combatants,' individuals the administration suspected of ties to al-Qaida or
the Taliban. Hundreds of terrorism suspects were captured in Afghanistan and
elsewhere and detained at the Guantanamo Bay naval facility. By housing them
there, rather than inside the US, they would presumably be outside the US legal
system. The Bush administration sought to deny these individuals basic US legal
rights, including the right to question the legality of their detention, and
debated whether or not the Geneva Conventions applied to their treatment and
indefinite incarceration.
At home and abroad, the detentions at Guantanamo came under harsh criticism. In
addition to being incarcerated without the right to question the legality of
their detention, prisoners were subjected to interrogation tactics that many
called torture.
On June 28, 2004, the Supreme Court decided in Rasul v. Bush that the nearly-600 detainees at Guantanamo
had a right to challenge their detention and conditions of confinement in US
courts. A number of cases were filed on behalf of the detainees; these cases
were consolidated into Al Odah v. United
States and Boumediene v. Bush.
Three separate briefs were filed on behalf of the petitioners in Al Odah and Boumediene. More than twenty amicus briefs were filed by
supporters, which included retired military officers and federal judges, former
US diplomats, a Republican Senator, Canadian, British and European
Parliamentarians, the American Bar Association, the Commonwealth Lawyers
Association, law professors and legal historians, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), and domestic and international
non-governmental organizations.
The court heard oral arguments on December 5, 2007. On June 12, 2008, the
Supreme Court's 5-4 decision reaffirmed that the men held as enemy combatants
at Guantanamo Bay had the right of habeas corpus. Legal scholars worldwide
welcomed the Great Writ's return.
Impeachment Action
By a vote of 251-166, Democrats
in the US House of Representatives sent Rep. Dennis Kucinich's proposal to
impeach George W. Bush on 35 counts of high crimes and misdemeanors, including
lying to the American people and Congress about Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction, warrantless wiretapping and torturing detainees, to the Judiciary
Committee, which is chaired by John Conyers (D-MI). Technically, the maneuver
is designed to end House debate on the proposal. It is widely expected the
Kucinich impeachment articles will 'die' in committee.
This should not be allowed to happen. If Democrats can muster a majority to
send this measure to committee to die, they can also get the simple majority
necessary for impeachment. It is their constitutional responsibility to hold
the Bush administration accountable for its misdeeds.
Veterans for Peace (VFP) and other groups across the country are calling on
individuals to read the proposal at http://impeachment.kucinich.us/,
call their congressional representatives to ask them to read his Articles of
Impeachment and then to sign on with him. To find out who your representatives
are and their contact information, visit http://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml.
According to Congressman Kucinich, it is important that we all familiarize
ourselves with the articles of impeachment. When we call our representatives
ask them to do the same. Follow up one week later, ask if they have read the
articles and continue calling until you receive a definitive answer.
If your representative is on the House Judiciary Committee, be even more
persistent. The full Judiciary Committee can be found at http://judiciary.house.gov/fullcommittee.aspx.
The Bush administration is not above the law! MAKE YOUR CALL NOW! Call often!
Make Congress hold Bush accountable!
Disgruntled says: At its inception,
voters in the predominantly white counties surrounding Atlanta refused to join
DeKalb and Fulton Counties in approving a one-cent sales tax referendum to
support the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). Based
primarily on race, whites feared a devaluation in property values, increased
crime and the other stereotypes that come with giving blacks access to
non-black areas. Even the state of Georgia refused to help fund the public
transportation effort. Now that the cost of commuting is taking an increasingly
large chunk of their disposable income to fuel their gas guzzling SUVs,
residents in the counties that refused to support MARTA are now rethinking
public transportation. On July 15, the Gwinnett primary ballot will contain a
non-binding resolution asking voters whether or not they would support the
one-cent sales tax to bring MARTA to the county. To garner Gwinnett voters'
approval, MARTA executives held meetings in the county to explain the benefits
the county will receive with public transportation, including rail service.
Should Gwinnett voters approve the tax, the county's residents should have to
pay into the system for decades or more before rail is a consideration; it
should certainly not jump ahead of South DeKalb, where residents have paid the
tax since MARTA's inception and still lack rail service.
Disgruntled
feels: Jived! With few arrows remaining in his quiver, Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke has gone on a speaking tour to talk up the nation's
economic fundamentals and talk down inflation expectations. With gasoline at
historically high levels and food increasing in price with every trip to the
grocery store, it is tough to take Bernanke's jawboning on inflation seriously.
His efforts are falling on deaf ears on the ground where employment is higher
than the national average and folks have little, if anything, invested in
stocks and bonds and are daily choosing between food and fuel. Even those who
listen to the likes of Bernanke see his efforts as a clever cover for a
thorough lack of credibility. In the lingo of the ghetto, Bernanke is shucking
and jiving. We will not be jived into believing night is day when we can see
the signs of the times with our eyes and minds and feel the pain in our
pocketbooks. And, for Bernanke's information, it is dark out here!
Disgruntled
wants to know: Based on the testimony of veterans of warfare, torture
does not work. Moreover, it is a violation of international law and morally
wrong. Those undergoing inhumane treatment will say and do anything to make the
pain stop. Men broken under extreme conditions bear the scars for a lifetime.
Ask Senator John McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war during Vietnam.
That said, the US should logically fear the men it has tortured under the
auspices of fighting the war on terror. The US is like the mad scientist that
creates a monster. There is always the possibility of the monster turning on
its maker, just as the lion tamer risks the wrath of the beast he wishes to
break or domesticate. Many of those 'enemy combatants' were innocent men,
fathers, sons and brothers that had nothing to do with the US struggle prior to
being imprisoned and tortured. Under the circumstances, it is understandable
that the US would want to keep these men incarcerated for life for fear of what
they might do once they are free to plan and plot. However, that fear, no
matter how well grounded, does not make indefinite incarceration right. Imagine
if you or a loved one was treated so poorly; would you turn the other cheek,
like a good Christian, and love your torturer, but hate his sin, or would you
find a way to blow your enemy to smithereens?
The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro has been missing in the conversation since the end of the school year. By the skin of his teeth, he passed to the tenth. He has promised himself and us he will do better in the coming school year. Laid back right now, he just wants to have some fun; he plans to enjoy every celebration, including Independence Day. On that subject, I reminded him that our ancestors were enslaved on July 4, 1776. In response to that bit of history, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro sarcastically exclaimed, "Grandma, thanks for the education?" Under his breath he muttered, "Party pooper."