While staying at his in-law’s village in Afghanistan in December 2001, Abdul Hamid Al-Ghizzawi, my client at Guantánamo, knew little of Bush and Cheney. Later, when vigilante thugs turned him over to the Northern Alliance for an American bounty, Al-Ghizzawi knew nothing of Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, Jay Bybee, John Yoo or Matthew Waxman — the man who would become Al-Ghizzawi’s… return to article
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Reader Comments (7)Page 1 of 1 pagesI am so sorry for what is happening in Guantanamo Bay and to the thousands of other prisoners on Navy Ships and so on.
Thank you very much, Candice Gorman, for the important work you do. Please do not give up.How so called “civilized” people can torture and abuse people, I’ll never understand. But the history of the US shows that jstice or human rights were never granted to all of it’s citizens and residents. There was always one reason or another why some segment of the population was denied justice.
We were all brainwashed to believe the US was the country that upheld human rights, no matter what.
But we know better now.
Thank you.
Posted by mrbrch on May 28, 2008 at 1:15 PM I disagree slightly. I care. Others care. We, as a people have been demoralized, lied to, and betrayed to the point that we don’t know who to trust, who to turn to, and how to get back on track as far as trying to lead the way in human rights. I would feed someone in China all that I have, I would shield a child in Africa with my own body to protect them from violence, I would invite anyone in the Middle East to stay in my guest room, just so they would be safe. I would do all of these things if I could.
HOW? How do I help? How do we help? I can’t afford to drive to work anymore. How do I stop the torture? How can I let Al-Ghizzawi know that I care, that I would help if I could?
I do agree though that there has always been a group to deny rights to, currently women and gays suffer most. How can women be 51% of the US population and have so little representation in our government? If you are waiting for men to change, it’ll never happen. Women have to band together and speak in one voice.
Posted by MonkeyMan on May 28, 2008 at 3:31 PM Dear Candice Gorman,
When this Administration is tried in the Hague for the war crimes it committed, and when world public opinion condemns its cruelty, venality and cowardrice, you and a handful of other brave lawyers defending Guantanomo prisoners will be honored by history just like German resisters to Hitler and Soviet dissidents now are.
Your work redeems the sins of the apathetic sheeplike nation of WalMart shoppers and American Idol watchers. It also makes it impossible for us to say, at some future date: “What? Our government did this? How horrible. We had absolutely no idea.”
We all bear the collective guilt, and because of we know it.
Thank you.
(A bit grandiloquent, isn’t it? But true.)
Posted by abayer on May 29, 2008 at 1:44 PM Oh give me a freaking break. They put the guy in GBay because he spoke English? Whatever, I am sick of Americans who are quick to believe the worst of Americans and the best of our enemies.
Whatever.
And to whoever abayer might be, excuse me but what the heck do lying liberals have against WalMart. Do you not understand that WalMart helps the poor of this country? Do you not understand that the lower prices help the poor survive? What an idiot, get a life.
And yes it was a “bit grandiloquent”, not to mention stupid.
Posted by rlcn7910 on May 29, 2008 at 9:23 PM How quickly and ironically “rcln7910” confirms the point that “abayer” makes about how easy it is to discount the worst behavior of one’s own clan or national leaders. “We had absolutely no idea” usually means “We could not afford to believe such things because these people are our ‘protectors’. If our ‘protectors’ commit evil deeds where in God’s name can we turn?”
Only those with a strong ability to discern right from wrong and hold all sides accountable to the same standards can afford to face the unvarnished facts. Others need to discount facts in a rigid way to maintain their illusion of safety—that is, that our clan are always the “good guys”.
Note to “rcln7910” : What if you investigate further and find that Candace Gorman’s information is factually correct. What then? Or is it more likely you will avoid such a shock to you fixed beliefs? And a minor point: the reference to WalMart was only meant to indicate how much most Americans are fixated on consumerism and oblivious to the vital issues that affect the world.
Posted by RomeroJ on May 29, 2008 at 11:02 PM To rlcn7910
Whatever is a good word, esp. all by itself.
People who shop at WalMart are properly called “WalMart customers”. References to the “poor of this country” are either made by the very rich, who deem themselves aristocrats, or by members of the lower middle class, who fear to be lumped with the poor. This estemed social group has always provided recruits for various brown shirt movements. You know the type, I guess, the ones who rally around the flag, sing patriotic songs and forever advise liberals, intellectuals, foreigners and gays to “get a life”. No, thank you, my dear rlcn7910. I’m quite happy with the life I have. You can sing your Horst-Wessel-Lied without me.
Posted by abayer on May 30, 2008 at 1:42 AM I was glad to see this article. However, I do take issue with the idea that the U.S. was ever a “beacon of human rights.” It is a common myth, so pervasive, and so off the mark.
We can trace “modern” U.S. use of torture to at least 1902 with the “water cure” inflicted upon people in the Philippines. Then, of course, we have the U.S.‘s nefarious past in helping overthrow governments that we did not agree with and putting in place governments that we did agree with - often times training their torturers and helping out in the torture chambers. One clear example of this is the use of the U.S. Army School of the Americas to teach torture. I have worked with a number of survivors of torture whose torturers studied there.
We also have the KUBARK manual, the CIA’s contracts with universities to carry out “research” on the most effective forms of torture, and the list goes on. The works of Alfred McCoy, Jennifer Harbury and Naomi Klein all meticulously document the U.S. involvement and perpetuation of torture. A close examination of history demonstrates that the U.S. has been both metaphorically and literally occupying and running the torture dungeons for over a century.
And, of course, human rights violations are not limited to torture, imprisonment, assassination and disappearance. The UN Declaration is quite clear that there are also social, cultural and economic human rights, all of which are violated on a daily basis in the U.S. and have been since the founding of this country.
So, I commend your legal work and the fact that your commitment to stand up for human rights, but I would look elsewhere for a beacon.
Posted by lapincoya on Jun 1, 2008 at 1:15 AM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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Also by H. Candace Gorman
- A Kinder, Gentler Torture
- The Hippocratic Oath Dies in Gitmo
- Catch-22 in the 21st Century
Government censors are making like Joseph Heller's character Yossarian and blacking out random information in letters from Guantánamo that has nothing to do with "national security" - Third Time’s the Charm?
The military didn't even bother to retain most of the documents from the Combatant Status Review Tribunals conducted in 2004, so the government has no documents showing any reason for holding these men - Suicide and Spin Doctors
There are many ways for the oppressor to force himself into the mind of the oppressed, but one surefire way is through indefinite detention. Never knowing when--or if--you will be released is a cruel form of psychological torture and allows you to keep hope while simultaneously filling you with fear - Inside the Secret Facility
In an Orwellian twist, the U.S. government monitors all correspondence between a Guantánamo attorney and her client
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