Monday, June 29, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Serious Allegations against Army of Abuse & Torture of Prisoners -is this Govt policy?
Allegations against the Army of serious abuse and torture on terrorists detainees and suspects have been uncovered by a leading news agency and I'm shocked by some of the details of such abuse.
Some of the former detainees have alleged they were beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with dogs at detention facilities.this news agency had interviewed 27 former inmates from around the country over a period of two months.
They were held at times between 2002 and 2008 and they were all accused of belonging to or helping terrorists.None were charged with any offense or put on trial; some even received apologies when they were released.
Defence authorities has denied the charges and insisted that all inmates in the facility are treated 'humanely' but the list of abuses is horrifying..to list a few...
a. physical abuse ( i guess this means assault etc)
b.use of stress positions (including tied down upside down and left hanging from ceilings etc..)
c. excessive heat or cold (being immersed in cold or hot water,being kept inside freezer trucks for prolong hours etc)
d.exposure to unbearably loud noise (loudspeaker played in to a enclosed holding cell etc..)
e.forced to remove clothes presence of female soldiers...(every one understands this well...he he)
In some cases detainees were threatened with death at gunpoint in what i figure is a staged mock execution and one former inmate had allegedly stated that "They did things that you would not do against animals let alone to humans" while another had said "They poured cold water on you in cold days and hot water in warmer days. They used dogs against us. They put a pistol or a gun to your head and threatened you with death"...
"They put some kind of medicine in the water to make you sleepless and then they would interrogate you" said another..
But when the news agency took up these allegations of torture with Defence Authorities a senior officer had denied the allegations and had said that their conduct "meet international standards for care and custody".
They also argue that granting legal rights to detainees could harm their "ability to succeed in armed conflict and to protect their Governments' forces" by limiting their powers to conduct military operations.
Having read the allegations and follow on description I'm shocked by the details of such horrific practices and as a Sri Lankan who had experienced violence and fear that was part of LTTE's thirty year war of Terror against this country i understand some measures may be needed when it comes to interrogation of captured terrorists but by no way i condemn the use of such horrible and inhumane methods on suspects ,who in the end turned out to be Innocent civilians..
I wonder what the leadership of the country has to say about this and also the Defence Authorities who constantly claim they 'follow and defend Rights of people" ...especially the President who wants to portray himself as a champion of Freedoms and Justice...
by the way i forgot.. this is all about the US Army in Afghanistan and allegations mainly centred around its detention facility in Bagram Air Base North of Kabul..according to BBC..
Some of the former detainees have alleged they were beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with dogs at detention facilities.this news agency had interviewed 27 former inmates from around the country over a period of two months.
They were held at times between 2002 and 2008 and they were all accused of belonging to or helping terrorists.None were charged with any offense or put on trial; some even received apologies when they were released.
Defence authorities has denied the charges and insisted that all inmates in the facility are treated 'humanely' but the list of abuses is horrifying..to list a few...
a. physical abuse ( i guess this means assault etc)
b.use of stress positions (including tied down upside down and left hanging from ceilings etc..)
c. excessive heat or cold (being immersed in cold or hot water,being kept inside freezer trucks for prolong hours etc)
d.exposure to unbearably loud noise (loudspeaker played in to a enclosed holding cell etc..)
e.forced to remove clothes presence of female soldiers...(every one understands this well...he he)
In some cases detainees were threatened with death at gunpoint in what i figure is a staged mock execution and one former inmate had allegedly stated that "They did things that you would not do against animals let alone to humans" while another had said "They poured cold water on you in cold days and hot water in warmer days. They used dogs against us. They put a pistol or a gun to your head and threatened you with death"...
"They put some kind of medicine in the water to make you sleepless and then they would interrogate you" said another..
But when the news agency took up these allegations of torture with Defence Authorities a senior officer had denied the allegations and had said that their conduct "meet international standards for care and custody".
They also argue that granting legal rights to detainees could harm their "ability to succeed in armed conflict and to protect their Governments' forces" by limiting their powers to conduct military operations.
Having read the allegations and follow on description I'm shocked by the details of such horrific practices and as a Sri Lankan who had experienced violence and fear that was part of LTTE's thirty year war of Terror against this country i understand some measures may be needed when it comes to interrogation of captured terrorists but by no way i condemn the use of such horrible and inhumane methods on suspects ,who in the end turned out to be Innocent civilians..
I wonder what the leadership of the country has to say about this and also the Defence Authorities who constantly claim they 'follow and defend Rights of people" ...especially the President who wants to portray himself as a champion of Freedoms and Justice...
by the way i forgot.. this is all about the US Army in Afghanistan and allegations mainly centred around its detention facility in Bagram Air Base North of Kabul..according to BBC..
Friday, June 19, 2009
Tehran burns, Western Govts feel the pain...
Whats more interesting is to watch all the Western Media coverage over this issue, so many commentaries ,assessments and analysis given throughout the day by an extensive panel irrespective of what news agency you watch.. but strangely most majority of the 'experts' tend to be westerners themselves and hardly any Iranians, locals nor expatriate Iranians! BBC i think takes pride in showing repeatedly the 'death to the dictator' and some other slogans which BBC interprets as 'anti-revolution',while CNN can't let go of its 'experts' from Christian Science Monitor.
Makes me wonder, it may be the Iranian public or least a section of the public who may be protesting over the outcome but its the Western Governments ,especially Mrs.Clinton who seems to be having sleepless nights over this 'crisis' and right wing Israeli politicians who are feeling the pain of the chaos in Tehran...and suddenly North Korea is benign, Kim Jong IL is not toying with the 'button' .. nor Taliban at the 'gates of Islamabad' is irrelevant.
It was the same Western media who played down the Iranian Revolution three decades back,when their favorite Shah Pahlavi was feeling the peoples power over his despotic rule and now the Iranians are on the streets and rest assured they will know what to do with the destiny of their country and they will do whats best for them, what they are able and capable and not what the Western Governments wish.
I hope Mrs.Clinton finds some peace and time to focus on more burning issues closer to home!
Monday, June 1, 2009
CPA receives a 'threatening' letter- about time i say....
Seems CPA received a 'threatening' letter via post and i have read the content as they have made it available on their web, including English and Tamil translations.some individuals within CPA I'm told, attempts to paint that the 'threat' is made by a Sinhala nationalist group but i doubt the source or origins of the letter according to them.
Groups who oppose CPA ,whom with a capability to strike, if there is such that is in existence don't give damn about CPA..nor JHU,PNM or NMAT dose! if that was the case then the JHU/PNM/NMAT hordes would have demonstrated in front of CPA and would have done some vandalism like what we saw over last couple of weeks at UK,Canada Embassies..
Forget the actual 'threat' for now but the fact is that I'm sure CPA will put this 'threat' to very good use to make noise (and raise funds! ) calling for more foreign meddling in furthering its interests (CPA's interests that is !) .
So who can be the source of this letter? look no further but i think its none other than Mr.Sunanda Desha-Apriya and his cahoots from FMM.
Am i making baseless allegations? No, i have solid reasons to think its him..and if someone from CPA or least connected to CPA is reading this post, please make note and dig a bit around FMM boys who used to hang about CPA..buy then few drinks and they will tell how this letter originated and why (?) it was sent.
As for CPA, its shameless how they go about with a Pro LTTE agenda but i think its more to do with CPA's funders' than CPA itself and the best way to fight them is to expose CPA's unethical practices to the world,not send stupid letters threatening them to comply with 'Ranaviru Celebrations' . after all why do we need CPA to celebrate when we have the whole country irrespective ethnic divisions celebrating the victory over LTTE terrorism as one!
Groups who oppose CPA ,whom with a capability to strike, if there is such that is in existence don't give damn about CPA..nor JHU,PNM or NMAT dose! if that was the case then the JHU/PNM/NMAT hordes would have demonstrated in front of CPA and would have done some vandalism like what we saw over last couple of weeks at UK,Canada Embassies..
Forget the actual 'threat' for now but the fact is that I'm sure CPA will put this 'threat' to very good use to make noise (and raise funds! ) calling for more foreign meddling in furthering its interests (CPA's interests that is !) .
So who can be the source of this letter? look no further but i think its none other than Mr.Sunanda Desha-Apriya and his cahoots from FMM.
Am i making baseless allegations? No, i have solid reasons to think its him..and if someone from CPA or least connected to CPA is reading this post, please make note and dig a bit around FMM boys who used to hang about CPA..buy then few drinks and they will tell how this letter originated and why (?) it was sent.
As for CPA, its shameless how they go about with a Pro LTTE agenda but i think its more to do with CPA's funders' than CPA itself and the best way to fight them is to expose CPA's unethical practices to the world,not send stupid letters threatening them to comply with 'Ranaviru Celebrations' . after all why do we need CPA to celebrate when we have the whole country irrespective ethnic divisions celebrating the victory over LTTE terrorism as one!
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