Tonight I am leading my first local meeting for the St Louis chapter of Amnesty International. We are examining the use of Torture by the USA in particular, and I am presenting material that will hopefully give us a focus for action that spurs the current government onto seeking accountability for the atrocities carried out by the previous administration. However, the thing that really concerns me is that images like this are not really historical:
Tragically, although Obama signed a key declaration in January, pledging to close Guantanamo and put an end to torture, these practices continue – perhaps not as extreme as the above image, but certainly force-feeding and other personal violations continue at Gitmo, and so the culpability is transferred to the Obama administration, and our great hopes for change begin to fade.
It is sobering reading, the preparation I have done for tonight, and I guess it just makes me despair when I think of the unnecessary and dreadful treatment some people have been subjected to in the name of freedom and democracy. Sigh.
50 things for 50 