Human Rights Lawyer on Bagram Prison- 'The Obama Administration Has Completely Failed'

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Human Rights Lawyer on Bagram Prison- 'The Obama Administration Has Completely Failed'

Human rights lawyer Tina Foster talks to SPIEGEL about detainee abuses in the US military prison in Bagram, Afghanistan and her disappointment with the Obama administration.

SPIEGEL: Right after taking office, US President Barack Obama announced his plan to close Guantanamo. It looked like he would reverse the human rights policies of the Bush administration. Will the detainees the US military prison in Bagram, Afghanistan now be given legal rights?

Foster: Unfortunately, the US government did not change its position on Bagram when Obama took office. The government still claims that our clients are not entitled to any legal protections under US law. It maintains that even those individuals who they brought to Bagram from other countries, and have held without charge for more than six years, are still not entitled to speak with their attorney, and they are arguing now that they are not entitled to have their cases heard in US courts.

...

SPIEGEL: Is the Obama administration complying with the Bates decision in providing each detainee a representative?

Foster: Before we could present any evidence or proceed in their cases, the Obama administration appealed the decision to the court of appeals, and is now arguing that it should be overturned. The announcement was intended to generate a positive media spin on the "new" procedures at Bagram, which were announced at this time because the government's filing in the court of appeals was due the following day. If you look at the actual procedures, you will see that the detainees will not be given any legal representation. Instead, the Department of Defense is saying that it will send non-lawyer "representatives" to question the detainees and look into their cases. Those individuals are not officers of the court, and have no duty of confidentiality or loyalty to the detainee.

SPIEGEL: But what then is the difference between the Bush and Obama administrations?

Foster: There is absolutely no difference between the Bush administration and the Obama administration's position with respect to Bagram detainees' rights. They have made much ado about nothing, in the hope that the courts and the public will not examine the issue more closely.

...

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,650324,00.html

[orpupilofnature57]

1. I like this man so much it will break my heart if he's just another Agent for

NWO

[Orwellian_Ghost]

2. Forget about

liking him or not liking him. Look at the politics of the matter not the personality. What do you see so far that you like as far as policies go and what do you dislike?

And what if he is likable but promotes policies that do not serve the people?

[orpupilofnature57]

3. Then he's Got to go, along with the hope though and thats what would suck.