www.globalpolicy.org...

"They are like dogs and if you allow them to believe at any point that they are more than dogs then you've lost control of them."
- Major General Geoffrey Miller

The US and its Iraqi government partners are holding thousands of Iraqi citizens in detention without due process. These detainees are not charged with a crime, nor can they defend themselves against accusations or have a trial in a court of law....

Rather than police, heavily-armed soldiers make the arrests....

The Red Cross has described house arrests as follows: "Arresting authorities entered houses usually after dark, breaking down doors, waking up residents roughly, yelling orders, forcing family members into one room under military guard while further searching the rest of the house and further breaking doors, cabinets and other property. They arrested suspects, tying their hands in the back with flexi-cuffs, hooding them, and taking them away. Sometimes they arrested all adult males present in the house, including elderly, handicapped or sick people. Treatment often included pushing people around, insulting, taking aim with rifles, punching and kicking and striking with rifles. Individuals were often led away in whatever they were wearing at the time of arrest - sometimes in pajamas or underwear - and were denied the opportunity to gather a few essential belongings such as clothing, hygiene items, medicines or eyeglasses."[3] The Red Cross has also mentioned many allegations of theft of personal property, including money and automobiles, by arresting troops.[4] The Red Cross noted in 2004 that 70-90% of those taken into custody appeared to have been arrested "by mistake."...

Thousands of Iraqis Arbitrarily Held Since the early days of the occupation, US forces have taken thousands of Iraqis into custody for "security" reasons. By January 2004, the official list of such detainees numbered 8,500 but the real count was widely believed to be higher....


Among the detainees have been women, the elderly, and even two hundred juveniles, according to a July 2006 IRIN News estimate.[11] Reports speak of children as young as ten years old having been held for long periods.[12] Many have suffered from serious trauma as a result of their prison experience.[13] US General Janis Karpinski, former commander of prison guards in Iraq, told military interviewers that she met a boy in a US prison who was listed as an eleven-year-old but looked closer to eight. The boy was crying, she said, and asking for his mother....


The US holds nearly all its prisoners in an unclear legal status - without definition of their rights. US authorities have used the vague terms "enemy combatants," "security detainees," "security internees," and "persons under custody."...

While torture and abuse have been the worst aspect of Coalition prisons, authorities have also subjected detainees to unacceptable and inhumane conditions of incarceration, which violate international human rights standards. Reports have spoken of poor food and bad quality water, prisoners exposed to extremes of temperature, grossly overcrowded cells, and seriously inadequate sanitation arrangements. [69] General Paul Mikolashek reported that at Abu Ghraib, garbage and sewage covered the grounds of the outdoor camps, bathing facilities were minimal, fresh water was in short supply and detainee meals were frequently contaminated with dirt and rodent droppings. [70] In order to pressure prisoners and to "soften them up" for interrogation, guards at many facilities have reportedly withheld or greatly curtailed access to food and water, punitively limited visits to the latrine, confined inmates to fetid isolation cells, and removed mattresses, sheets and prisoners' clothing....

In September, 2005, Iraqi Justice Minister Abdul Hussein Shandal said "No citizen should be arrested without a court order. There is abuse [of human rights] due to detentions, which are overseen by the Multinational Force and are not in the control of the Justice Ministry."[85] UN Secretary General Kofi Annan repeatedly called attention to the Coalition's policies of arbitrary imprisonment, referring in 2005 to "the detention of thousands of persons without due process." Annan also noted that "prolonged detention without access to lawyers and courts is prohibited under international law, including during states of emergency."[86] In March 2006, Annan again reiterated these concerns, making a clear judgment that the Coalition's arguments about security are "unacceptable."[87] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour has made the same point and the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq has frequently criticized the mass-detention operations and the large number of detainees without access to judicial review....

www.aclu.org...

In a supplemental report to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) made public today, the U.S. government revealed that it has no comprehensive policy in place for dealing with youth detained by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan, including nearly 2,500 youths under the age of 18 that have been held in U.S.-run facilities overseas to date.


According to the ACLU, the lack of protections and consideration for the juvenile status of detainees violates the obligations of the U.S. under the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict that the U.S. ratified in 2002, as well as universally accepted international norms. The CRC oversees compliance with the Optional Protocol, which mandates countries to protect children under 18 from military recruitment and guarantees basic protections to former child soldiers. The CRC will question a U.S. government delegation on its compliance with Protocol obligations on May 22 in Geneva...


According to the government report, approximately 2,500 youths under the age of 18 have been held, in some cases for months and years without being charged with a crime, in U.S.-run facilities overseas. As of April 2008, there are approximately 500 youths being held in US-run detention facilities in Iraq alone. The government report claims that it is holding Iraqi children in prison in order to educate them to "contribute positively to the future of Iraq."

Originally posted by Skipper1975
reply to post by mystiq

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hehe..much love to you bro

dont let them get to you too much brother!

acting on this will help out the planet imo
www.kucinich.us...
www.nesara.us...

Originally posted by mystiq

Originally posted by Skipper1975
reply to post by mystiq

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hehe..much love to you bro

dont let them get to you too much brother!

acting on this will help out the planet imo
www.kucinich.us...
www.nesara.us...

You must mean sister. I really don't know what to make of the nesara information, but i have a friend really into it for years. The whole positive message is something to hope for though. But when it comes to doing stuff like a few phone calls and letters and signatures that help real people here, especially children, its not too hard to get involved.