David Newgreen (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
4thofeleven) wrote2009-01-03 02:07 pm
4thofeleven) wrote2009-01-03 02:07 pm
Entry tags:
Political Prisoners
So, the American government is finally planning on shutting down Guantanamo Bay. Even better, it looks like ‘shutting down’ actually does mean ‘releasing the people held there’ and not ‘having them disappear’.
Of course, it’s not quite that simple; there’s at least sixty prisoners who can’t be returned to their home countries because of concerns for their safety. The American government is concerned that ‘some face renewed arrest in their homelands and could face torture or lengthy incarcerations’. Well, obviously the American government can’t be even indirectly associated with things like that- Oh. Never mind...
Anyway, they’ve hit on the solution of resetting them in Australia and the UK. In Australia, the Rudd government has basically said “Alright, we’ll pretend to consider this proposal”, while constantly reassuring the public that there’s no way in hell they’ll actually agree to it.
Meanwhile, the opposition leader has, for once, made a fairly valid point: If the American government feels these people should be free to go, why can’t they be released into the American community? Why do they need to be shipped out elsewhere?
Of course, it’s not quite that simple; there’s at least sixty prisoners who can’t be returned to their home countries because of concerns for their safety. The American government is concerned that ‘some face renewed arrest in their homelands and could face torture or lengthy incarcerations’. Well, obviously the American government can’t be even indirectly associated with things like that- Oh. Never mind...
Anyway, they’ve hit on the solution of resetting them in Australia and the UK. In Australia, the Rudd government has basically said “Alright, we’ll pretend to consider this proposal”, while constantly reassuring the public that there’s no way in hell they’ll actually agree to it.
Meanwhile, the opposition leader has, for once, made a fairly valid point: If the American government feels these people should be free to go, why can’t they be released into the American community? Why do they need to be shipped out elsewhere?
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Sadly, there's probably a simple answer: what do you think would happen to a former Guantanamo detainee dropped into an American community? Because I'd bet on there being a Law & Order episode based on the fallout within the TV season.
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And it's a little disingenuous for the US government to insist that they can't be returned to their home countries because they'd face persecution there, while failing to mention that they can't be settled in the US because they'd have it just as bad there...
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*sighs*