(?!)
this has got to be one of the hugest injustices of all time infinity. it was bad enough, the treatment jose padilla suffered FOR YEARS as an AMERICAN CITIZEN (?!) at the hands of american forces. he wasn't allowed to see a lawyer for the first two years of his incarceration. (?!) alternet reports that his cell"measured nine feet by seven feet. The windows were covered over… He had no pillow. No sheet. No clock. No calendar. No radio. No television. No telephone calls. No visitors.jose padilla was convicted on a pile of circumstantial evidence - not for what he was originally arrested for, of course. (?!) he was taken into custody back in 2002, after allegedly being tied to a dirty bomb plot that was to be carried out on u.s. soil. he instead was convicted of other various "plots" abroad. and that he'd "filled out a form to join al-quida." if you want to be a terrorist, you must first fill out the application. (?!)According to his attorneys, Padilla was routinely tortured in ways designed to cause pain, anguish, depression and ultimately the loss of will to live.
His lawyers have claimed that Padilla was forced to take LSD and PCP to act as a sort of truth serum during his interrogations.
Up until last year the Bush administration maintained it had the legal right to hold Padilla without charge forever. But when faced with a Supreme Court challenge, President Bush transferred Padilla out of military custody to face criminal conspiracy charges."
why am i not buying any of this?
he was also somehow deemed competent to stand trial. (?!) yesterday, democracy now! interviewed the forensic psychiatrist that spoke with padilla for 22 hours. she said that the brain damage she observed was a result of his treatment while in the brig fro those years. she also observed stockholm syndrome, of course - and extreme anxiety.
in light of padilla's case, i find it extremely disturbing that in this day and age, an american citizen can be snatched off the streets and legally tortured indefinitely - by the military. the definition of terrorist is so broad now that anyone dissenting could be labeled so, and has been by the power structure over the past 6 years. "you are either with us or against us."
something to think about. padilla had no recourse. once you are deemed an enemy combatant terrorist, no laws apply - basic rights as a citizen of the u.s. cease to exist. this is not my country. this is not democracy. this is sick and wrong. his attorney calls the ruling a tragedy... i don't have a word for what this all is/means. but it goes above and beyond tragedy.
***mother jones has an excellent listing of articles about padilla, going way back.
Labels: injustice, jose padila
posted by supergirlest @ Friday, August 17, 2007
