The Daily Background

For my human rights class I will be creating a campaign about human rights abuses committed by the US government as part of the ongoing War on Terror. For the project, we have to have three case studies. I’ll write more about it later. Below are the ones I’ve chosen to use.

This campaign will highlight three case studies relating to human rights abuses in the war on terror. Two of them will be specific and centered around two individuals and specific issues, while the third will be slightly different and will serve the dual purpose of being a third case study on a third issue and also connecting human rights abuses in the war on terror to the public as a way of providing an aspect of personal relevance to the campaign.

The three individual categories of human rights abuse approached in this campaign will be extraordinary rendition (or disappearances), detainee treatment (including torture), and finally civil liberties abuses within the United States.

The first case study will examine the story of Khalid El-Masri, a German citizen who was kidnapped by the CIA because they confused his name with that of a suspected terrorist. El-Masri was held for several months in a secret prison called “The Salt Pit” somewhere in Europe, where he was interrogated, abused and tortured until the CIA doubted that he had any information relating to terror activities. He was subsequently released, still blindfolded without apology or explanation in the middle of a forrest without food, water or directions.

Explained alongside this case study will be the technique of extraordinary rendition, a practice which remained secret until the Washington Post and ABC News revealed its use in a series of highly-publicized reports in late 2005 which earned a pulitzer prize. It will also be noted that the internationally outlawed practice of extraordinary rendition was expressly approved by the Bush Administration.

The second case study will discuss the case of a second completely innocent individual whose human rights were abused in the name of defeating the tactic of terrorism. An Afghani taxi cab driver known as Dilawar was arrested by American forces and held in Bagram Prison where he was abused continually and eventually tortured to death. The US Military initially tried to cover up the incident saying that he had died of natural causes, but after the New York Times obtained classified military documents which said otherwise, the military put three prisoners on trial for his death, two of which got no sentence and the third got a two-month sentence.

Examined alongside this case study will be US regulations for treating detainees, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and several official documents which have been leaked detailing harsh and sometimes torturous techniques approved by the Bush Administration. Among them will be specifically the techniques of waterboarding and cold-celling.

The third and final case study will approach the dramatic reduction of civil liberties in the United States. A series of controversial ‘terror-fighting tools’ will be examined without a specific victim, but with the understanding that any of these techniques could be used against any American citizen at any time. The supposed ‘terror-fighting tools’ presented will range from provisions in the Patriot Act, the “Patriot Act II,” as well as several other extra-legislative items done through executive order, for instance the controversial warrant-less wiretapping program run by the NSA.

Each of the examples will be examined in the context of both international human rights treaties which the United States is a party to, as well as domestic law, such as the Bill of Rights and FISA legislation.

Filed under: Human Rights, Z-TDB Blog