Law and Disorder June 4, 2007
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Guantanamo Bay Detainee Dies : Alleged Suicide
Law and Disorder hosts Dalia Hashad, Michael Ratner and Michael Smith discuss the recent alleged suicide at Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba. The Saudi Arabian detainee died last Wednesday at Guantanamo Bay prison. The U.S. military says he apparently committed suicide.
“It’s conceivable he (the detainee) was murdered.” – – Michael Ratner, President of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
“This death demonstrates the urgent need to close Guantanamo Bay Prison.” – – Dalia Hashad, Amnesty International USA Program Director .
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Listen to the Pacifica National Special – The War on Immigrants – Co-hosted by our own Dalia Hashad.
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“War on Terror” Prisoners and Secret Detentions Update
Michael Ratner describes how the Bush Administration has been pushing coercive interrogations with limited resistance in Congress. He also points out the new laws that apply to prisoners in US military custody. Ratner says they are now required to obey the Army Field Manual on detainee treatment FM 34-52 that include almost 20 interrogation techniques that do not constitute torture. Those prisoners, alleged enemy combatants citizen or non-citizen in the custody of the CIA (secret prisons) are not subject to the Army Field Manual.
Anti-Torture Movement in Chicago Police Torture Case Gains Traction
The case includes a four-year investigation focused on allegations that 148 black men were tortured in Chicago police interrogation rooms in the 1970s and ’80s. The men say detectives under the command of Lt. Jon Burge beat them, used electric shocks, played mock Russian roulette and started to smother at least one to force confessions. Prosecutors described this type of criminal justice system where top officials in a position to put a stop to police torture appeared blind to the abuse. Among them, Mayor Richard Daley, when he served as Cook County state’s attorney.
Guest – Flint Taylor – Attorney with the People’s Law Office, leading the fight against covering up torture by the Chicago Police Department.
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Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in Israel/Palestine
Last month we heard author Joel Kovel discuss his book at the Brecht Forum. He recently joined Law and Disorder in the studio for a riveting interview that also looked into Kovel’s personal changes that led him to write Overcoming Zionism. Toward the end of the interview, co-host Dalia Hashad asks why Joel Kovel chose the word “overcoming” in his title.
“This book is absolutely fundamental for those who reject the unfortunate confusion between Jews, Judaism, Zionism and the State of Israel — a confusion which is the basis for systematic manipulation by the imperialist power system. It convincingly argues in favour of a single secular state for Israelis and Palestinians as the only democratic solution for the region.” Samir Amin, Director of the Third World Forum.
Guest – Joel Kovel author of Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in Israel/Palestine, has been engaged in struggles for peace and justice since the Vietnam War era. He has worked within the antiwar and antinuclear movements, the solidarity movements in Central America and the Caribbean, the movements for democratic media, and, increasingly, for ecological transformation. He lived in Nicaragua for a period in 1986, and accompanied Pastors for Peace as they broke the US blockade on Cuba in their 1994 Friendshipment. He has acted in films, worked frequently with the Bread and Puppet theatre, and lectured on four continents. Kovel joined the Green Party since 1990. In 1998, he was the Green Party candidate for US Senator from New York, and in 2000 sought their Presidential nomination.