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Tortured arguments

26 Apr 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles for this Sunday includes this judgment of those who put Jesus to death: "You acted out of ignorance . . . ." It was the public that was in the dark until it came to light this week that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) interrogators used waterboarding 266 times on two key Al Qaeda prisoners, far more than had been previously reported. Top Obama administration officials have described the near-drowning technique as illegal torture. But when the president released secret memoranda last week detailing the harsh tactics employed by the CIA, he said officers who used it and other harsh interrogation methods with the approval of the Justice Department would not be prosecuted. But under intense pressure from Democrats on Capitol Hill and human rights organizations, the president suggested Tuesday that he would not stand in the way of a full inquiry into what he has called "a dark and painful chapter" in the nation's history. The president restated his opposition to prosecuting CIA operatives who followed the Bush administration's legal guidelines in conducting interrogations. But as for lawyers or others who drew up the policies allowing techniques he has banned, Obama said it would be up to his attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., to decide what to do. The White House's shifting comments in recent days provide a glimpse into its struggle to deal with one of the thorniest issues Obama has faced since taking office. His own national intelligence director, Dennis Blair, said in an internal memo last week that the now-banned interrogation methods had produced valuable information, contrary to the White House view that they had not been effective. Blair, however, issued a statement Tuesday evening underscoring his support for the president's decision to ban the "enhanced interrogation techniques" at issue: "We do not need these techniques to keep America safe. The information gained from these techniques was valuable in some instances, but there is no way of knowing whether the same information could have been obtained through other means. The bottom line is these techniques have hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us, and they are not essential to our national security." Source: Articles by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Peter Baker, and Scott Shane for the New York Times and Pamela Hess for the Associated Press

barack obama dennis blair justice department prisoners waterboarding eric h holder jr torture al qaeda cia central intelligence agency interrogation
Guantanamo detention no day at the beach

09 Aug 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Elijah despairs and is ready to die in the reading from 1 Kings this Sunday. Some of the detainees held indefinitely without trial at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay have felt the same way. The Obama administration has pledged to close the facility by year's end and move some detainees to U.S. prisons. New information suggests where they might be housed. The administration is considering a facility in the United States that would contain courtrooms to hold federal criminal trials and military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects. Planners have focused on the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and a state maximum-security prison in Standish, Michigan that is scheduled to be closed, sources said. An administration official stressed that the idea has not moved beyond the discussion stage. "This is one of the ideas that's been floated and come under discussion," the official said. The administration has signaled that some Guantanamo Bay detainees will be tried in federal court and some by military commissions. It also said there may be a third category of prisoners who are deemed too dangerous to release but who cannot be tried because of a lack of evidence or the need to protect intelligence material. Officials said any system of indefinite detention will include legal safeguards such as periodic reviews by judges and congressional oversight. But human rights and civil liberties groups like Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union oppose detention without trial. Source: An article by Peter Finn and Scott Wilson for the Washington Post

american civil liberties union obama administration human rights watch guantanamo bay prison detainees fort leavenworth standish michigan detention
Touched by an angel

09 Aug 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Elijah is touched by an angel in this Sunday's reading from 1 Kings. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has rarely been called an angel, but he seemed like one to two American journalists detained for nearly five months in North Korea. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were reunited with their families on American soil Wednesday morning after a carefully negotiated "rescue mission" involving Clinton. Although the White House and the U.S. State Department steadfastly insisted that the former president was on a "private humanitarian mission," the trip came about only after weeks of back-channel conversations involving academics, congressional figures, and senior White House and State Department officials, said sources involved in the planning. Ling addressed a crowd of news reporters and well-wishers that included Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, who cofounded the television channel that employs the journalists. "Thirty hours ago, Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea," Ling said. "We feared that at any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp. And then, suddenly, we were told that we were going to a meeting. . . . "When we walked in through the doors, we saw, standing before us, President Bill Clinton. We were shocked. But we knew instantly, in our hearts, that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. And now we stand here, home and free." Clinton secured the women's release after meeting for several hours and attending a formal banquet with reclusive North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. The highly unusual visit gave Kim--whose relationship with the United States has deteriorated steadily in recent months--a thin slice of the international legitimacy that has long eluded him. Source: An article by Glenn Kessler and Debbi Wilgoren for the Washington Post

bill clinton north korea prisoners kim jong il laura ling euna lee al gore
Terrifying dissenters in Sri Lanka

06 Sep 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"The Lord sets captives free," the psalmist intones this Sunday. Sri Lankan journalist J. S. Tissanayagam, singled out by President Barack Obama as an example of persecuted journalists around the globe, was sentenced Monday to 20 years hard labor under Sri Lankan anti-terrorism laws critics say are used to stifle dissent. Tissanayagam was arrested in March 2008 after writing articles criticizing the conduct of the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels and accusing authorities of withholding food and other essential items from civilians in Tamil-majority areas as a tool of war. The government accused Tissanayagam of writing propaganda and sowing dissent. "The constitution itself gives freedom of press, but that doesn't allow anybody to spread false information to spur ethnic violence," prosecutor Sudarshana DeSilva told the court. Rights groups have accused the government of waging a broad crackdown on media freedom that has continued since it routed the rebels and ended the nation's quarter-century civil war in May. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 11 Sri Lankan reporters were forced to flee the country in the past year, and Amnesty International, which has labeled Tissanayagam a prisoner of conscience, said at least 14 Sri Lankan journalists and media workers had been killed since the beginning of 2006. Source: Articles by Ranga Sirilal for Reuters and Bharatha Mallawarachi for Associated Press

sri lanka committee to protect journalists sudarshana desilva j s tissanayagam freedom of the press prisoners of conscience amnesty international journalists tamil tigers antiterrorism
Cuban prisoners see ray of light

30 May 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Justified by faith, "we even boast of our afflictions," says the reading from the Letter to the Romans this Sunday. Cuba's political prisoners have reason for hope following talks between Catholic Church leaders and President Raul Castro, who agreed to move prisoners held in far-off jails to facilities closer to their hometowns and transfer sick prisoners to hospitals. Cardinal Jaime Ortega and Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba Dionisio Garcia, who heads the Cuban Bishops' Conference, held a four-and-a-half-hour meeting with Castro in Havana last week which they both described as positive. Further talks are expected. The meetings are the first time in memory the communist government has negotiated with a national and independent organization like the Cuban church. They also represent Raul Castro's most important political shift since he succeeded his ailing brother Fidel two years ago. While the local church has long decried the country's problems, "what is new is the government's readiness to publicly recognize the Cuban Catholic Church as a middleman for resolving key issues," Havana dissident Oscar Espinosa Chepe wrote in a column Monday. Retired CIA Cuba expert Brian Latell noted that the church-state talks come at a time when Castro faces a crushing economic crisis as well as a wave of international condemnations of his human rights record. They include the February 22 death of jailed dissident Orlando Zapata after a lengthy hunger strike and a crackdown on the Ladies in White protesters earlier this year. "This represents a reflection of how much pressure they [the government] are feeling for the human rights, and pressures from a whole array of domestic problems," Latell said. "They're hoping the cardinal can help to alleviate some of those pressures." The Washington-based Center for Democracy in the Americas, which favors easing U.S. sanctions on Cuba, issued a statement saying that the Castro-Ortega talks were "a real lesson for U.S. policy-makers. Talking to the Cubans, not using sanctions . . . is the most effective way to achieve progress." Oscar Peua, director of the Miami-based Cuban Commission for Human Rights, complained in a blog post that Raul Castro had "jumped over the heads of the dissidents" in order to negotiate with Ortega. "But since the key issue is the release of all political prisoners, we do not hold back in being grateful," Peua added, even though it does not "resolve the sad reality of misery and lack of freedom that Cubans suffer for more than half a century." Source: Articles by Juan O. Tamayo for the Miami Herald and Esteban Israel for Reuters

cuba ladies in white human rights political prisoners raul castro cuban commission for human rights
Chilean prison turns into graveyard after fire

12 Dec 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Lord secures justice for the oppressed, the psalmist assures us, while the reading from Isaiah promises that God “comes to save you.” By the time firefighters entered a woefully overcrowded Chilean prison Wednesday morning, it was too late to save the lives of more than 80 prisoners who died in a raging fire. The deaths occurred after flames broke out during a fight in the packed prison in the Chilean capital of Santiago, in what officials described as the worst disaster in the history of the country’s troubled prison system. The cause is still being investigated, but an inmate who called national television from a cell phone said it began when a stove burner fell during a fight between inmates and that prison authorities waited an hour before contacting firefighters. “The riot police came in first and began to beat us,” he said, “and later the firefighters came in.” Officials disputed that account. Prison authorities said they had promptly called the fire department and firefighters reported they had not been obstructed by the police, though getting through prison security took time. Chilean president Sebastián Piñera said he hoped the blaze would call attention to the problems plaguing Chile’s prisons, and vowed to accelerate prison reform efforts. Source: Articles by Pascale Bonnefoy and Elissa Gootman for the New York Times, Eva Vergara for the Associated Press, and Guardian.co.uk

prisoners chile sebastian pinera fires prisons
Chilean prison turns into graveyard after fire

12 Dec 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Lord secures justice for the oppressed, the psalmist assures us, while the reading from Isaiah promises that God “comes to save you.” By the time firefighters entered a woefully overcrowded Chilean prison Wednesday morning, it was too late to save the lives of more than 80 prisoners who died in a raging fire. The deaths occurred after flames broke out during a fight in the packed prison in the Chilean capital of Santiago, in what officials described as the worst disaster in the history of the country’s troubled prison system. The cause is still being investigated, but an inmate who called national television from a cell phone said it began when a stove burner fell during a fight between inmates and that prison authorities waited an hour before contacting firefighters. “The riot police came in first and began to beat us,” he said, “and later the firefighters came in.” Officials disputed that account. Prison authorities said they had promptly called the fire department and firefighters reported they had not been obstructed by the police, though getting through prison security took time. Chilean president Sebastián Piñera said he hoped the blaze would call attention to the problems plaguing Chile’s prisons, and vowed to accelerate prison reform efforts. Source: Articles by Pascale Bonnefoy and Elissa Gootman for the New York Times, Eva Vergara for the Associated Press, and Guardian.co.uk

prisoners chile sebastian pinera fires prisons
"What price, freedom?" Israelis ask

23 Oct 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist offers praise to the Lord for being “safe from my enemies.” There were celebrations in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip Tuesday as a complex exchange of prisoners brought safety and freedom to kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as well as to hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Not all observers were pleased, however, with the deal Israel struck in order to obtain Shalit’s release. Israel had agreed to release 1,027 Palestinians in exchange for Shalit’s freedom, including nearly 300 who were serving life sentences for murder or terrorism. Although polls showed public support for the deal, members of victims' families said they felt betrayed. A subdued Israeli homecoming ceremony for Shalit stood in stark contrast with the mood in the Gaza Strip, where buses carrying the first freed Palestinians were escorted by heavily armed Hamas fighters. A spokesman for Hamas’s military arm suggested that the group would continue to seek opportunities to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said signing off on the deal had been “a very difficult decision,’’ and he alluded to possible challenges ahead. “I would like to make it clear: We will continue to fight terrorism,” he said. “Any released terrorist who returns to terrorism” will be dealt with. After the family had landed in Shalit’s hometown, his father, who became a familiar figure over the years of fighting to keep national attention on his son’s plight, said he sympathized with the bereaved families, adding, “We feel the pain for the price they paid for Gilad’s freedom.” Shalit, 25, looked frail and dazed five years after Hamas fighters ambushed his tank, killed two of his comrades and dragged him into the Gaza Strip in 2006. The captive soldier has had little contact with the outside world, his father said. Each side accused the other of mistreating its prisoners. Shalit, who was denied Red Cross visits during his imprisonment, was pushed into an uncomfortable interview on Egyptian television before being handed over to Israel, and Israelis watched his measured responses and labored breathing with fury. Hamas officials said their members had been subject in Israeli prisons to “torture, compulsion, and revenge.” Sources: Articles by Ernesto Londoño for the Washington Post,Ethan Bronner for the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times

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Horror in Honduras

19 Feb 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the Second Letter to the Corinthians Saint Paul refers to God as “the one who gives us security with you in Christ.” A breakdown of security in Honduras has led to notoriously high crime and overcrowded and dangerous prisons. Tuesday night a fire tore through a federal prison in Comayagua, burning and suffocating hundreds of men in their locked cells as rescuers desperately searched for keys. The death toll may rise above 300 in the world’s deadliest prison fire in eight decades. The country’s human-rights commissioner, Ramon Custodio, said on Honduran radio that 357 people remained unaccounted for in the fire that apparently was started by a disgruntled inmate. Ron W. Nikkel, president of Prison Fellowship International, an international nongovernmental organization, said Comayagua is the worst prison he’s visited in the country. “It’s horrifically overcrowded. The bunks are sometimes five, six, seven tiers high, with the lowest person on the totem pole sleeping underneath the bunk on the bottom.” “I’ve seldom been anywhere where I’ve seen such overcrowding. There have been a number of fires over the years and it’s surprising it hasn’t been worse or happened sooner than this. You wouldn’t have congestion like that in a dog pound, it’s so bad--and very little ventilation, so I can imagine a lot of the guys died from smoke inhalation,” said Nikkel. Human Rights Watch also pointed the finger at overcrowding and criticized the Honduran authorities for failing to address the conditions in which suspects and convicts are held. “Endemic violence, the very poor infrastructure, poor staffing, badly trained staff--all of these factors combined means that when something goes wrong, there’s a grave danger of loss of life and inability of the authorities to cope,” said professor Andrew Coyle of the International Center for Prison Studies at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. Sources: Articles by Laura Smith-Spark for CNN, Jason Beaubienfor NPR, and Ken Ellingwood for the Los Angeles Times

honduras ramon custodio ron w nikkel prison fellowship international andrew coyl overcrowding prisons fires human rights watch comayagua
Horror in Honduras

19 Feb 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the Second Letter to the Corinthians Saint Paul refers to God as “the one who gives us security with you in Christ.” A breakdown of security in Honduras has led to notoriously high crime and overcrowded and dangerous prisons. Tuesday night a fire tore through a federal prison in Comayagua, burning and suffocating hundreds of men in their locked cells as rescuers desperately searched for keys. The death toll may rise above 300 in the world’s deadliest prison fire in eight decades. The country’s human-rights commissioner, Ramon Custodio, said on Honduran radio that 357 people remained unaccounted for in the fire that apparently was started by a disgruntled inmate. Ron W. Nikkel, president of Prison Fellowship International, an international nongovernmental organization, said Comayagua is the worst prison he’s visited in the country. “It’s horrifically overcrowded. The bunks are sometimes five, six, seven tiers high, with the lowest person on the totem pole sleeping underneath the bunk on the bottom.” “I’ve seldom been anywhere where I’ve seen such overcrowding. There have been a number of fires over the years and it’s surprising it hasn’t been worse or happened sooner than this. You wouldn’t have congestion like that in a dog pound, it’s so bad--and very little ventilation, so I can imagine a lot of the guys died from smoke inhalation,” said Nikkel. Human Rights Watch also pointed the finger at overcrowding and criticized the Honduran authorities for failing to address the conditions in which suspects and convicts are held. “Endemic violence, the very poor infrastructure, poor staffing, badly trained staff--all of these factors combined means that when something goes wrong, there’s a grave danger of loss of life and inability of the authorities to cope,” said professor Andrew Coyle of the International Center for Prison Studies at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. Sources: Articles by Laura Smith-Spark for CNN, Jason Beaubienfor NPR, and Ken Ellingwood for the Los Angeles Times

honduras ramon custodio ron w nikkel prison fellowship international andrew coyl overcrowding prisons fires human rights watch comayagua

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