What? I Thought We Always Were the Good Guys!
An unsettling article by Nick Cumming-Bruce of the New York Times on Nov. 28, 2014
GENEVA — The United States needs to make numerous changes to bring its security policies and domestic law enforcement practices fully into line with an international treaty banning torture and cruel treatment, a United Nations panel said Friday.
Delivering its findings after two days of hearings in Geneva attended by government representatives this month, the panel monitoring compliance with the treaty cited serious concerns. Among those concerns included the rules of interrogation, a failure to fully investigate allegations of torture during the administration of President George W. Bush, police shootings of unarmed African-Americans and the use of solitary confinement in prisons (my emphasis)…
“On the subject of domestic law enforcement, the panel declined to detail its reaction to the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, in Ferguson, Mo. But it expressed its ‘deep concern at the frequent and recurrent police shootings or fatal pursuits of unarmed black individuals’ and the Chicago police force’s violent tactics and harassment of African-American and Latino youths (my emphasis).
“The panel’s comments, along with the outpouring of protest this week, amounted to a ‘wake-up call for police who think they can act with impunity,’ the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement…”
To read the full article CLICK HERE
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 
Good morning, David!
Conflating military torture of detainees outside the US with anything the Chicago Police department is doing is absurd. And people keep pretending that the Michael Brown shooting was a crime, despite the grand jury and the physical evidence stating that it wasn’t. Also, what gets labeled as “torture” when the US does it simply doesn’t compare to what terrorists do to Americans, and to each other. I’m reasonably certain that waterboarding is not as bad as public beheadings, or sexual slavery, or blowing up buildings with people in them. Did they do things wrong? Of course they did. But let’s not pretend that the CIA and the Chicago PD are the same entity, or that everything bad is equally bad. Personally, I’m skeptical of anything said by a UN panel; they are as subject to corruption as any other entity. Given the obvious bias of the NYT, their conclusions don’t surprise me.
There’s always room for improvement, and when problems are found, they need to be rooted out, but mixing fantasy with reality isn’t going to help anyone.
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Andrea, I think the world needs a United Nations organization. Just my opinion. I have been concerned over the years since Abu Ghraib that methods used in military interrogation post 9/11 will end up at the police station. I am purely and simply against torture as a way to extract information. I am opposed to it not only as to what it does to the person tortured, but also to the soul of those who apply it. It’s important to look at the big picture along with unintended consequences. I appreciate your comments and feedback.
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David, I knew when Bush first started demanding that other countries exempt us from war crimes charges that he was intending to go commit a few. I fully agree with your comments about torture, from all angles. I think the UN should be taken with a grain of salt. They’re a little too ivory tower and detached from common people, and like politicians, they mostly seem to be interested in justifying their own positions. That’s just my opinion, of course. I think it’s a good thing to have a UN, but I’m not sure it’s effective in its current form.
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I think you are right, Andrea. Wouldn’t it be nice if an individual nation could not go to war? I know that’s a pie-in-sky dream, but wouldn’t it be nice if the bad guys in the world were confronted by a true coalition of the world’s peace-loving nations. And, yes, the torture stuff has got to go! Thanks.
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Hi
I know Americans must be feeling soccer punched from last week, maybe itâs time to stand back and listen to voices other than American, they are not always the bad guys as you like to say.
Regards
Kay OâSullivan
Ireland
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Precisely, Kay, we need to listen to others in the world. If we in America want to stand as a moral leader in the world, then we had best act like one.
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