As our great holy men of faith
leapt about the landscape this past week, loudly protesting the cruel &
inhuman treatment visited on refugees from West Papua by our evil neighbours,
the Indonesians, the rest of the world, including Great Britain, was busy
complaining about the inhuman treatment being meted-out by our great friend
& ally, the US, on the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay (Guantanamo
Detainee List Draws Wave Of Complaints).

But, true to form, the
self-righteous keepers of our values remained steadfastly quiet about this
great American crime, notwithstanding that among the US detainees is our very
own David Hicks: tortured & denied his human & legal rights for over 4
years, with the deceitful & cowardly connivance of our very own government. 

And of course, as we’ve come to expect in matters
pertaining to the abuse of the legal & human rights of Australians, not a
peep about David Hicks from our haughty Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, chief
law officer of our nation & mock political guardian of justice & the
rule of law, nor the pompous caricature that passes himself off as our Minister
for Foreign Affairs, the tragic theatric, Alexander Downer. 

But back to Guantanamo …… 

‘Four-and-a-half
years ago, Mohamed Nechla, Lakhdar Boumediene, Hadj Boudella, Belkacern
Bensayah, Saber Lahmar, and Mustafa Ait Idir were living ordinary lives in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mohamed and Lakhdar worked with children orphaned in the
civil war. Mustafa repaired computers and provided technical support services.
Saber and his wife were expecting a child.

In
October 2001, their lives were shattered when the U.S. insisted that Bosnia
arrest the six men—all Muslims of Algerian descent—based on unfounded U.S.
allegations that they were involved in a plot to bomb the U.S. Embassy in
Bosnia. One by one, each man was taken into custody.  

As news
of the arrests filled Bosnian media, not one fled. The men spent three months
in jail while the federal prosecutor investigated the charges. No stone was
left unturned—investigators searched computer files, phone records, questioned
witnesses and the men.

Finally,
the federal prosecutor recommended to the Bosnian high court that the six be
released. He had identified no evidence to justify their detention. The high
court agreed, and ordered their release.’ 

and
then …… 

Torture in Guantánamo