An inter-Mennonite newspaper, putting the Mennonite world together every week since 1923 |
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Last Updated February 24, 2004
| LETTERS
We invite our readers to send letters for the Viewpoint section in our print edition. Letters must include the author's name and address and should be 500 words or less. Letters will be edited for clarity and length. Click HERE to submit a Viewpoint letter. |
EDITORIAL
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| Detainees victimized by decline in rights |
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Human rights and personal security in the United States have lost some of their currency since 9/11. In a post-attack rush to rescind civil privileges once fundamental, principles that defined America as a harbor from oppression have been grossly violated.
At U.S. airports and border crossings, one can see the signs of this constitutional vivisection. Paranoia seems to reign ahead of legal propriety. Being interrogated, fingerprinted and photographed — probable cause notwithstanding — can turn into full-bore harassment of citizens and non-citizens alike. Nowhere is the reversal of basic rights more apparent than in the American prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where about 650 people suspected of involvement in terrorism are still being held. In this shadowland of voiceless, defenseless detainees, some of them minors, expectations of justice have been lost. As Amnesty International’s Curt Goering said at Bethel College recently, Guantanamo reflects a new low for America’s human-rights record. It also appears to be emerging as a metaphor for an increasingly divided Bush administration. One faction — including Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice — favors openness and international accountability. Another — embodied by Vice President Dick Cheney, Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz — advocates continued, unchecked unilateralism. We wonder what track our human-rights policy will take next. In recent weeks, amid the piecemeal release of about 100 detainees, Rumsfeld has announced that the Guantanamo detainees will finally get annual review hearings. But beyond this, there will be no more openness, documentation or accountability for the people trapped in that vague limbo. As Amnesty’s Goering said, this sort of policy is not the hallmark of a leading democracy. Guantanamo shows that ominous precedents have been set since 9/11. We appeal to our leaders to correct them. — Robert Rhodes |
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