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Originally Posted by KirStang
Cruel Inhumane Degrading Treatment, for one. I still haven't formulated a strong position on this.
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I had to take some time to think about it as well.
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On one hand, these terrorists are disregarding the norms and customs of law and war, as such, they should not have the right to claim any protection founded on notions of a fair war. (Interestingly, these same arguments were made by crusaders--norms would be followed until they ran in to 'heretics' and 'non believers.') Plain and simple, these criminals are sub-human and them and any associates should be given a dose of their own medicine.
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This is a dangerous position to take. Some of the worst atrocities in our history were carried out by those who had the capacity to take groups of human beings and render them sub-human. No human being is sub-human. A human is a human, regardless of their thoughts or actions, which brings us to...
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On the other hand, we're supposed to be an enlightened society which respects humanitarian and humane rights. It's hard to take a country which claims to intervene in an oil rich state to promote 'humanitarian concerns' while the same country is doing substantially the same thing to their own prisoners.
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Human rights are in place universally for a reason. The aim is to avoid undermining these rights for political or other purposes. Despite what criminal actions take place, those who are accused must be treated with the most basic and fundamental human rights. This is a foundational aspect of law and justice.
What wrong has been done here? The release? Maybe it was wrong to acquire and/or to release the information, but mostly on a political or security level. On a moral or ethical level (i.e. alternatively political), it was the right thing to do, as the truth regarding dire circumstances that remains shrouded in mystery is a horrific thing.
What's going on in this prison is nothing short of a travesty of justice. I would welcome similar releases from other areas—China is one example.