Edward Snowden...

I am not discussing the revelation of 'Prism', nor what my opinions are about the entire program. I have nothing to say about the government intruding in our personal and private space because lets be honest, who was actually surprised.
I'd rather discuss the man behind it and the motivation behind this 'leak'. Edward Snowden. This man gave up everything (money, home, partner, family and most significantly FREEDOM) to inform the world of what's going on behind the scenes. Nothing about what he revealed shocked me but the embarrassment it's causing has entertained me.
I have always believed that governments have felt invincible and untouchable, a simple man like Edward Snowden reminds them that they are not always in control. Snowden says he did all this for the sake of his country and I believe him. If ever you're in search of a patriot, look this guy up! Earning of up to $200,000 a year and he gave it all up to stop the US from becoming something that goes against its founding principles (lets not ignore that he's given up his freedom too!) Many say he has put his country at risk and I say codswallop! His revelation is not targeting specific info, his comments are only on how intrusive the governments techniques are; if you're genuinely surprised by this info what rock have you been living under?! All he wants is people to be informed and to change how things are done, you can't blame the guy for trying.
Snowden might be naive in thinking that this can change anything but hes definitely brave! He's gone up against the biggest bullies and is candid about not expecting to come out of this unscathed. It seems his motivation to save his country from becoming something unconstitutional has cost him his freedom and possibly his life...

For now we are told Snowden is on the move, whether this is true or false only time will tell. I can only hope that this brave young man comes out this relatively unharmed.
 
                                            

Guantanamo : Hunger Strike

There are 166 men remaining in Guantanamo, the government has confirmed 41 of those are participating in a hunger strike (as of 25th April 2013 that number is now at 94) . Unofficially, the number is thought to be much higher.

Guantanamo, alone, is worth being called a dark stain on justice...but to know that many men are depriving themselves food just to get attention and are STILL being ignored is most definitely a tragedy.  The main media avoids highlighting the mess that is Guantanamo, but thankfully online social media works hard to highlight these issues.

Most of the 166 men are cleared for release, one of those men is Shaker Aamer. Cleared for release in 2007 and then again in 2009 yet he still languishes there. This man is INNOCENT, the government admits it, if he dies there the government deserves no pardoning for the injustice they have done. They can still right this wrong, they can work to free these men and send them back home (especially since they're innocent) to leave them in Guantanamo IS NOT an option.

These men should not have to feel so hopeless that they decide starving themselves is the only way of exercising control over their situation. Especially not when most of them are innocent and have been cleared for release! Shaker Aamer has an 11 year old son who he has never met due to being held captive by the US and UK government. How would you explain to an 11 year old child, that although his father is a great man, a charitable man and INNOCENT from any wrongdoing he has still been kept locked up in a cage for all these years? How do you think that 11 year old boy feels when he hears that his father has mentioned in his letters that he may never make it out alive? Many families have been torn apart by Guantanamo. It is not only the 166 men that are suffering, their families are going through it too.

I hope and pray that none of these men end up leaving in body bags. This is no longer an issue of justice, since the injustice of all the lost years will never make up for it. But it is about these mens RIGHT - they are innocent, they should go home - end of!

Please take the time to sign the online petition asking (although we shouldn't have to!) the government to release Shaker and return him to his family : epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/33133

Shaker Aamer, innocent of any wrongdoing, deserves to come home.

New Year - Old Habits

A new year is upon us.

This, for certain people in the world, will mean diddley sqat! Omar Khadr is still incarcerated with no end in sight. Shakeer Ameer still languishes in Guantanamo Bay Prison. Babar Ahmad & Talha Ahsan are familiarizing themselves with the US prison system, a horrible and downright depressing change for them. I'm glad Gary McKinnon was not extradited - He suffers from Aspergers the same condition that Talha Ahsan suffers from - and so was let off....Why Talha Ahsan wasn't I'll never understand. I'm sick of the injustices & reaching the point were questioning the blatant double standards is futile.

I just hope this year brings about change.
I hope justice prevails this year.
I hope families are finally reunited this year.
I hope for a better future for all of us.

And in all honestly, I hope that the lack of faith I have in our governments and justice system is proved wrong....but I wont hold my breath.

Too many years has injustice been constant - you only have to look at Guantanamo's upcoming anniversary to witness that!

New year but the same old injustices - this year began with the all too familiar story of a man going missing in another country and ending up in a US court - Mahdi Hashi 23 years old. I have no doubt that there will be many more to come.

Babar Ahmad & Talha Ahsan

This entire saga is pure bullshit!!

The fact that BRITISH citizens have been extradited to the US should be causing alarm bells to ring in EVERY single person living in the UK.

The entire charges and reasoning behind this is bullshit too - Babar Ahmad has been extradited because the alleged website he made was on US servers!! WTF!!!!!????? So you're telling me if the brand of bleach used by a dumb ass wanna-be terrorist (in the UK) is a US brand then he can extradited too??

I just hate to think what these men are going through - 8 years indefinitely detained in a UK prison would have been hard enough but to then go to the US where the conditions are known to be harsher and so far from their family must be so frightening. But these are men of faith, it is their infallible strength and patience that erks most observers who wish to see them suffer. Babar Ahmad has written many poems and even a little booklet called Words of Wisdom From Behind Bars - I would encourage you all to download and read it. Just from reading his words you know this man could not be guilty of inciting hate or acts of violence...

Lets get back to the human element of this, these men have been taken away from a distressing situation - to now an unfamiliar and even more so distressing environment. I have no doubt they will be found guilty (unfortunately this is how the "justice" system works - you wouldn't go through the expense of having these men brought to US only to say 'oops we got it wrong''). If found guilty what happens next? Spend the rest of their lives in US prisons or be bought back home to serve out their sentences? Be kept separated from their families for the rest of their lives because of the distance? Surely, that's against their human rights?? What will happen to Gary Mckinnon? If he's not extradited does this become about the colour of someones skin or their religion that's qualifying them for extradition? May seem a bit outlandish that this could be about someones religion but it would be stupid to ignore the blatant facts! Guantanamo Bay has housed over 750 men of ONE faith - Islam! This has happened before in history when a people of one faith have been herded into cages, suffered horrific fates...we may not be far from that reoccurring.

Talha Ahsan suffers from Aspergers Syndrome. In a medico legal report of June 2009, a consultant psychiatrist described him as “an extremely vulnerable individual who from a psychiatric perspective would be more appropriately placed in a specialist service for adults with autistic disorders.” Again, the reasoning behind allowing this obviously fragile individual to be extradited baffles me - Our countrys judges lack any sense of intellect - dimwits!

One last thing the U.N. Committee Against Torture expressed concern about “prolonged isolation periods” and “the extremely harsh regime” in US Supermax prisons.  It is little wonder that the former warden of ADX Florence described the prison as a ‘clean version of hell.’ <<< That is what these men look to be facing for the rest of their lives.


If their stories don't affect you check that you still have a pulse - I'm not saying that they should be free (although that is what i think!) I'm saying the right thing would have been to try them at home....not in a foreign land under bullshit reasoning!


I hope and pray that I am proven wrong - that justice still exists in this day and age, but I won't hold my breath.

Random...

Today's post is going to be random - an explosion of thoughts.

The last I posted was in Feb - a lot's happened personally, globally and politically...

I've been wrecking my mind thinking how can i ever make a change? How can i make the kids i see acting like right idiots realise their potential? How do I help people open their minds to issues like Syria, Guantanamo Bay prison, indefinite detention...?

What pisses me off the most is that kids growing up in areas like Tottenham, Peckham, Brixton....povery & crime ridden areas..... know that no one is going to help them. They have so much potential, so much character, determination and motivation that when it's applied to something good they will excel in it. But why would they even try to do that when from an early age they're exposed to things no child should be exposed to - crime, drugs, violence and so much more. They're not bad people / kids, they're a product of their environment and no one - not the government and nor the community are doing anything to change it.

I'm blessed that I live in a pretty well off area... but i've seen things & experienced things that help me identify with those kids.  I'm not going to pretend like i've seen people get killed but i know of people that have seen that, that should have been the intended victim - i know what they aspire towards and i know what the reality is. They all have dreams to be something better, no one WANTS to be in a gang or go to prison - but the reality is they are so limited in their choices that this is all they see for themselves! I'm sick of people thinking its a simple topic - read an article about some gang shooting and saying they're idiots is the most naive and ignorant attitude to have.

I don't know what the point of this is - like i said it random and its just me rambling (through text) but i just want people to think twice before they comment on kids in hoodies... i haven't even touched on the issues most of these lot will face. Most join gangs because if they don't their chances of surviving unscathed in such environments is little to none, they kill because the mentality is that sooner or later they too will become a target, they sell drugs to earn money - money they wouldn't be able to make otherwise because of the lack of jobs available to them. When you get a chance to sit out and speak with them  - most will be polite, most realise that the life they lead isn't ideal but what all will say is that they do what needs to be done. They know nothing different and don't expect any change.... i can't even begin to imagine what that is like!  

I haven't even touched upon Guantanamo or Syria,  but i think that's enough for today. I just hope that if any one does end up reading this they'll think twice before making any judgements whether it be on a kid in a hoody, a women in niqaab or a man covered in tattoos.

Syria

I'm not going to be sarcastic nor humorous - the situation in Syria is such that it overwhelms me.

Thousands have died and continue to do so. The beast that is Bashar deserves a most wretched death, all that he has done I guarantee you it will all come back to him. I am not here to discuss the dirtbag rather I wish to bring to your attention the victims of this tyrant.

Men, women, children and the elderly - none have been spared the horror! I'm not going to go into the graphic details but to put it simply...women's honour has been violated, men have been massacred and children have been left orphaned...yet the world 'leaders' remain silent.

I think its fair to say the Syrian people should not have any expectations of being rescued by the UN, Arab League or any other pathetic and useless group! To be honest, I'm pretty sure the Syrian are brave enough and smart enough to know only they can help themselves and most obviously - God. But here's the thing, I always like to defeat people expectations! They expect nothing from outsiders, so lets do the opposite - lets show them we care and we're thinking about them. Please donate, whether its a pound or a penny....give what you can.

Click here to donate what you can - please!

Mothers are terrified for their children's safety, by donating you help ease their fear of starvation. Fathers are terrified of whether their families are safe while they defend their lives - you help by funding shelter for families.

Do not belittle any amount given to charity - give what you can and go to bed knowing you have done a great deed!

Guantanamo - 10 Years Later!

10 years later Guantanamo remains open and worse of all, active. 170 captives remain stranded on this is island in a facility that will go into history books as the the worst criminal act by the USA. I guarantee you!

This facility is known to have carried out regular torture & this came in all forms, physical, mental and sexual. The implications of this on the detainees mental health are terrifying. Sexual abuse is sadly quite common in regular state prison, committed by criminals on other incarcerated criminals. Never have I heard of such rampant cases of sexual abuse by GUARDS on prisoners as often as I have from Guantanamo. I say without hesitation that the majority of guards at GITMO are more criminal than those being held. Guantanamo is the equivalent of letting dogs look after humans - a disaster waiting to happen. Human rights group argue that indefinite detention alone is an act of torture, add solitary confinement to that and you have a lethal mental weapon against detainees.

Acts of torture are common. This is not me saying it, the documents speak for them self! Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured in March 2003 & had been waterboarded atleast 183 times by the CIA. That wasn't all, he was held at a secret detention facility - so only God knows what else he & many others were put through. A judge even declared that "Americas idea of what is torture...does not appear to coincide with that of most civilized nations".

Detainee returning after interrogation

This facility has held over 700 people. That's 700 lives destroyed / tainted forever, not including the guards. As much as one can say they are weak people to follow commands even when they are so blatantly inhumane one can't begin to think of what they feel when they're back home with their families, knowing what evil acts they've witness & participated in.

Guantanamo has changed the future for many people. It has transgressed all limits both morally & legally. It has always been said that in war leave alone the women, the children & the old. Guantanamo has had no mercy. The oldest captive was 89 year old Mohammed Sadiq, and the youngest 14 year old Naqib Ullah (I'm pretty sure I've heard of a 12 year old being held but can't find the details). There have also been statements of women being held there. The US government has since become cocky & has even so far as to go into other nations and kidnap foreign citizens! Last year Italy convicted 26 CIA agents in absentia for kidnapping an Italian citizen & then dumping him in the woods near his house a year later.

The individuals that remain there are there simply to save face! Shaker Ameer, Fayiz Al Kanderi, Omar Khadr & many more are ready for release but due to the US governments stupidity & plain arrogance they remain stranded.

David Hicks

"GTMO should be closed, torture abolished, military commisons scrapped, renditions ceased, indefinite detention should be a thing of the past & people (including children) should no longer be made to 'disappear' into unknown black site prisons" - David Hicks (in an exclusive interview with Jason Leopold) The fact that such a statement needs to be said tells us how bad things have got.

Guantanamo is no longer about keeping the bad guys locked up. The bad guys aren't the ones in the cages - scary but true! Rather it's the ones in uniforms carrying out the commands who should be locked up. It's the leader who allows their actions to continue, when a true leader would be ashamed of having such actions associated with his leadership, who deserves to be locked up. The real criminals sit behind desks arguing to keep practicing torture & sign new laws that make torture acceptable! The real criminals strut around thinking their invincible, I swear by the One who created this Earth & everything in it, they will be judged & true justice will be served!