Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past eight years, it’s hard to ignore the dismal human rights record of George W. Bush. Where can one begin when you reflect on the human rights abuses, violations of international agreements and government-sanctified torture policies of the Bush Administration? By intimately exploring the stories attached to the infamous photos from Abu Ghraib, our film, Standard Operating Procedure, helped to give us a clearer understanding of the prison which cemented our country’s anti-human rights record and image to the world. Human rights were systematically violated and our global leadership was marginalized because of our policies during the past eight years.

However, since the election, the tide has turned and things are finally looking brighter. President-elect Obama has already indicated a desire to reshape our human rights policies, including closing Guantanamo.

However, for many of the policies changes to occur, the new president and Congress needs to hear from citizens like you and me.  Human Rights First is has made the following a priority for the Obama Administration : the closure of Guantanamo, protection for Iraqi refugees, stop the flow of arms to Darfur and end torture of prisoners in US custody.  Help to make these important goals a reality by signing their letter which will be published in newspapers worldwide.  We voted against torture on November 4th. Let’s help to show the world that we can help to change our policies and have our country return to being the visionary beacon for human rights that we once were. takepart today to sign Human Rights First’s letter.

(photo by habacuc_1988)

The Penal Colony, a new exhibit by visual artist Dinh Q. Le, highlights the injustices and hidden aspects of war and the secrets behind prison walls. Inspired by the recent events involving the United States Military Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the installation is divided into two sets of media.

Videos shot in the notorious political prison on Con Dao island off the coast of Vietnam highlight the horrific conditions where anti-French and anti-U.S. activits from the southeast Asian nation were sent to be tortured and live in “tiger cages” during the Vietnam War.

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On 60 Minutes last night Murat Kurnaz, an ex-terror detainee, spoke about the torture he received while in Kandahar and eventually Guantanamo. Kurnaz, a German citizen of Turkish descent, was traveling in Pakistan for religious reasons when he was picked up by police and handed over to the Americans.

The story comes roughly a month before the release of Errol Morris’ new film Standard Operating Procedure. I’ve written about the film a lot here on TakePart, both because it’s a Participant Productions film that I’m very proud of and also because I’m simply a huge Errol Morris fan. What’s especially exciting is that the film not only comes at a critical time in terms of the information it presents, but also that the film is getting a lot of praise, including winning the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

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GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA — Under gray skies all but obscured by an opaque canopy and high concrete walls topped with razor wire, two bearded young men in tan tunics are having “rec time” inside separate chain-link pens. One jogs frenziedly back and forth in the 30-foot enclosure; the other is curled like a fetus at the base of a cement block.

It’s a dreary winter afternoon, but the scene could be any time of the day or night. The hour for rec time is one of the few unpredictable features in a day in the life of a detainee. [LA Times]

That’s just an excerpt from a great article in today’s LA Times that traces a day in a Guantanamo detainee’s life. The article goes on to detail the schedule of someone who is in the prison starting with their 5am reveille and their end of a day which is signaled at 10 p.m. by the arrival of the bedsheet. But don’t think this means lights out - prisoners have to sleep with the lights on, many growing their hair long to try and cover their eyes with it.

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“Taxi to the Dark Side” won the Oscar for Best Documentary last weekend, and is a brutal and methodical investigation of torture and interrogation policies in America’s “war on terror.” Over 100 prisoners have died in US custody, with the military itself reporting 37 of those deaths as homicides. Additionally, only seven percent of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have been apprehended by US military personnel. The rest have been turned in by bounty hunters, warlords, and others with agendas completely unrelated to the US war on terror.

Filmmaker Alex Gibney parallels a disturbing investigation into the abuses at Bagram, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo with an in-depth look at the apprehension and eventual murder of an innocent taxi driver, Dilawar, who was accused of a crime by the very man who committed it. The film contains uncensored footage of the Bagram base and shows interviews with interrogators, guards, and other military personnel, while examining the roles of key figures in the Bush administration in refuting the Geneva Conventions and the embracing of torture as the weapon of choice in the war against terrorism.

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