Orange-jumpsuited torture protestors march to St. Thomas Law School
Why were people in orange jumpsuits silently filing through the Minneapolis skyways? The answer may be ten years old, but those in the jumpsuits will tell you the problem is not in the past, but is a current one.
January 9, 2012 was the 10th anniversary of the memo that gave President George Bush the right to ignore the Geneva Conventions and authorize torture. Authors of the memo were Robert Delahunty, now a St. Thomas Law School professor and John Yoo, now a University of California at Berkeley law professor. Local peace activists have demonstrated against Professor Delahunty ever since he joined St. Thomas in 2004.
Many believe that the Delahunty-Yoo memo led directly to the torturing of prisoners at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons and many other human rights violations by American troops.
The “enhanced interrogation techniques” are reported to be continuing.
Dozens of books have been written about US torture practices. One recent book, None of Us Were Like This Before, describes the actions and consequences of these actions on one battalion.
Many national peace related groups have been arguing for a strict, explicit ban on torture, including the World Organisation Against Torture,Veterans For Peace, the International Committee Against Torture and Amnesty International.
Why the orange jumpsuits?
This year the demonstrators wore hooded orange jump suits, the attire of prisoners at Guantanamo. They marched silently through the Minneapolis skyways from the People's Plaza to the second floor library at the University of St. Thomas Law School library, asking to see the books authored by Delahunty. They were denied admission. The “prisoners” then joined a rally in front of the law school.
The objectives of this continued protest effort include closing Guantanamo, more public disclosure of the on-going Delahunty-Yoo writings and a forum at St. Thomas including Professor Delahunty and other lawyers with differing viewpoints. They accuse Delahunty of war crimes. They have also been picketing St. Thomas Law School commencements arguing that the students are not getting a complete picture of the torture issue.
Chato Hazelbaker, Director of Communications, University of St. Thomas Law School, met with the protesters on the sidewalk in front of the law school building as he has a number of times in the past. He listened carefully and argued that, “If you take the totality of what goes on in this law school, we would find far more that we agree about than we disagree about.” He went on to describe the commencement protests as a significant sticking point in any negotiations.
Coleen Rowley, FBI whistle blower and peace activists, replied, “If St. Thomas would hold an open forum for law students and get speakers on these issues, I would not come to the commencement any longer.”
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Comments
some are above the law
Can we paraphrase Chato's rationale by saying "We respect the law most of the time within the walls of St Thomas Law School"? What an evasive answer. This breach of international law is a huge step backwards for the troops and for people who will be targeted by the NDAA that Obama so blithely voted for. I met a law student from St Thomas at a wedding and asked him what he thought about Delahuntey. He gave him a pass on the torture issue because of his "brilliance". What about his lack of morals and ethics, though? Let those who can influence laws about waterboarding, or other forms of torture, be forced to undergo the procedure(s). What is the data on the usefulness of torture? From what I've heard it doesn't yield useful information, but as a friend of mine says, that isn't really the point of torture. For those people whose loved ones are in the military, they should know that the use of torture places all troops at greater risk of brutality outside of the "norm" of regular combat. If we abided by the international laws regarding conflict, war crimes would be greatly lessened. Wars have never, ever been about principles, anyway. They are always about resources and strategic territory. My sainted high school history teacher taught me that. I wonder how many of my classmates remember those very significant words?
Where's the logic?
So we disagree on torture, no big deal, says Chato Hazelbaker. Sorry, Mr Hazelbaker, it is a big deal. It's about obeying the law. International law says that torture is a war crime. And incidentally, redefining waterboarding as non-torture doesn't work either. One who proclaimed it was not torture, Christopher Hitchens, at least had the integrity to undergo it himself. After that he changed his mind about whether it was torture or not. So let those writing these little escape clauses be required to experience it themselves. A little empathy, please. War itself is a crime, in my opinion. My high school history teacher had it right. He said that if we never remembered anything else he taught us, to remember that there has never been a war that was fought over principles (at the time we were learning about the Civil War). Wars are always fought over resources and strategic territory. I hope my classmates remember this incredible statement from a teacher of the truth. I'll continue to repeat his lesson to anyone who will listen.
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