I made a drastic avoidance of politics after the November elections, deciding to blog only about musical matters. But recent events have impelled me to speak out against some injustices.
First, Mukhtaran Bibi, a Pakistani woman who was sentenced to be gang-raped because of an infraction her brother committed. After the rape, Mukhtaran bravely denounced her attackers and brought charges against them. She was then placed under arrest, and her attackers freed. Tom Watson has been leading the blog charge on this, in a most excellent way. Found via Jaquandar.
Second, the latest announcements about Guantanamo Bay. Here's a simple question: why do we need a prison facility that is not on American soil? The prisons in Afghanistan and Iraq could be argued to as geographically convenient, keeping prisoners close to the military personnel that need the intelligence gleaned from the prisoners. But Guantanamo Bay does not fill that criterion. So there must be some other reason. What can it be but to allow the military to avoid U.S. laws on prisoner treatment? Notice that U.S. prisoners do not have a lot of rights, just protection against cruel and unusual treatment, access to lawyers, due process. Why can't the GB prisoners have these simple rights? There have been clear instances of prisoners who were innocent, so due process and lawyers are needed to protect these individuals. Here's a conservative who agrees with me, sort of.
Third, the genocide that continues in Sudan. The US government calls it a genocide, but does nothing to stop it. This is wrong. Write your representatives and senators, demand that the US takes action to stop the Sudanese government-sanctioned killings.
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