Am I Not Human? Torture on the Dark Side

The Electronic Village is pledged to post about human rights abuses as part of the 'Am I Not Human?' blog campaign on the 27th of each month. We want all concerned bloggers and blog readers to support this effort.

President Obama signed executive order to close Guantánamo Bay prison. This is a major victory in restoring our values and rehabilitating America’s image worldwide. However, there are many who think that much more needs to be done — so many wrongs that still need to be righted.

Alex Gibney’s Academy Award-winning documentary Taxi to the Dark Side showed in stark terms the impact of human rights abuse ... even if done in the name of the 'war on terror'. Perhaps it is time to demand accountability for all abuses committed by the Bush-Cheney administration in the 'war on terror.'

What say u? Have you watched the full documentary yet?

Amnesty International Issues 100-Day Human Rights Challenge to Barack Obama

Many of you know that this blog participates in a human rights campaign on the 27th of each month. As such, I read with interest the recent efforts of Amnesty International to urge U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to make human rights central to his new administration. The organization is calling for certain concrete steps in his first 100 days in office that would demonstrate a genuine commitment to bringing the United States into line with its international obligations.

Specifically, they want the new administration to:

1. Announce a plan and date to close Guantanamo


2. Issue an executive order to ban torture and other ill-treatment, as defined under international law


3. Ensure that an independent commission to investigate abuses committed by the U.S. government in its "war on terror" is set up.

These demands are part of a "checklist" of actions Amnesty International is asking the new U.S. President to take during the first 100 days in office.

Personally, I'm in agreement with all three requests ('demands') being made by Amnesty International. As such, I plan to sign their online petition. I invite villagers to click here to learn more.