Os nossos produtos foram experimentados com êxito em Guantánamo!
- Muito bem... O que deseja? Temos arranca-unhas, arrebenta-olhos, corta-testículos, maçaricos, bisturis...
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«El más grande vendedor y traficante de armas en el mundo lo es el imperio de los Estados Unidos. Vende sofisticadas armas a sus más fieles aliados. Enfrenta gobiernos vendiéndoles armas a los dos a la vez y se forma el embrollo que ellos mismos organizan. Y en esa gigantesca avalancha del mayor de sus "negocios" hasta los terroristas se benefician porque de alguna manera reciben esas armas a través de terceros...»
«Un yemení detenido en la prisión militar estadounidense de Guantánamo fue encontrado muerto el lunes por la noche en su celda en lo que las autoridades calificaron como un "aparente suicidio". (...) De confirmarse que la muerte de este yemení ha sido un suicidio, no sería éste el primer caso. Desde su creación en enero de 2002, en la base naval estadounidense se han producido otros tres suicidios y más de 40 intentos por 25 presos (...)»
«Em dez meses suicidaram-se no Estabelecimento Prisional de Custóias, no Porto, sete presos, tantos quantos os que, em todo o ano passado, se mataram nas 50 cadeias do país.»
Muhammad Saad Iqbal was seized by the C.I.A. after 9/11, interrogated in a secret prison in Egypt, then sent on to Bagram Airbase and Guantanamo. This is a firsthand account of torture and rendition.
As the US moves to shut down Guantanamo Bay, another detention facility at Afghanistan's Bagram airbase is being expanded amid fears that Washington is likely to press ahead with off-shore detention of "enemy combatants".
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adaptado de um e-mail enviado a 2009-02-24 pelo Jorge
Obama parece condenado a falhar segunda vez a promessa de encerrar a prisão depois de o Congresso ter fechado a torneira dos dólares.
Barack Obama parece condenado a falhar segunda vez a promessa de fechar Guantánamo depois de o Congresso ter recusado à Administração o dinheiro necessário para comprar a nova prisão, no Ilinóis, para onde deviam ser transferidos os terroristas mais perigosos.
O Presidente dos EUA admitiu há um mês que não será possível encerrar o centro de terroristas na ilha de Cuba a 22 de Janeiro, como ele próprio ordenara no segundo dia do seu mandato. (...)
«Recent events have vividly reminded us that nations are not reducing but rather increasing their arsenals of weapons of mass destruction. The best brains in the highly developed nations of the world are devoted to military technology.
(...)
So man's proneness to engage in war is still a fact. But wisdom born of experience should tell us that war is obsolete. There may have been a time when war served as a negative good by preventing the spread and growth of an evil force, but the destructive power of modern weapons eliminated even the possibility that war may serve as a negative good. If we assume that life is worth living and that man has a right to survive, then we must find an alternative to war. In a day when vehicles hurtle through outer space and guided ballistic missiles carve highways of death through the stratosphere, no nation can claim victory in war. A so-called limited war will leave little more than a calamitous legacy of human suffering, political turmoil, and spiritual disillusionment. A world war - God forbid! - will leave only smoldering ashes as a mute testimony of a human race whose folly led inexorably to ultimate death. So if modern man continues to flirt unhesitatingly with war, he will transform his earthly habitat into an inferno such as even the mind of Dante could not imagine.
Therefore, I venture to suggest to all of you and all who hear and may eventually read these words, that the philosophy and strategy of nonviolence become immediately a subject for study and for serious experimentation in every field of human conflict, by no means excluding the relations between nations. It is, after all, nation-states which make war, which have produced the weapons which threaten the survival of mankind, and which are both genocidal and suicidal in character.
Here also we have ancient habits to deal with, vast structures of power, indescribably complicated problems to solve. But unless we abdicate our humanity altogether and succumb to fear and impotence in the presence of the weapons we have ourselves created, it is as imperative and urgent to put an end to war and violence between nations as it is to put an end to racial injustice.
(...)
We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say "We must not wage war." It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace. There is a fascinating little story that is preserved for us in Greek literature about Ulysses and the Sirens. The Sirens had the ability to sing so sweetly that sailors could not resist steering toward their island. Many ships were lured upon the rocks, and men forgot home, duty, and honor as they flung themselves into the sea to be embraced by arms that drew them down to death. Ulysses, determined not to be lured by the Sirens, first decided to tie himself tightly to the mast of his boat, and his crew stuffed their ears with wax. But finally he and his crew learned a better way to save themselves: they took on board the beautiful singer Orpheus whose melodies were sweeter than the music of the Sirens. When Orpheus sang, who bothered to listen to the Sirens?
So we must fix our vision not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but upon the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody that is far superior to the discords of war.»
«We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations – acting individually or in concert – will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.
I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King said in this same ceremony years ago – "Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones." As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King's life's work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there is nothing weak –nothing passive – nothing naïve – in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.
But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism – it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.
(...)
But we do not have to think that human nature is perfect for us to still believe that the human condition can be perfected. We do not have to live in an idealized world to still reach for those ideals that will make it a better place. The non-violence practiced by men like Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every circumstance, but the love that they preached – their faith in human progress – must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey.»
Dilawar era motorista de táxi nas montanhas do Afeganistão. Preso pelos militares em 2002, nunca mais regressou a casa. Morreu na prisão de Bagram, ao fim de cinco dias, sucumbindo à tortura. Partindo deste facto, Alex Gibney segue as pistas para dénunciar os actos de tortura sobre as pessoas suspeitas de «terrorismo», cometidas pelo exército dos EUA no Afeganistão, no Iraque ou em Gantánamo.
O filme lembra que a tortura, com os respectivos manuais, sempre fizeram parte dos métodos da CIA desde que esta foi criada há mais de 50 anos e explica que, mais recentemente, se estendeu de Bagram para Abu Ghraib e para Guantánamo (e outras prisões). Novos métodos foram ensaiados e Guantánamo passou a ser uma espécie de laboratório principal.
Este filme ganhou um óscar para o melhor documentário em 2007.
As versões aqui apresentadas têm durações diferentes.
Um desenho que mostra como Dilawar estava algemado ao tecto na sua célula. O autor, Thomas V. Curtis, é um ex-sargento na reserva da United States Army Military Police Corps.
