Murat Kurnaz testified before a German parliamentary committee yesterday about his treatment at the hands of the Americans (with possible German complicity) at US prison facilities in Kandahar, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The graphic descriptions of torture were highly disturbing, but so far there have been no reports in the US press concerning this, even though there is wide coverage in the German press. Spiegel published this brief report in English on its Web site:
Kurnaz made new allegations Wednesday of torture and human-rights abuses in the US coalition’s jail in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he was held in 2001 and 2002. Members of the German parliament who heard his testimony said they were shaken by the Turkish citizen’s claims, although his account has not been verified.
He said Wednesday that he had been suspended for several days in chains while in Kandahar and inspected by a doctor only for his "fitness to be tortured." He claimed a German-speaking interrogator gained regular access to him in both prisons dressed as a Red Cross worker, and that other prisoners in Kandahar were exposed — either naked or in thin clothes — to extreme cold.
The report in German by Spiegel correspondent Yassin Musharbash is far more compehensive. Kurnaz evidently told the committee that he was kept naked in his cell for days in the cold; at other times during intense heat the Americans turned off the ventilation and he felt he would die from suffocation. Kurnaz also reported repeated beatings and withholding of food at the hands of the Americans.
But Kurnaz is fortunate to be back in Germany. Yesterday the Defense Department released a handbook of "rules" for military trials of terrorism suspects. As the WaPo reports, the handbook reinforces the Bush administration’s contempt for consitutional law:
It incorporates controversial rules blocking a detainee’s right to challenge his or her detention and allowing prosecutors to use hearsay information or coerced evidence if a military judge rules that it is reliable and relevant.
Yesterday Kurnaz was asked how he was feeling now. He answered that he is fine, but added:
"Aber ich weiß, dass auf Kuba Menschen gefoltert werden und dass Unschuldige dabei sind, und wenn sie an sie denke, geht es mir nicht gut." ("But I know that people are being tortured in Cuba and that some are innocent, and when I think of them then I don’t feel so well.")
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sehr viel erschreckender finde ich, dass kurnaz´ freilassung von deutschland im jahr 2002 und seither immer wieder vereitelt worden ist und man sich hierzulande doch hinstellte und die “bösen amerikaner” brandmarkte.
im nachhinein scheint es, alle wären sich in dieser sache richtig gut einig gewesen, wenngleich die amerikaner sich mit kurnaz´ freilassung bei der schröder-regierung ein paar pluspunkte verschaffen wollten.
damals paßte ein gutes einvernehmen mit den amerikanern schröder offenbar gar nicht in den plan. und hernach hatte man kein interesse daran, den zeugen dieses politischen kalküls ins land zurück zu lassen.
“Zeit für Rücktritte” schreibt einer der ZEIT Blogger:
http://blog.zeit.de/bittner/2007/01/19/zeit-fur-rucktritte_105
Sehe ich auch so. Wenn es denn tatsächlich stimmt, was heute in den Zeitungen zu lesen ist.
I am curious whether Steinmeier, Hanning, and/or Urlauh will indeed resign over this.
Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and the relevant undersecretaries and deputy secretaries etc did not resign…
Kurnaz is not anymore America’s headache, So why American media will bother to talk about him, and if they do, it will bring another scandal for Bush and ultimately pressure on American media by Bush. They will only talk about Kurnaz if Steinmeier will resign, but I doubt if they give any details which will hurt the US image. As I doubt if American media is as free as German media.
So geht es nicht weiter.
Art 1 der Europäischen Menschenrechtscharta: “Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar”
http://www.prozessanwalt.de