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Saturday, June 24, 2006

Think of an elephant.... and human rights

Been at the local again, and in amongst an article about Guantanamo, there was one small paragraph stating that the US were going to abolish the rule forbidding torture by the army. Stunned I read on. Not only will they abolish this rule, but they also want to remove all references to the Geneva Convention and human rights from the army and national security chartas. Okay, so I checked the internet and found nothing else on that matter, which makes me wonder whether the correspondent was 1. wrongly informed or 2. the story was kept under wraps elsewhere, it has happened before. Thought nothing more, just that if it were true, there would be a public outcry.If anyone knows anything....

Then yesterday good old Tony (Blair or Bliar) was saying on the news that in future prisoners and suspects human rights will be curtailed as the human rights of ordinary citizens needed to be protected. To quote Tony "placing a far higher priority, on what is a conflict of rights, on the rights of those who keep the law rather than break it". Nothing happened. Checked the net and found out that the poodle has been trying to chip away at human rights for a long time, using the war on terror as an excuse and taking the power to override court decisions (he's just like his mentor really). You think a lawyer would stand up for his clients rights, but not Tony. Habeaus corpus be damned. Remind me again how people ended up in concentration camps in Germany in WW II. Oh yes, they were deemed to have not quite the same human rights as the average German, by virtue of their colour, beliefs, origin and sexual orientation. Anyone spot a slippery slope somewhere?

The best bit is that last year he was attacked by the press for his measures, but this year he must have got a spin doctor in, or read the book about the elephant, for now its not about taking away rights from some, but about protecting the rights of others. Works out the same, but sounds better in the media and will find the mass support needed to quell trhe voices of dissent. Same idea really as calling tax cuts for the rich tax relief. Sounds better and everyone will go for relief.

Update 29.6.2006
A most excellent articlein the Independent today. The situation in the UK is even worse then I thought. Feel free to read it, just mind you don't get arrested.

1 Comment(s):

Comment by: Blogger Daniel Kirkdorffer

Hope he isn't reading the book about the elephants. That's a powerful book.

6/25/2006 11:11 PM UTC  

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