my own suffering doesn't stack up
Cassandra Wilson’s ‘New Moon Daughter’ may act as a catalyst for melancholia, caveat emptor. After a day spent largely in the mindless task of ripping up potato vine from the fence dividing mine from Sarah’s (I can proudly produce my raw and aching hands to prove it), I had to endure a visit from a couple of unmentionables (not visiting me bien sûr, I was at Sarah’s), as well as lots of tearabout kids (Courtney and her cousins, Olivia, Zachary and a surprisingly badly-behaved Isabelle). I felt stressed at the idea of certain presences, and avoided by yanking at the vines, not showing myself when I heard the womanly welcoming communion, the shrieks, the laughter, the jolly hockeysticks. When finally I was forced inside, Sarah grabbed me in a spot of quiet, saying, ‘now come on, get into the spirit, after all your favourite woman is here’. Yes, I really must get out more. Anyway, I stayed for the Thai takeaway and some sauvignon blanc, participated minimally in some bantering chat, and escaped to my house, within about an hour of their arrival. Too much noise and clutter and pressure. I spent the rest of the evening with Cassandra Wilson.
In a sworn affidavit, former South Australian resident David Hicks has claimed that he was forcibly injected with sedatives, regularly deprived of sleep, and tortured on a number of occasions before, during and after interrogations by his military captors at Guantanamo Bay. He also claims to have witnessed the torture of other prisoners, with the aid of attack dogs. The litany of claims was summarised in The Weekend Australian’s ‘The Nation’ section, page 2. The response of Attorney-General Ruddock was also summarised, though no mention was made of the smirk on Ruddock’s face, there for all to see on the TV news. It was the smirk that got to me, more than the response. It’s not the first time I’ve seen this smirk from Ruddock when answering questions on the Hicks issue. Foreign Minister Downer and Defence Minister Hill are also given to smirking at the mention of Hicks’ name. Is this a co-ordinated plan?
I don’t of course have any problems with our government’s reps questioning the veracity of Hicks’ claims, yet it sits a little uncomfortably with me that anybody of sound mind would consider that a person who is on the record as having been detained for almost three years without trial and without charges being laid against him, one year of which was spent in solitary confinement in a cage 2m by 2.5m, has been treated humanely. This could only be acceptable in a world in which up is down, black is white and Philip Ruddock is a genius.
The claims made by Hicks are very much in line with a growing number of claims made by independent observers regarding the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. I doubt if this whole sordid business will be brought fully into the light of day until the Republicans are thrown out of office.
In a sworn affidavit, former South Australian resident David Hicks has claimed that he was forcibly injected with sedatives, regularly deprived of sleep, and tortured on a number of occasions before, during and after interrogations by his military captors at Guantanamo Bay. He also claims to have witnessed the torture of other prisoners, with the aid of attack dogs. The litany of claims was summarised in The Weekend Australian’s ‘The Nation’ section, page 2. The response of Attorney-General Ruddock was also summarised, though no mention was made of the smirk on Ruddock’s face, there for all to see on the TV news. It was the smirk that got to me, more than the response. It’s not the first time I’ve seen this smirk from Ruddock when answering questions on the Hicks issue. Foreign Minister Downer and Defence Minister Hill are also given to smirking at the mention of Hicks’ name. Is this a co-ordinated plan?
I don’t of course have any problems with our government’s reps questioning the veracity of Hicks’ claims, yet it sits a little uncomfortably with me that anybody of sound mind would consider that a person who is on the record as having been detained for almost three years without trial and without charges being laid against him, one year of which was spent in solitary confinement in a cage 2m by 2.5m, has been treated humanely. This could only be acceptable in a world in which up is down, black is white and Philip Ruddock is a genius.
The claims made by Hicks are very much in line with a growing number of claims made by independent observers regarding the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. I doubt if this whole sordid business will be brought fully into the light of day until the Republicans are thrown out of office.
posted by Stewart at 1:17 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home