The U.S. Supreme Court announced that they are going to review several cases pertaining to prisoner/detainee rights in connection with the War on Terror. This is a step in the right direction.
The United States rode to the rescue of many people wrongfully imprisoned for political ideals in other countries. Now, we are a little slow to do it in our own country.
I am not a big supporter of prisoner’s rights. Prison is about punishment and rehabilitation, not about cable television and other amenities. It should give you time to think about what you did and convince yourself not to do it again.
Prison in America is for people convicted of a crime, not prisoners held without evidence and for political reasons.
Prison is about what America stands for, part of which is the right to a trial by one’s fellow citizens.
As Americans, we have by and large done nothing when our government has put over 600 men in a jail that is sub-standard to our prison system. The government denied them access to the basic rights we advocate prisoners needing in other countries.
Where could such an atrocity take place? On our Navy base in Guatanamo Bay, Cuba. Remember those “detainees” we took over in Afghanistan and from some other places? They are still there. The Supreme Court is looking into the legitimacy of it.
They are being detained without having ever committed a crime. They are also not prisoners of war. That title gives them certain rights under the Geneva Convention, such as visits from the International Red Cross. Our government has instead chosen to give these people the label “detainees” since “prisoner” does not apply to someone not convicted of a crime.
The Supreme Court will face the task of determining whether the rights that Americans think are so important-and form the backbone of our country-only apply to Americans. Judging by our past actions I say that they do not apply only to us.
Since America has a history of trying to help countries that are trying to become more like us, we must think that our rights and ideals are applicable to everyone.
The longer we deny the prisoners at Guatanamo Bay the same rights that we afford to prisoners in the United States, most of whom have committed much more serious and dangerous crimes, the more we can expect to regret it one day.
How can we expect to earn the respect and trust of others, especially the Arab countries, if we do not give that same respect to people?
The message we are sending to the world is that if you are not an American, you do not deserve all the things that we get.
We are also saying that some people just are not as important or valuable, nor do they have a right to the things that we do. I thought we moved past this point during the Civil Rights Movement.
The time has come for a system to be put in place to determine if the detainees have committed a crime. If they have not, return them to their country.
If the detainees decide after spending two years in detention that they hate America even more, then we might regret it. They might move to Iraq and attack our troops. They might try to do some other terrorist action. Then again, they might not.
Still, the longer the detainees are kept at Guantanamo, the more likely they are to have feelings of ill will toward America when they get out.
We have put up a lot of barriers to shield ourselves from such people since Sept. 11. The world that they would be returning to is a much different place. The time has come for America to take action before it is too late.
John Summerlot is a graduate student in counseling education. He can be reached at [email protected].