Originally posted by Urchin
"Common methods of torture included kicking, beating, electric shocks, suspension by the arms, shackling in painful positions, and sleep and food deprivation.
That from Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay, Seagoon?
Hi Urchin,
I was unfortunately expecting the "so's your old man" argument with references to that.
A couple of points:
1) Two wrongs don't make a right, and the humiliation of prisoners at Abu Ghraib (although no one in that case is alleging electric shock or any physical torture that resulted in the victim being permanently scarred, disabled or killed as is the case with the Chinese police) has been jumped on with both feet by the US media and has resulted in trials/prison sentences etc. In China however, attempting to report on government torture will quickly lead to you being the next guest of the state. In fact, the state does all it can to make it impossible to even visit web sites carrying those pictures and stories.
Saying "the Germans shot Polish prisoners too" isn't actually a valid defense of the Russian massacre at Katyn.
2) At Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo we are talking about military prisons occupied by foriegn insurgents taken in the course of war. The quote you referenced referred to methods employed by the Chinese police in dealing with
their own citizens and often simply because they are suspected of expressing unpopular political views or worshipping in an unauthorized church.
Are you really suggesting that mistreatment of captured enemy combatants is the moral equivalent of beating little old ladies and pastors to death for attending a bible study or rolling tanks over college students for holding banners calling for democratic reforms or shooting Tibetan monks for protesting the demolition of a monastery?
I know that there is a passionate hatred for America burning out there and that this results in rooting for her opposition. But does that really mean we have to blur the established fact that people have greater freedoms in the USA, the UK, and even Taiwan?
For heaven's sake, the quote I reference was from Amnesty international - not exactly a right-wing or pro-US organization. For that matter there isn't a human rights group out there that gives China many stars. Lets not bury our heads in the sand merely for the sake of anti-American animus.
- SEAGOON
