Get your news groove on with Kandy Korrespondent!

According to a recent report by Human Rights Watch, at least two-thirds of Guantanamo inmates are at high risk for mental breakdowns. The report states that 185 of the 270 detainees at Guantanamo spend 22 hours in tiny cells, with little to no fresh air and light, with only the Koran to occupy their time.

Moreover, as Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel at HRW notes “Guantanamo detainees who have not even been charged with a crime are being warehoused in conditions that are in many ways harsher than those reserved for the most dangerous, convicted criminals in the United States” i.e. “supermax” prisons.

U.S. inmates of the supermax prison system include, notable Mafia leader Sammy Gravano, bomber Eric Robert Rudolph—responsible for the 1996 bomb at the Atlanta Olympics, and Terry Nicholas—the coconspirator to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

In Other News:

On Monday, Ohio Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich called for the impeachment of President Bush. Kucinich said that he will proposed over two dozen charges centering on Bush’s “calculated and wide-ranging strategy” to trick Congress and the American Public into launching the Iraq War. This symbolic resolution is expected to dead end in the same manner as Kucinich’s similar call for the impeachment of Vice President Cheney in April 2007. Read More »

And Now the News with Kandy Korrespondent.

As the average price of gas rose to $3.80 nationally, Congress made further attempts to placate their angry constituents. Also on Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved legislation that will allow the Department of Justice to sue the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for conspiring to restrict supplies and/or drive up prices. It goes without saying that such legislation is mainly symbolic. Even if the DOJ were to sue OPEC, there would be no way to enforce any ruling upon the countries.

On Wednesday, with oil at a record-breaking $134/barrel, congress summoned oil executives to the Hill and demanded answers.

The executives responded that they were doing all they could to aid renewable energy and help the country through the current crisis.

It should be noted that, ConocoPillips executive John Lowe received cash compensation of $5.7 million in 2007. Peter Robertson of Chevron received $14.2 million. Exxon Mobil exec Stephen Simon received $12.5 million. Yet, as Robertson stated, “I’m a regular person.” Read More »

Perpetual war.

Think of the pictures you’ve seen of bombed-out Iraq, horror stories of refugee camps, and hauntingly hollow eyes of children who have seen too much…

War. Death. Destruction. Pain. Sorrow. No Hope. No Life. No Point.

Somalia needs your attention.

One of the most dangerous places in the world, Somalia has been locked in constant conflict since the overthrow of General Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

U.N. Special Representative Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah stated on March 24 that,

“The situation in Somalia, indeed, is serious. Serious because it has been at war for so long that many people probably do not understand what it means to live in peace, and this is not an exaggeration, or living with a government.”

According to GlobalSecurity.org, 350,000-1,000,000 Somalis have died since 1990 in the conflict.

According to Human Rights Watch, as of 1990, the male literacy rate was 36% and the female literacy rate was 14%.

A fifth of Somalian children die before their fifth birthday. Read More »

That quote comes from a 26-year old Iraqi doctor to whom the BBC gives the pseudonym “Matthew”. Matthew fled Iraq for Sweden in September 2007 after armed men came to his door trying to kill him. He goes on to state,

“I can now live without fear […] When you hear that Sweden has fought its last war 400 years ago, there’s no expecting any war […] So you feel you can live in safety. You feel more human.”

At the time of this article’s publication, there have been between 82,349 and 89,867 civilian deaths in Iraq since March 2003 according to Iraq Body Count.

It is true that under Saddam Hussein’s regime thousands were killed and even more simply disappeared. As Matthew says, however, what ever improvement the new government brings, the fear of death and continued violence prompts many to seek a better life elsewhere. According to UNHCR’s September 2007 report, approximately 60,000 Iraqi’s are forced to leave their homes each month due to ongoing violence. Read More »

Is it just me or have we all entered some kind of Twilight Zone in which torture and terror are okay as long as the defenders of freedom and democracy are using them?

This past Saturday, March 9th, President Bush exercised his veto on a piece of legislation that would have banned interrogation techniques used by the CIA, such as waterboarding. In his weekly radio address he stated,

“The bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror […] so today I vetoed it”

What is Waterboarding?

This incredibly controversial interrogation technique/ form of torture, depending on who is talking, originated in the 16th century during the Italian inquisition.

A bound and gagged prisoner is immobilized on his back, head tilted downward. Water is then poured over him, causing an immediate gag reflex and simulating drowning. Often, cellophane is also placed over the prisoner’s face—further preventing him from taking any air. (remember how your parents told you not to place saran wrap over your face when you were little….) Read More »