Today I spoke to a man in Syria and He just wants to leave

We hear a lot about the Syrian women and children and what they are facing and they are not alone. Men feel literally trapped in their homes. The man I spoke to explained to me what his life is like under the Free Syrian Army and the fear a man endors at the thought of going outside. Men who once held positions to be proud of, doctors, journalists, lawyers and army personnel have been reduced to jobless people cramming into the house with their parents. 4 years of a brutal bloody civil war has men searching for a way out. They want their freedom, they want their lives back.

The man I spoke to is from Daeel. In 2012 it was declared a disaster city by Local Coordinating Committees of Syria. The constant shelling and heavy artillery along with air strikes by the regime has served to destroy the city, killing many civilians and destroying a great number of businesses. Checkpoints run by the regime are set up throughout this area and for men trying to pass through them can result in serving time in prison thus contributing to the constant feeling of isolation in ones home. There is no electricity or phones, internet service or mobile capability. According to the man I spoke to the very limited connection he could find is 15 kilometers away near the Jordanian border. Food shortages run rampant throughout this area and finding a hospital is impossible.

The pictures this man sent me show a completely devastated city. People walking through rubble on a day to day basis. Houses so rocked by explosion they are falling apart with cardboard as windows. A photo taken from this mans roof shows air strikes happening not too far from his house. For anonymity purposes I can not show you this mans home, but I can tell you his home has been completely rocked by shelling, when it rains there shelter no longer serves it’s purpose.

The videos and photos of children dying, which is an astonishing number, and cities being destroyed are real footage shot by the citizens living through the worst nightmare one could possibly face. Small rooms serve as hospitals and being a doctor is a dangerous job, if you are caught by the regime they will kill you. The men in this city are not only in fear of the physical war that plays out daily but the psychological war they are fighting within. Male journalists in this city are in a great dilemma, tell the truth and possibly die or say what you are told to say and tell the lies of the regime. Keeping your integrity means you do not keep your job.

Rocked by devastation, depression, and hunger the man I spoke to just really wants to leave. This man expressed to me that most people are not interested in political solutions or prolonged negotiations what they are wanting is a home that is safe and out of Syria. They do not want to hear guns and air planes flying so close to their homes they shake like living through daily earthquakes, these civilians have been the target and they want peace and to be free. They want what all of us desire and deserve, a life.

CIA Torture Report there is so much is left unsaid

A Little Honesty

As I began reading this much abbreviated report, I like many other people felt sad, disgusted and angry. The horrifying details of this report require real answers and not just for the people of this nation but for the people globally. This report does not simply effect 119 people because that unfortunately is not the reality of the situation. 54 countries played a part in the abuses described in the CIA Torture Report. Many detainees who were released have even openly stated these abuses are still live and active today. Honest investigative journalism brought down the claims that torture was not being done in secret prisons long ago as Jeremy Scahill found evidence that these practices were still in play even in 2011. 
 (The CIA's Secret Sites in Somalia) 

Where did you hide them all?

Have you ever heard the term Black Site? It is a military term for an unacknowledged “Black Project” or better known as a prison operated by the United States CIA. These prisons are generally operated outside of US legal jurisdiction and they were acknowledged by President Bush in a speech he made on September 6, 2006. Many countries that were exposed in the torture report have constantly denied being a host country to these prisons. In many writing that have previously gone unacknowledged or even discredited by missing or abducted persons families laid claim to their family members being taken and placed in secret prisons worldwide. A good example to refer to would be Dr. Aafia Siddiqui who simply disappeared as the story is told by her sister and family.  

 
 

The Guantanamo Lie

In a video published on August 13, 2014 two Vice News Reporters were given access to Guantanamo Prison. The Department of Defense told Vice News that they were more open to the media’s presence then they had previously been in the past. With the claims that Guantanamo had a new mission to be transparent I was surprised by what I was able and not able to see in this 27 minute video. If you pay close attention to the little details you will find that although some things have indeed changed others have not and it does raise concern and give some validity to claims that torturous procedures are still taking place today.   (Vice News Guantanamo: Blacked Out Bay)

                                                      Former Guantanamo Detainee:

Torture and Writing New Laws

Waterboarding, rectal feeding, beating, slapping, kicking, stripping, sleep depriving, placed in diapers, chained in positions that are painful and impossibly cumbersome, confined in boxes, left in the dark, humiliated and left in states of hallucination, begging for death and even frozen to death. A short but brutal horrifying list of the some of the procedures described in the Torture Report. Human beings faced inexcusable acts of brutality at the hands of people not properly trained to interrogate with ideas formed on dark harmful psychology whom also were not properly trained to investigate nor interrogate situations such as these. In reading this report I ask myself these questions:

On September 14, 2001 The Authorization for use of Military Force was passed by the United States Congress (PDF PLAW107) , The authorization granted the President the authority to use all" necessary and appropriate force" against those whom he determined "planned, authorized, committed or aided" the September 11th attacks, or who harbored said persons or groups. What and who defines appropriate? I am not a lawyer but I can read and if the claim is that no one in Congress knew what was happening to these detainees I am going to call your bluff because according to this you approved all means of force. 

Torture in all forms was banned by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights in which the United States participated in drafting. International law states that we must protect all citizens from terrorists. The fundamental of all human rights is the right to life. Acts of terror are considered crimes against humanity and these are generally punishable by death or long term prison sentences which do not include the right to torture. Torture in and of itself is a crime and the practice of it needs accountability and punishment for the use thereof. These actions demand and require accountability. If one can simply be pardoned as mainstream media has suggested then other nations facing similar charges under international law should receive the same pardon. I mean why bother holding anyone accountable at all? It is time for all Nations to come clean and report their abuses and abide by International Law once and for all, to do away will all practices that defeat the very principles in which we proclaim to live by. If the United States is the leader in all international matters and in times of trouble the US is the one looked to for support and as an example, than lead now and do the right thing.