Since 2004, they've been cleared for release but no country would accept them. It's a sad indictment on humanity as a whole that Guantanamo Bay continues to exist
Guantanamo release angers Bush
The men come from China's Xinjiang
province [GALLO/GETTY]
A US judge has ordered the release of 17 Chinese Muslim detainees from the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in what has been seen as a rebuke to the Bush administration.
US district judge Ricardo Urbina said there was no evidence the men were a security risk and that the US constitution prohibits indefinite detention without cause.
Local Uighur residents and human rights activists cheered as he told a Washington courtroom the men, who have been in custody for almost seven years, should be freed.
The ruling is the first court-ordered release of Guantanamo detainees since the facility opened in 2002.
The Bush administration reacted with anger to the ruling, with a spokesman for the department of justice saying it presented "serious national security and separation of powers concerns and raises unprecedented legal issues".
The department said it would file an emergency request on Tuesday evening for a stay with the US court of appeals in Washington to halt the ruling.
If it loses, it has the option of appealing to the US Supreme Court, the highest in the country.
Lawyers 'thrilled'
Lawyers representing the men said they were "thrilled" with the decision.
"Justice has too long been delayed but ... we saw a great judge give a principled and just decision"
Sabin Willett, lawyer for some of the Uighur detainees
"Justice has too long been delayed but today we saw a great judge give a principled and just decision," Sabin Willett, a lawyer for some of the men, told Reuters news agency.
The Uighurs, from the Xinjiang province in western China, had been living in a camp in Afghanistan during the US-led bombing campaign in the country that began in October 2001 after the September 11 attacks in the US.
They fled into the mountains and were detained by Pakistani authorities, who handed them over to the US.
The men have been cleared for release from Guantanamo since 2004 as they are no longer considered "enemy combatants", the official designation for those held in Guantanamo Bay, and would have been sent home.
However, the US has not been able to find a country willing to accept them.
Many Muslim Uighurs seek greater autonomy for the region and some want independence, however China has waged a relentless campaign against what it calls their violent separatist activities.
About 265 detainees are still held at Guantanamo, which was opened in 2002 to hold suspects captured during the US's so-called "war on terror" launched after the September 11 attacks.
Most have been held for years without being charged and some allege they have been abused or tortured.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Kosher Cellphone
I find this so interesting, and admire them for being so strong in their faith.
BBC NEWS
> Is that cellphone kosher?
>
> The BBC's Erica Chernofsky looks at how Israel's highly traditional
> Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community is tackling the challenges and
> opportunities of new communications technologies.
>
> When Israeli father Avi tried to register his 6-year-old twin daughters
> for his local Ultra-Orthodox school this year, he was happy to sign a
> form saying his children do not watch television or use the internet at
> home.
>
> But he was surprised to discover he had to give a "kosher cellphone
> number". He did not have one.
>
> Avi lives in Har Nof, one of the main Ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi,
> neighbourhoods of Jerusalem.
>
> I feel I can control myself not to use the bad features - But do I
> trust my children?
> Avi
> The community separates itself from mainstream society through its
> traditional religious practices and distinctive attire of black hats,
> coats and sidelocks for the men and long skirts and sleeves for the women.
>
> Like most other men in his community, Avi studies the Jewish scriptures
> daily, keeps the Sabbath and eats only kosher food.
>
> But he has not yet opted for the new religious adaptation to modern
> technology that has swept the Haredi world in Israel.
>
> Badge of observance
>
> The kosher cellphone looks like an ordinary cellphone, can make and
> receive calls, and may have a calculator and alarm clock.
>
> But it cannot send or receive text messages, browse the internet or take
> photos - all activities that could potentially involve behaviour
> considered "immodest" among Haredis.
>
> For example, SMS capability could lead to the unwitting receipt of mass
> text messages publicising secular events. It could also be used as a
> method of illicit communication between male and female teenagers.
>
> And all photos of women are forbidden, as is accessing websites with
> content deemed inappropriate.
>
> The phone's other defining feature is a rabbinical stamp of approval,
> similar to those seen on kosher food items.
>
> All the major Israeli cellphone companies have accommodated the powerful
> Haredi constituency by providing kosher phones, and cheaper-than- normal
> packages which only connect with other Haredi numbers.
>
> As the companies have created distinct code prefixes to accompany the
> kosher phone plans, the phone numbers have quickly become a badge of
> religious observance.
>
> Not only do some Haredi newspapers refuse to publish ads with non-kosher
> phone numbers, but parents are worried their children will be
> blacklisted by the shadchan, or matchmaker, if their numbers are not
> kosher.
>
> Banana filtered
>
> "What do you associate with the Haredi community? You wear black
> trousers, a white shirt and some sort of hat, but today the things that
> define you have changed," says Avi.
>
> He says he feels there is a sense that anyone who does not have a kosher
> phone "should be excluded from society".
>
> "If you say you are associating yourself with us, please act according
> to our codes, otherwise do not call yourself Haredi and do not send your
> kids to our schools."
>
> But while they have managed to adapt the cellphone to their lifestyles,
> Haredis have had a harder time with the internet.
>
> Last year, an Orthodox rabbi and an Israeli technology executive
> established an internet service provider (ISP) called Rimon, which
> claims to be the only filtering service provider in Israel that offers
> customised surfing packages.
>
> The company says it cuts out pornography, violence, and gambling, and
> then provides the user with five levels of further filtering, from the
> "protected" level that blocks images of women in intimate apparel to the
> "hermetic" level, which allows users to view only unchanging, vetted
> websites like encyclopaedias.
>
> There are many things on the internet that are not appropriate for
> me as a Haredi woman, things I would prefer that my family and I didn't
> see or hear
> Miriam
> "If your kid puts 'banana' into Google, some of the first sites he'll
> get are porn," explains Chairman Moshe Weiss. "Put banana into Google on
> Rimon, and you get all the same sites without the porn."
>
> One Haredi sect, the Belz, which normally forbids online access, has
> partially endorsed the use of Rimon, but only for those who need the
> internet for business purposes.
>
> The general rule for the local Haredi community still remains no radio,
> no TV, no internet and no movies - though Rimon is hoping that once it
> starts targeting the Haredi market that will change.
>
> For now, its 15,000 subscribers are mostly secular and modern Orthodox.
>
> Self control
>
> Miriam, a teacher living in Jerusalem, is one of many Haredi Jews who do
> not have home web access.
>
> She expresses concern over the amount of time people devote to surfing
> the net, wasting time they could spend learning Torah or doing good deeds.
>
> Her main worry, however, is over the lack of control over content.
>
> "There are many things on the internet that are not appropriate for me
> as a Haredi woman, things I would prefer that my family and I didn't see
> or hear, like violence, pornography and inappropriate sexual relations,"
> she says.
>
> For Haredis, "inappropriate" means any physical contact between a man
> and a woman who are not married.
>
> But Avi, who says he needs the internet for his work in the tourist
> industry, has unfiltered online access.
>
> "I'm not afraid of the negative aspects because I grew up with internet
> and I feel I can control myself not to use the bad features," he says.
>
> "But do I trust my children?" he wonders aloud.
>
> "When they are old enough to use it I will definitely have to
> re-evaluate. I think then I might put filters on or use Rimon, or maybe
> then I'll even disconnect internet from the house altogether. It's just
> not worth the risk."
> Story from BBC NEWS:
> http://news. bbc.co.uk/ go/pr/fr/ -/2/hi/middle_ east/7636021. stm
>
> Published: 2008/10/06 07:58:21 GMT
BBC NEWS
> Is that cellphone kosher?
>
> The BBC's Erica Chernofsky looks at how Israel's highly traditional
> Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community is tackling the challenges and
> opportunities of new communications technologies.
>
> When Israeli father Avi tried to register his 6-year-old twin daughters
> for his local Ultra-Orthodox school this year, he was happy to sign a
> form saying his children do not watch television or use the internet at
> home.
>
> But he was surprised to discover he had to give a "kosher cellphone
> number". He did not have one.
>
> Avi lives in Har Nof, one of the main Ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi,
> neighbourhoods of Jerusalem.
>
> I feel I can control myself not to use the bad features - But do I
> trust my children?
> Avi
> The community separates itself from mainstream society through its
> traditional religious practices and distinctive attire of black hats,
> coats and sidelocks for the men and long skirts and sleeves for the women.
>
> Like most other men in his community, Avi studies the Jewish scriptures
> daily, keeps the Sabbath and eats only kosher food.
>
> But he has not yet opted for the new religious adaptation to modern
> technology that has swept the Haredi world in Israel.
>
> Badge of observance
>
> The kosher cellphone looks like an ordinary cellphone, can make and
> receive calls, and may have a calculator and alarm clock.
>
> But it cannot send or receive text messages, browse the internet or take
> photos - all activities that could potentially involve behaviour
> considered "immodest" among Haredis.
>
> For example, SMS capability could lead to the unwitting receipt of mass
> text messages publicising secular events. It could also be used as a
> method of illicit communication between male and female teenagers.
>
> And all photos of women are forbidden, as is accessing websites with
> content deemed inappropriate.
>
> The phone's other defining feature is a rabbinical stamp of approval,
> similar to those seen on kosher food items.
>
> All the major Israeli cellphone companies have accommodated the powerful
> Haredi constituency by providing kosher phones, and cheaper-than- normal
> packages which only connect with other Haredi numbers.
>
> As the companies have created distinct code prefixes to accompany the
> kosher phone plans, the phone numbers have quickly become a badge of
> religious observance.
>
> Not only do some Haredi newspapers refuse to publish ads with non-kosher
> phone numbers, but parents are worried their children will be
> blacklisted by the shadchan, or matchmaker, if their numbers are not
> kosher.
>
> Banana filtered
>
> "What do you associate with the Haredi community? You wear black
> trousers, a white shirt and some sort of hat, but today the things that
> define you have changed," says Avi.
>
> He says he feels there is a sense that anyone who does not have a kosher
> phone "should be excluded from society".
>
> "If you say you are associating yourself with us, please act according
> to our codes, otherwise do not call yourself Haredi and do not send your
> kids to our schools."
>
> But while they have managed to adapt the cellphone to their lifestyles,
> Haredis have had a harder time with the internet.
>
> Last year, an Orthodox rabbi and an Israeli technology executive
> established an internet service provider (ISP) called Rimon, which
> claims to be the only filtering service provider in Israel that offers
> customised surfing packages.
>
> The company says it cuts out pornography, violence, and gambling, and
> then provides the user with five levels of further filtering, from the
> "protected" level that blocks images of women in intimate apparel to the
> "hermetic" level, which allows users to view only unchanging, vetted
> websites like encyclopaedias.
>
> There are many things on the internet that are not appropriate for
> me as a Haredi woman, things I would prefer that my family and I didn't
> see or hear
> Miriam
> "If your kid puts 'banana' into Google, some of the first sites he'll
> get are porn," explains Chairman Moshe Weiss. "Put banana into Google on
> Rimon, and you get all the same sites without the porn."
>
> One Haredi sect, the Belz, which normally forbids online access, has
> partially endorsed the use of Rimon, but only for those who need the
> internet for business purposes.
>
> The general rule for the local Haredi community still remains no radio,
> no TV, no internet and no movies - though Rimon is hoping that once it
> starts targeting the Haredi market that will change.
>
> For now, its 15,000 subscribers are mostly secular and modern Orthodox.
>
> Self control
>
> Miriam, a teacher living in Jerusalem, is one of many Haredi Jews who do
> not have home web access.
>
> She expresses concern over the amount of time people devote to surfing
> the net, wasting time they could spend learning Torah or doing good deeds.
>
> Her main worry, however, is over the lack of control over content.
>
> "There are many things on the internet that are not appropriate for me
> as a Haredi woman, things I would prefer that my family and I didn't see
> or hear, like violence, pornography and inappropriate sexual relations,"
> she says.
>
> For Haredis, "inappropriate" means any physical contact between a man
> and a woman who are not married.
>
> But Avi, who says he needs the internet for his work in the tourist
> industry, has unfiltered online access.
>
> "I'm not afraid of the negative aspects because I grew up with internet
> and I feel I can control myself not to use the bad features," he says.
>
> "But do I trust my children?" he wonders aloud.
>
> "When they are old enough to use it I will definitely have to
> re-evaluate. I think then I might put filters on or use Rimon, or maybe
> then I'll even disconnect internet from the house altogether. It's just
> not worth the risk."
> Story from BBC NEWS:
> http://news. bbc.co.uk/ go/pr/fr/ -/2/hi/middle_ east/7636021. stm
>
> Published: 2008/10/06 07:58:21 GMT
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
