Saturday, October 21, 2006

Military Abuses

I was appalled by this story, which alleges that Russian soldiers are being sold into slave labor BY THEIR COMMANDING OFFICERS! After being forced to live in a car, the soldier featured in this story was injured so severly that he lost a leg and an eye and was in a coma for two weeks following the accident. The story also mentions a hazing incident which resulted in the amputation of a new recruit's genitals and both legs. A HAZING INCIDENT????? Jesus Christ. The main abuser in this case was recently sentenced to 1-48 MONTHS in prison. I cannot believe that someone who could cause such grave injuries could be released from prison in as little as ONE MONTH. What in the HELL is going on in the Russian military???!!!

Of course, here in America, we have the Pendleton 8. These 8 men (one of whom has now turned witness for the prosecution) were interrogated, tortured, held in solitary confinement, and shackled for MONTHS... Without charges even being brought against them! As one mother of the 8 put it, "They have been held basically against the very Bible for the Marines, The Uniform Code of Military Justice…"

I don't know if any of these men are guilty of any of the crimes they are accused of, but I do know this: They are being treated less humanely than the prisoners at Gitmo are, yet the majority of Americans don't seem to care. They weren't even given blankets until a week ago! One needs an MRI to evaluate a wartime injury, but he's being denied treatment because IF he's given the death penalty, it would be a waste of time and money. Death row civilian inmates are treated better- and those people have been tried AND convicted of their crimes! These men will be tried, but their lawyers are not going to be allowed to visit the scene of the supposed crime, nor interview any of residents in the area. How can that be an example of American Justice????

I don't get it.

You can help the families of the Pendeleton 8 meet every day expenses and possibly arrange trips to see their sons in jail by donating to Pendleton 9 Family Fund. The money is not being used for their defense lawyers- it's going to their families so that they can afford things like school supplies, electric bills, car payments, and their mortgages because other family income is being spent on lawyer fees.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home