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Human Rights & Civil Liberties

Human Rights & Civil Liberties

In Letter to UST, Alum Raises Contradiction Between UST Law School's Mission and Hiring of Robert Delahunty.

Thu, 07/02/2009 - 08:32 — Dave Culver

Delhanty is a co-author of the "Torture Memo." UST replies.

Robert Heberle, Evergreene Digest

The University of St. Thomas Law School's mission statement states that "The University of St. Thomas School of Law, as a Catholic law school, is dedicated to integrating faith and reason in the search for truth through a focus on morality and social justice." Yet this school hired Robert Delahunty, a co-author of the "Torture Memo."

Bill Moyer's show on PBS Friday, May 29, displayed the "Torture Memo" from John Yoo's office in the Department of Justice. Robert Delahunty's name was clearly included under John Yoo's. For some reason Robert Delahunty is never given credit as a co-author of these memos nor is the obvious contradiction between the law school's Mission Statement and hiring acknowledged.

Related:

For University of St. Thomas reply, click here.

For transcript of the May 29 edition of Bill Moyer's Journal, click here.

St. Thomas still employs potential war criminal Robert Delahunty, The Big E, MN Progressive Project
Now that the 9 secret legal memos have been released, I am reminded of St. Thomas University Professor Robert Delahunty's role in crimes of the Bush Administration.  Delahunty helped write the infamous torture memo which rationalized why the Bush Administration could torture prisoners captured in the War on Terror.  He also had a hand in crafting 2 of these 9 memos.

Life After Guantanamo: Why the Media's Happy-Ending Narrative Is Totally Bankrupt

Thu, 07/02/2009 - 08:10 — Dave Culver

The transfer of four Uighur prisoners to Bermuda has been treated like a happy human-interest story, but the truth is far darker.

By Liliana Segura, AlterNet

Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Ken Mitchell

"From Gitmo to Paradise!"

So came the news via MSNBC last week, echoing the upbeat tone of so many covering the sudden transfer of four Uighur prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Bermuda. Broadcasting images of beaming bearded men in bucolic surroundings, the happy-ending narrative offered by the media was perfectly captured in a June 14 New York Times story: "Out of Guantanamo, Uighurs Bask in Bermuda."

"Almost exactly seven years after arriving at Guantánamo in chains as accused enemy combatants, and four days after their surprise predawn flight to Bermuda," the Times reported, "four Uighur Muslim men basked in their newfound freedom here, grateful for the handshakes many residents had offered and marveling at the serene beauty of this tidy, postcard island."

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Time for Immigration Reform is Now

Fri, 06/26/2009 - 11:49 — Dave Culver

New America Media Editor’s Note: This editorial was produced in association with New America Media, a national association of ethnic media, and was published by ethnic media across the country this week to bring attention to the urgency of immigration reform.

Staff, New America Media

The White House and members of Congress must move quickly on enacting a just and humane immigration reform package that will reunite families, reinvigorate the economy, and remove the term “illegal or undocumented immigrants” from the dialogue in this country. Ethnic media, which reaches over 60 million adults in the United States, calls on Congress to move decisively on immigration reform because there are few issues as important to the nation's well-being as an overhaul of the inefficient, inhumane and economically debilitating immigration system. More importantly, we are also urging our readers and viewers to contact their Senators and Congressmen and let them know that immigration reform must be a national priority.

Gerry Trudeau | GoComics.com

Thu, 06/25/2009 - 13:38 — Dave Culver

When Medicine and Religion Conflict Around Children: The Case of Daniel Hauser

Thu, 06/25/2009 - 13:33 — Dave Culver

When Daniel Hauser and his mother, members of new Native American religion the Nemenhah Band, opted out of chemotherapy and fled to Mexico, the media were ready with a religion vs. medicine narrative.

Wendy Cadge, Religion Dispatches

Danny Hauser on May 8 (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Kyndell Harkness)

Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in January, just shy of his thirteenth birthday, Daniel Hauser received one round of chemotherapy before walking away—well under the six treatments recommended by physicians. Despite chemotherapy’s 90% success rate, the Hauser family, who belong to a new Native American religious sect called the Nemenhah Band, opted to treat his cancer using natural healing remedies per the Nemenhah mission. Further, Daniel revealed to the court that he believed the chemo would kill him, later informing the judge in chambers that if forced into treatment he’d resist: “I'd punch them and I'd kick them.”

The case rose to public attention when Judge John Rodenberg ruled that Daniel’s parents were medically neglecting him by not pursuing the full course of chemotherapy, and ordered them to do so. Following the ruling, Daniel and his mother Colleen fled the state and headed for Mexico without notifying Daniel’s father of their plans. Judge Rodenberg, meanwhile, issued an arrest warrant for Colleen Hauser and ordered that Daniel be placed in foster care and evaluated by appropriate physicians. The arrest warrant eventually became a federal warrant involving the FBI, Interpol, and the national news media.