Guantánamo is a disgrace.
In the future, it will be remembered as a shameful chapter in US history.
It is a "an isolated prison camp in which people are confined arbitrarily, held virtually incommunicado, without charge, trial or access to due process. Not a single Guantánamo detainee has had the legality of their detention reviewed by a court, despite the Supreme Court ruling of last year." (source)
There’s a kerfuffle now over whether Amnesty International should have used the word ‘gulag’ to describe Guantanamo. Georgie sputtered and said such allegations are absurd. And you know, just because he’s the president, we should all say, ‘Oh, OK then.’, and go away.
EJ Dionne Jr. in an article in the Washington Post called “Hyperbole and Human Rights’ says that Khan (the author of the AI report) should not have used the word gulag because by using such hyperbole she has allowed the conversation of this issue to be deflected into semantics.
I think Dionne has a point, in general. It defeats one’s cause if one’s messages are so hyperbolic that people can easily dismiss them. But I don’t think it’s applicable here.
For one thing, this is a culture of rampant hyperbolic messages (in advertising and in politics). You can’t get a sane, balanced message across. You need to have a nice quick soundbyte.
For another, I think if you ask your average Jane & Joe on the streets, what a ‘gulag’ is, most would say ‘isn’t it like some real harsh prison thing that the Soviets used?’ (Yes, I’m on the West Coast…many people speak incessantly in questions here. As if they’re afraid of offending by actually stating a fact or opinion.)
Some academic types are pointing out that gulags were forced labour camps and as far as we know (which isn’t much) Guantánamo is not yet forcing ditch digging.
A quick search through online dictionaries gives these definitions:
· A network of forced labor camps in the former Soviet Union.
· A forced labor camp or prison, especially for political dissidents.
· A place or situation of great suffering and hardship, likened to the atmosphere in a prison system or a forced labor camp
Well, sheesh. Don’t you think the 3rd one fits? And even maybe the 2nd one? And isn’t it like what Jane & Joe said? The point is, the word has a vernacular meaning.
Amnesty International and Khan did a good thing. They brought this issue again to the forefront and got people talking about it.
Want to learn more? Visit the Amnesty International site.
Read, learn, THINK, and form your own BIG OPINION.
3 comments:
Thanks for dropping by my place. Your's is nice!
:)
Thanks for urging people to read, think, and form an informed opinion.
I disagree with you, however. Words have meaning. The meanings of words are important. Assigning a changed meaning to a word because it's used a certain way in the vernacular does a disservice to the word.
It's like the way people thow around the term "Nazi" these days: we are close to a point where "Nazi" will mean "anyone we don't like." When you can feel comfortable calling someone a Nazi who holds a certain political view, but has not committed the atrocities committed by Nazis, you devalue the word. Soon, the view of history changes: if "Nazi" is not that heinous a thing in our minds, then maybe the Nazi's weren't really terrible in history ... maybe history wasn't fair to them ... maybe they were just misunderstood ...
You get the gist.
So, it matters to me what terms people use. I am an American and I do not excuse what has happened at Guantanamo. I am saddened, shocked, disappointed. But gulag it ain't. You might want to do some reading on what a greal gulag was like. You can start here, at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag but don't end there. If you can stomach it.
Here's another informative one: http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/085051.php
There are a few similarities between Guantanamo and an actual gulag; there are far more, and far more important, differences. Obviously it's up to you which you choose to focus on. By your definitions, though, any prison could be called a gulag. By using that definition, you're really undermining what happened to people in the actual gulags.
Stephanie - thanks for your comment.
I grew up in communist Poland & my degree is in Political Science with most of my studies devoted to Eastern European politics & history. Gulags are something I feel I understand quite well. Dissident Poles were shipped out quite regularly.
I do agree with you about the potential watering down of words' meanings if they are inappropriately used & I'll think about this some more.
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