Pause for thought

I just ran into this quote from a Dawn editorial on Pakistaniat.com. It is written by a Pakistani in relevance to Pakistan; but it applies equally to Nigeria, Zimbabwe, inner cities in the US...pick your place.

Yes, those working on anti-imperialism, and against neo-liberalism and so on will tell you that it is what they are struggling against that causes the conditions mentioned below. But even then--and especially if you think that way--it's something to keep in mind, even if it is just to be able to remind onself and explain to others the relevance of our own work:

"Does a man who can’t feed his children really care whether or not Pervez Musharraf is tried for treason? Is a mother whose child has died of gastroenteritis likely to give much thought to America’s military presence in the region? Will a jobless person be impressed by the president’s much-touted ‘achievements’ during his first year in office?"

Pakistaniat: http://pakistaniat.com/2009/09/18/blasphemy-law/
Dawn: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/03-the-real-issues-ha-03

Obama passes the real test--or does he?

Ever since his inaugration, I have been saying that the real test on human rights for the Obama administration will not be what he does in Guantanamo Bay--which he had committed to close down as a campaign promise. The real test will be what he and the administration do in Bagram, which is much bigger, and from the Pakistani point of view, much closer to home.

I have been meaning to write something about this. And my point really isn't to just take a "Marg bar Amrika" point of view; to imply that America is always evil or that no American President can do any good. I really do feel that Obama has a chance to change the actual policies and procedures of the American presence around the world in all its forms, and to set a new tone.

But, as I have said repeatedly since before the last presidential elections (in the US), what Pakistanis remember from the 2008 presidential election cycle is Obama making his foreign policy chops by saying, in effect, that "we will bomb Pakistan, and its sovereignty be darned". And in the last month or two, the influx, or rumoured influx, of a thousand or two each of marines and mercenaries (oh, okay, Xe/Blackwater "consultants") in Pakistan, that image has been reinforced many fold. (See this story in the News Observer.) And in the mean time, the other story being followed and, very frankly, used to whip up anti-American fury in Pakistan is that of Dr. Afia Ahmed, "Prisoner Number 650". (Just google her name for a taste--or search Bloggers.pk, the main Pakistani blog aggregator.)

And just a night or two ago, I heard the Obama Administration's General Counsel of the Department of Defense tell the American Bar Association (on the eve of the anniversary of 9/11, no less) that Bagram was completely different from Guantanamo, and that what was happening there was okay, and so on. (The event is on CSPAN.)

But, suddenly, now I see the following story, which actually reverses, or substantially changes what the General Counsel said. Is Obama actually doing better than even his own team expected--and keeps thinking it should be doing? Or am I missing something? I would love to hear from our legal friends--and anyone else who has a real thought on this:

U.S. Gives New Rights To Afghan Prisoners

Challenging Detention to Be Allowed

These detainees were released from Bagram in June 2006. About 600 people remain in the prison. (By Musadeq Sadeq -- Associated Press)

By Karen DeYoung and Peter Finn

Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 13, 2009

Hundreds of prisoners held by the U.S. military in Afghanistan will for the first time have the right to challenge their indefinite detention and call witnesses in their defense under a new review system being put in place this week, according to administration officials.

The new system will be applied to the more than 600 Afghans held at the Bagram military base, and will mark the first substantive change in the overseas detention policies that President Obama inherited from the Bush administration.

(Full Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/12/AR2009091202798.html)

Geo Taken Off the Air by the UAE...but how is this surprising?

The word going around about the Dubai/UAE government forcing the Geo Television Network (or parts thereof) off the air is "shocking"...

Miriam Webster defines "shocking" as " extremely startling, distressing, or offensive".

Offensive, yes. But startling? Unless you were--and most of us were--in denial, how is this startling? Distressing, well, if your world view was built on absolute monarchies doing the right thing more often than not, than yes, I can see how it would distress you to see them do othewise.

Startled I am not. My dear mother would have loved for me to live and work in the Gulf and I always said “Pinjra pinjra ho tha hai; chahay sonay ka ho.” [A cage is a cage, even if it is made of gold.] The places are absolute monarchies and they have always had very good relations with Pakistani governments, especially absolute Pakistani governments.

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Pakistan - Emergency - CrisisPK - Geo TV

Into the marketplace with bejewelled limbs we go...

... so said Faiz Ahmed Faiz, probably the most popular poet of revolution in the latter half of the 20th century in South Asia; Pakistan, India, and particularly on the Left.

South Asia has a very rich tradition of poetry, one which draws on both the spiritual tradition that gave the world Rumi and Khayyam, and the revolutionary spirit of the last century or two. And because of the Sufi tradition it is steeped in, allegory, depth of meaning, and multi-faceted verbiage is the norm, rather than the exception. The words "Aaj bazaar main pa-bajaolaan chalo..." are probably some of the most recognized word. The "jewels" being described are, for the uninitiated, the ball and chain of oppression. Here's the poet himself reciting the poem, with English sub-titles, followed by one of the best renditions of the poem with music, in this case with an overlay of dramatic video:


[You can read the piece by Dr. Adil Najam, where I first found this video, here.]

But wait, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists has sent out a poster that puts these words above a poster that just needs to be seen to be believed. You couldn't, as we say, make this stuff up:

Please check in regularly at WikiPakistan's Emergency 2007 pages:

http://pakistan.wikia.com/wiki/Emergency_2007

for updates. And contribute what input you can, participate in whichever way you can.

[My previous post on the issue, introducing the Emergency 2007 wiki pages, by the way, is here.]

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Pakistan - Emergency - CrisisPK - Faiz Ahmad Faiz

Pride and Human Rights in Pakistan

Yes, pride in Pakistan. In something uniquely Pakistani. Not a word you will hear often given the news coming out of that country.

We have heard about Mukhtaran Mai. And if you are a regular reader of this blog, you will remember my quoting Dr. Adil Najam about how Mukhtaran Mai is the one Pakistani he's most proud to have met. And, if you are more in touch with Pakistan, you know about Edhi, Faiz, Dr. Abdus Salaam...but the one thing that makes me more proud than anything else, is the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the HRCP. This is the organization that gave the world it's first UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary and Summary Executions. This is the organization Dr. Amartya Sen mentions when asked about Pakistan and how it's doing as a country.

On the other hand, today, we have Imran Khan and his party today telling us that what we need is Rule of Law, and and an independent judiciary. And we have Farid Esack, Junaid Ahmad, and Robert Jensen telling us about Pakistani liberals that ""Instead of talking about these fundamental questions of justice" and "might ignore ... movements [like the Lal Masjid brigade] and conflicts in the outer provinces" ... and yet "found it offensive that such an embarrassing incident could happen in the capital, where the world eventually would pay attention."

But when a military coup last happened in Pakistan, the only clear voice saying it was a bad idea was not The Great Khan, for example, (he was making appreciative noises).. The only clear voice saying "interrupting the flow of democracy is always a bad thing" was the HRCP. [If you can find the press release or a news story about it, please do send it to me; I am franticly looking for it. PS, 9/11/11: Beena Sarwar helped get HRCP dig it up and it is now part of a subsequent post.]

And now they have a blog: and that's a very, very good thing. I have left them a comment saying that if they need any help, they can ask me. I request other bloggers to to do the same--and pass the word around. This is one Pakistani--one Muslim--organization that needs all the support, ink, oxygen it can get. Especially at a time like this.

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Pakistan - Human Rights

Technology versus Humanity

For a while now, I have been wondering about the moral responsibility of people like us (see here and here), who work in the tech industry here in the Bay Area for human rights abuses enabled by our products. Here's the first real effort I have seen to put some legal and real shape to the concerns:

Yahoo! sued over torture of Chinese dissident
Chinese political prisoner sues Yahoo! in a US federal court in what is believed to be first case of its kind
Rhys Blakely
A Chinese political prisoner sued Yahoo! in a US federal court, accusing the internet company of helping the Chinese government torture him by providing information that led to his arrest.
The suit, filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act, is believed to be the first of its kind made against an American internet company.
More here....

The only other story I have noticed in this regards was:

Gag Orders
Is the work of Cisco Systems and other high-tech companies helping China to crack down on dissent?
By DK Sweet
EARLIER this year, on CNBC, business news junkies were treated to another superlative on-camera performance by one of America's foremost business superstars. Donald Trump may best personify the cheesy pop-culture idea of a celebrity businessman, but to the stockholder class, Cisco Systems' John Chambers is the Real Deal. Compare the income, size, growth and influence of international Internet infrastructure colossus Cisco to The Donald's twice-bankrupt real estate empire and Trump might as well be Chambers' pool boy.
More here...

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Technology and Society - Yahoo! - Torture - Human Rights