Analysis Of Guantanamo Bay

Analysis Of Guantanamo Bay Guantanamo Bays detention center is a United States operated detainment facility located on the southern tip of Cuba. It became primarily newsworthy post 9/11 when many Americans felt threatened by the uncertainty of terrorism. Guantanamo Bay has been sharply criticized by human rights activists such as Amnesty International and the debate includes some very major political figures. Although it was brought to the United States Supreme Court recently, most major political figures have historically seemed to stray away from the subject due to its controversial nature. The major topic which I will discuss in this paper is the legal sovereignty of Guantanamo Bay and the fine line the United States government walks between national security and civil liberties. From the acquisition of Guantanamo to the current legal standing to the various positions from major political figures worldwide, basically every aspect of this issue remains debated and extremely controversial. I will attempt in m y paper to present an unbiased, factual account of Guantanamo Bay and its current world standing. The United States first acquired Guantanamo Bay in 1898 when it intervened against Spain to assist Cuba in their independence. Ironically, the United States stepped in to assist Cuba with their fight for independence from Spain but ended up playing a role very similar to Spains role. Since the United States historically was not major world play it needed Cuba and the Spanish-American War to secure its own impact on Latin America and it subsequently became a major impact on every Cuban decision for the next sixty years. In 1901, the U.S government signed into law the Platt Amendment which was an amendment added to the 1901 Army Appropriations Act. This amendment outlined the conditions of future Cuban- U.S relations and gave the United States the legal rights to, among other things, Guantanamo Bay.  [1]  The agreement between the United States and Cuba states: To enable the United States to maintain the independence of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defense, the Cuban Government will sell or lease to the United States the lands necessary for coaling or naval stations, at certain specified points, to be agreed upon with the President of the United States.  [2]   Although this was signed by the President of Cuba and the President of the United States in 1903, the legality has since been called into question. The United States diplomatic pressure, backed by military occupation at the time was a huge impact on the agreement in question. Although the United States agreed to pay a nominal rent of 3,386.25 per year to Cuba, the agreement was largely in favor of the U.S government. In 1960, when Fidel Castro came into power he immediately refused to accept any further payment and publically bashed the United States occupation of Guantanamo Bay. According to Article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Law of Treaties, A treaty is void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of the principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations.  [3]  At the time Cuba agreed to lease Guantanamo Bay to the United States, the U.S had just assisted them in gaining their independence from Spain and was still a h uge influence in their government. Cuba was not in the position to tell them no, regardless of Cubas preference on the matter. However, the United States has argued that according to Article 4, Without prejudice to the application of any rules set forth in the present Convention to which treaties would be subject under international law independently of the Convention, the Convention applies only to treaties which are concluded by States after the entry into force of the present Convention with regard to such States.  [4]   the treated is still in effect and should be honored. Since Cuba still does not have the force or military capability to make the United States leave, the United States is still occupying Guantanamo. The topic received further attention post 9/11 with President Bushs War on Terrorism. At this point, no one really knew where Guantanamo Bay fell in terms of ultimate sovereignty and whos rules applied to the base. Also, since the military was in charge of the use of the land, there was very little transparency about what was actually going on there. Finally in June of 2004, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Rasul v. Bush, that U.S Courts do have the jurisdiction to handle cases involving foreign nationals wrongfully held in Guantanamo Bay saying that to determine the legality of the Executives potentially indefinite detention of individuals who claim to be wholly innocent of wrongdoing. After many decades, detainees, or enemy combatants as they were formerly known, had the right and access to challenge the legality of their detention.  [5]   Guantanamo Bays detention facility is a heavy topic that spans across all levels of government. Former President Bush and the current president, Barack Obama have both been very vocal about their opinions on the subject. The Bush administration and the Justice Department carefully prepared the legal groundwork for Guantanamo Bay post 9/11. They claimed that the Republic of Cuba has ultimate sovereignty over Guantanamo. As a result of this, they had no obligation to uphold the United States constitution and the detainees had no legal rights in U.S courts. However, they also argued that Cuban law has no effect in Guantanamo, so the area in effect was basically lawless. President Obama on the other hand, took a completely different position on Guantanamo Bay. Within his first weeks as President he vowed to shut down Guantanamo Bay within the year. In view of the significant concerns raised by these detentions, both within the United States and internationally, prompt and appropriate disposition of the individuals currently detained at Guantanamo and closure of the facility would further the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice,  [6]   Although it has been over a year, the Obama administration maintains that it is still their intention to shut down the detention center. They also issued a long awaited new rule book for the Obama-era war court that put an end to pre-confinement detention counting toward post Guantanamo sentences(to avoid situations like Salim Hamdan which I will discuss later)  [7]  . The legislative branch does not seem to play nearly as large as a role as the executive and judicial branch in this scenario. However, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. blamed Congress for not coming to a consensus on where a replacement facility for Guantanamo should be and for not approving funding for the new detention center in a timely manner. The bottom line is these techniques have hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security.  [8]  Although their role is not as significant, they definitely make a lot of voters question the Obama Administration and his promise to close Guantanamo Bay within one year of his presidency. In a major rebuke to President Barack Obama, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States and denied the administration the millions it sought to close the prison. The 90-6 Senate vote-paired with similar House action last week-was a clear sign to Obama that he faces a tough fight getting the Democratic-controlled Congress to agree with his plans to shut down the detention center and move the 240 detainees.  [9]   The main problem they face is that forty-eight detainees left still need to be held indefinitely and they have nowhere to put them if they leave Cuba. We have to have an option, and that will require congressional support for the funding request we have made, Holder said.  [10]   The judicial branch, as seen in Rasul v. Bush, has chosen to hear a few Guantanamo Bay cases although, historically most cases were heard by military courts. Although Rasul v. Bush was a huge landmark case, there were a few other decisions decided around this time period that gave rights to the prisoners in Guantanamo as well. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, which was actually decided on the same day, June 28, 2004 (although argued a week after) as Rasul v. Bush, ruled on the legality of holding a United States citizen indefinitely as an enemy combatant. The Supreme Court ruled that although Hamdis detention was authorized, the Fifth Amendments due process gives all citizens the right to challenge their detention. This cased differed from many of the Guantanamo Bay cases because Hamdi was actually a U.S citizen instead of a foreign national. Bourmediene v. Bush was another landmark case for Guantanamo Bays detainees and was decided recently in 2008. The Supreme Court decided in Bourmediene v. Bus h that ALL detainees at Guantanamo Bay should have a right to challenge their detention through U.S Federal Courts.  [11]   Navi Pillay who is the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was extremely happy about Obamas decision to close Guantanamo Bay. The fact that President [Barack] Obama has placed such a high priority on closing Guantà ¡namo and set in motion a system to safeguard the fundamental rights of the detainees there is extremely encouraging, she stated. The High Commission for Human Rights also wants the United States to change its approach on tactics used to detain individuals abroad. Pillay even went far enough to raise the issue of compensation for those judged to be innocent and called for a thorough investigation into allegations of torture at the Guantà ¡namo centre.  [12]  Although the United Nations does not have any physical way to enforce their recommendations, they are an extremely influential organization and hold a lot of weight internationally. They are expected to be unbiased with their recommendations and are portrayed as an international law and human rights peace keeper to facilitate achieving world peace. The last major players in this controversial situation are human rights interest groups such as Amnesty International. Amnesty International has been a huge, non-governmental player in the debate and was notably quoted for calling Guantanamo Bay a human rights scandal. They actually have an entire section on their website dedicated to Guantanamo Bay and quotes from various officials and organizations describing the torture and speaking out about the legality of Guantanamo. The war on terror does not justify violations of international human rights law. The Counter Terror with Justice campaign works to stop torture; close Guantà ¡namo; end illegal U.S. detentions; stop extraordinary rendition; restore fair trials and habeas corpus; and hold accountable all those who authorized and implemented these human rights abuses.  [13]   Even though Amnesty International is only a non-governmental organization, they have an incredible standing worldwide and they are consistently setting the standard for other human rights organizations.  [14]  They also have a huge following internationally and receive a lot of volunteer and monetary support. Although they have had a lot of success and received the Nobel Peace Prize for their campaign against torture, they have also been criticized by many political figures and even religious organizations such as the Catholic Church. They have also lately been mixed up with alleged ties to a former Guantanamo Bay detainee and his pro-jihad group which forced a senior Amnesty International official to resign her position because of her disappointment in the organization.  [15]   Rumsfeld, while still the U.S Secretary of Defense, was quoted by saying the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay were the most dangerous, best-trained, vicious killers on the face of the earth. Although this is clearly biased because the Bush administration was very pro-keeping Guantanamo Bay open, Rumsfeld does make a valid point. While doing my research, I noticed a time line that the Washington Post published on Guantanamo Bay. Salim Hamdan, who was allegedly Osama bin Ladens driver and very active in the planning of various terrorist activities, was released to Yemen from Guantanamo in November of 2008 and was to be tried for his crimes by the Yemen courts. He ended up getting only five and a half years confinement and a little over five years was credited because of his previous imprisonment in Guantanamo and various U.S custody locations. He was actually released a little over a month after his transfer to Yemen and was free to do whatever he wanted. I also read a lot on Yemen and thei r position on the War on Terrorism. When the United States offered to return prisoners to Yemen last year, Yemen officials demanded money for a rehabilitation center. The Yemeni government uses terrorism and fighting terrorism as a tool to get political and financial benefit, said Khaled Alansi. They did not have anything to market themselves to the world, especially the United States, except fighting terrorism.  [16]   Prior to all my research on Guantanamo Bay, I thought the idea behind the detention center was completely ridiculous. It was basically a lawless black hole where the United States government could do whatever they wanted. In addition, very few reports were issued by the government because of confidentiality and the nature of their crimes so it was very hard to tell what was really going on there. From what I read, there had been suicides by multiple prisoners and even reports of guards defacing the Muslim holy book, the Quran. Although my opinion is still in favor of shutting down Guantanamo, I do understand the severity of the issue at hand a little better now. I think the biggest factor that changed my opinion was the example of Hamdan(which I discussed earlier) and Yemens position on the matter. I am afraid that once released, many prisoners will walk free with an even deeper hatred for the United States and a greater passion for punishing us. Torture and abuse cost American livesI learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Our policy of torture was directly and swiftly recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda in IraqHow anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me unless you dont count American soldiers as Americans.  [17]   In one sense, Guantanamo Bay is a catch 22. If we keep the prisoners locked away in Guantanamo we wont have to worry about prisoners being releases and beginning to plan terrorist attacks again. However, if we dont release them we are alienating so many in the Middle East that we will eventually have many new threats. Regardless of national security, laws are in place for a reason and what we have been doing in Guantanamo seems to be highly unethical and should be illegal. Since the United States does have complete control over the territory, I believe that U.S laws should definitely apply. The United States is a country that has always prided itself on human rights and our legal system and there should not be a loophole created when the government deems it necessary. Although the process is slow, the courts have seemed to be regulating the United States militarys full control over Guantanamo. Like I discussed previously, the Obama administration has actually pledged to shut down Guantanamo Bay anyway so the problem is not nearly severe as it was under the Bush, more conservative, administration. So much of the previous information we have on Guantanamos sovereignty and who has complete control seems to be lost in translation. A sensible policy for future use would be to either put Guantanamo under our constitutions regulation or possibly draft new legislation for the area. Also, in regards to possession of Guantanamo, I believe the United States should set a time period by which they pledge to give Guantanamo Bay back to Cuba. The grounds in which the United States was given Guantanamo Bay was shaky as it was since Cuba were still under U.S rule and it does not seem right to allow a country to make a treaty with itself. Since the primary purpose of Guantanamo post cold-war has been to detain suspected terrorist and the Obama Administration decided to no longer use it for that purpose, it is not nearly as important anymore for the U.S military. In addition, it was a perfect location in the beginning of the 1900s since we wanted to expand into South America and exert our dominance but global positioning is no longer a primary goal. Then again, during the Cold War, Guantanamo was a prime strategic location if we were to go to war with Cuba but we are no longer at the brink of nuclear war and if we felt the need to intervene in South America (I hope not) w e would not necessarily need Cuba. Although I do not plan to get involved in this situation, I believe the best way to fix an issue such as this would be through the legal system. Since I have always been extremely interested in law, I read part of Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power by Joseph Margulies. Margulies was the lead council in Rasul v. Bush and talked about his experiences throughout most of the book. Every year, the Supreme Court agrees to review only a tiny fraction of the cases clamoring for its attention. For that reason, many lawyers believe, not without reason, that the most important document in a case is the one that asks the court to accept review, call the petition for writ of certiorari. The petition in Rasul, drafted in the summer of 2003, went through more than dozen drafts, and in the final product, my colleagues and I tried to capture not simply the legal reasons for review, but the moral consequences if the Court were to remain silent. My greatest fear was that the Bush Administration would simply forget about the prisoners, in the vain hope the world would too.  [18]   Margulies describes in detail how much time and thought went into this brief. Not only was it almost impossible to get the Supreme Court to recognize the issue and the case but also it was not like a typical writ of certiorari. It was drafted more than a dozen times and contained not only the legal grounds as to why it should be heard but the ethical and moral justifications as well. This is not a law suit that anyone can get through to the Supreme Court. I think the main way I could personally get involved, a side from getting my law degree and going into international civil rights law, is spreading awareness. I could try writing to my local senator or possibly even get published in a local newspaper or magazine. The President and Congresss main goal is to get reelected so theyll ultimately do what is important to the voters.

Death Foretold

Chronicle of a Death Foretold In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez ridicules the hypocrisy of the church, which is central to the life of the village. While the townspeople celebrate the arrival of the Bishop; sex, alcohol, and murder coincide with the supposedly sacred event. Marquez reveals hypocrisy through biblical allusions, the villages hedonistic lifestyle, and the murder of Santiago Nasar. The bible is often used as source of divine inspiration, but in Chronicle of a Death Foretold biblical stories are satirized to reflect the hypocrisy of the church.For example, many of the town’s people are named after biblical characters, such as Maria Alejandra Cervantes and Pedro and Pablo Vicario, while they act in the most unchristian way. Maria Alejandra Cervantes is named after the mother of God, Mary, but is herself a prostitute, the exact opposite of Mary who was the eternal virgin. Pedro and Pablo Vicario are named after apostles, but are portrayed as al coholics and murderers. Peter did not directly kill Jesus, but denied Christ three times before his death. Pedro denies Santiago’s innocence before the cock crows three times.Marquez portrays biblical allusion by relating each character to one who played a similar role in Jesus Christ’s life. The small Colombian town is filled with many Christians, yet through the course of the novel, Marquez reveals that the denizens of the town only care about virtues which are contradictory to those of Christianity. The three day festivals which mark Angela and Bayardo’s marriage the party, â€Å"had sacrificed forty turkeys and eleven hogs for the guests, and four calves which the bridegroom had set up to be roasted for the people on the public square.He recounted that 205 cases of contraband alcohol had been consumed and almost two thousand bottles of cane liquor, which had been distributed among the crowd. † (Marquez 18). The sheer amount of goods that Bayardo purch ased for the party shows that some Christian’s value gluttony and greed. The town’s people failed to warn Santiago about his murder and showed little to no or care. They had audacity to gather around Santiago’s home to witness the crime, as if they did not care.Instead of following the Christian rule their determination to stick to hypocritical honor codes results to consequences such as the loss of innocent lives. Marquez compares the lifestyle of Jesus Christ to the life of Santiago Nasar. â€Å"Santiago put on a shirt and pants of white linen†(page 5). Like Jesus, Santiago wears a white linen shirt on the day he is supposed to die. White is symbolic for innocence and this choice of clothing promotes Santiago Nasar’s innocence. The nature of Santiago’s death is similar to the crucifixion of Christ.Santiago is stabbed through his hand against a wooden door by Pedro and Pablo Vicario, similar to Jesus being nailed to a wooden cross. The knif e â€Å"went through the palm of his right hand and then sank into his side† (Marquez 117). Christ nailed to the cross is a stigma, or â€Å"the bleeding of hands†. While Father Amador performs the autopsy, he discusses Santiago’s wounds and compares Santiago’s wounds to the wounds of Jesus Christ. Father Amador says, â€Å"He had a deep stab in the right hand, it looked like a stigma of the crucified Christ†(Marquez 75).Gabriel Garcia Marquez creates a society that is based on the morals of Christian values. All citizens of the town believe in living honestly, loving, and faithfully, but they seem to believe in values that contradict Christianity. Marquez compares Santiago Nasar physically and ideologically to Christ Jesus. Marquez reveals the social corruption in the town through Santiago’s death. Santiago died for the sake of the Vicario reputation. He died in a way of honor and respect like Jesus. He sacrificed himself for the â€Å"gre ater good† by dying for others' sins.

Strategic Quality Planning

123 Strategic Quality Planning Quality is strategic. This may seem somewhat obvious, but the actions of Companies implementing quality measures oftenobscure this fact. This is especially true when a comNpany is in a reactive mode and does notjise effective planning. In this chapter we discuss iinportant aspeets of strategic quality planning. Strategic planning has two important dimensions: content and pro ess. Strategy content answers the question of what is to be contained in the strategic plan. Mw consists of the steps used to develop the strategy.In this chapter we first discuss content and then process. Finally, we look at quality results and whether quality has been shown to yield bottornlme results along the supply chain. STRATEGY CONTENT Why is quality planning important? As we have discussed in previous chapters, quality improveY ment is a planned managerial activity. As shown in this Chapter, quality improvement involves identifying potential improvements, prioritizing poten tial areas for improvement, and planning the implementation of projects and improvements.What are the content variables that should be included in strategic quality planning? Among the variables we discuss are time, leadership, quality costs, generic strategies (cost, differentiation, and focus), order Winners, and quality as a core Competency. These content variables outline key considerations when developing a strategic plan. These considerations are either explicitly or implicitly addressed in the strategic planning processes discussed later in the chapterA THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME IN QUALITY IMPROVEMENTWe discuss two aspect of time: the time it takes to business goals as a result of quality and the at which companies improve. Real-life experience shows that time is a key variable in improving quality. Amajor study of best quality-related practices undertaken by Ernst and Young2 was critical of total quality management – ATQM ro rams for not rovidin bottom-line results. At t he same time, the Ernst Vldeo Chp. P g P g Mission at the Ritz and Young study advocated the implementation of TQM. A comprehensive . 17† @E 1 Garvin, D. , Operations Strategy (Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall, 1992)4

What Are Piracy And Intellectual Property - 1012 Words

Across human history, societies adopted different political and societal systems. The same applies in term of trade, in which the system evolved from basic barter, common sharing, up to the invention of gold coins, trade and commerce system. Today’s world is dominated by western cultures. The different political, economic, and societal systems in the world are strongly influenced by the western civilization values. Laws for copyright, piracy, intellectual property somehow find the origins in the socio-economical system of our world. In the following essay, we will try to explore the different characteristics of the worlds which may engender the need for copyright. We will next explain what are piracy and intellectual property vis-à  -vis the notion of copyright. Several characteristics of today’s world and its business made copyright essentials for the course of everyday activities. First the materialism has been the main philosophy of most individuals. People are commonly judged based on their material possession. The emphasis is thus put on what someone’s own, its goods, properties. The material benefit is of first importance, and it is the basis of world business. Thus, when someone creates, produces or makes something of potential material benefit, he will definitely want to protect it. It’s clear that in such context copyright automatically becomes crucial. The second point is the economy. Capitalism is the major economic system throughout the world. Here again theShow MoreRelatedIntellectual Property And Social Property Theft1643 Words   |  7 Pagesthe victim whether you sell what you have stolen or give it away.† - Carmen Ortiz. While some of this statement is true, other parts of it are without merit. There has been much confusion about the Internet and the new problems and questions it brings to the table in terms of the court of law, and how law enforcement should deal with it. 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Introduction Digital piracy, which also known as one type of the copyright infringement, is the activity of illegal copying selling digital materials, such as software, music, movies and e-book files. Based on a common sense of intellectual property protection, digital piracy has restricted the development of digital industry and harmed the benefits of intellectual property owner. Therefore, as the strengthened awareness of consumer and the enhanced regulationRead MoreA Professional Code Of Ethics1283 Words   |  6 Pagesdistribute intellectual properly and pirate electronic content has increased with the advancements in technology and globalization. As members of the student body, University of the People students must understand the detriments of plagiarism, piracy and ensure they protect Intellectual Property and respect copyright laws. Developing a professional code of ethics as a computer professional, will help navigate our careers and help us make proper ethical decisions and choices. Intellectual Property TheRead MoreThe Ethical Issue Of Software Piracy1530 Words   |  7 Pages Introduction In this paper we are going to examine why personal morality is an oxymoron and how a moral system is analogous to a game. Then we are going to analyze how the ethical issue of software piracy is seen from the notion of common moral system according to Gert. Personal morality is an oxymoron So let’s first see why Gert believes that the notion of ‘personal morality† is an oxymoron. According to Gert, a moral system is public because everyone should know and be familiar with the rulesRead MoreIntellectual Property Essay1379 Words   |  6 PagesTechnology is now the foundation to any society and in America; digital products (mp3 files, videos, books, etc.) are protected as intellectual property. Theft of any intellectual property would have similar (and in some cases more severe) consequences as stealing a car or shoplifting, however, some countries that fall behind in the development of intellectual property can easily steal digital products and produce them for a much cheaper and easier rate of production. One such country is China, whichRead MoreThe World Intellectual Property Organization1357 Words   |  6 Pagesplagiarize, steal or imitate one’s work. Piracy and counterfeiting terms refer to the goods that come into the market with no pe rmission from the owner. Therefore, to protect the individual comes in â€Å"intellectual property which refers to the creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works; and symbols, name and images used in commerce†. (World Intellectual Property Organization. What Is Intellectual Property?N.p., n.d. Web. 25 July 2016). 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According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), The main reason why intellectual property laws exist is because it protects the progress and well-being of humanity by creating and inventing new works in the areas of technology and culture. Second, the legal protection promotes innovation. Lastly, the promotion increases jobs, increases technological advancementsRead MoreThe Issues Facing The Entertainment Industry848 Words   |  4 Pagesindustry is piracy. It is illegal under federal law to copy or reproduce someone else’s work without their permission, not to mention it is also unethical. There are arguments to be made that it is hurting the entertainment industry by losing revenue. While people may try to justify illegally copying technology the truth is it is no different than someone robbing a bank. When a studio produces a movie, a singer put out a new track or a coder writes new software what they are creating is intellectual property